CSBA Challenges Charter Schools Facilities Regulations in Lawsuit

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (July 24, 2008) – In an effort to overturn new rules for Proposition 39 charter school facilities requests, the California School Boards Association's Education Legal Alliance today filed a lawsuit against the State Board of Education.

The basis of the lawsuit is that the changes fall outside the scope of the state board’s authority, and are therefore not legally valid.

"It’s unfortunate that we have been forced to seek recourse in the courts to get clarity on the legal authority of the State Board of Education,” said CSBA President Paul H. Chatman. “We are convinced these new regulations are clearly outside of its statutory responsibility.  If charter schools are to have expanded authority under the law, then that is a matter for the Legislature.  It is not the role of the State Board of Education to enact laws; its role is to carry out the laws enacted by the Legislature."

The new regulations are the most recent in a series of changes undertaken to implement Proposition 39 which, approved by voters in 2000, required school districts to provide facilities to charter schools.

Among other things, the new regulations require districts to provide furnishings and equipment to charters beyond what the original law intended, create an unfair advantage for charter school students over traditional school students in the allocation of facilities, and reduce the timeline for districts to review and process charter schools’ facilities requests, posing more hardship for districts with limited staff, especially those required to process multiple requests.

“School districts are spending an inordinate amount of effort on these facilities requests already, said CSBA Senior Policy Analyst Stephanie Medrano Farland. “Nearly 98 percent of public school students have chosen to stay in traditional public schools. With these new regulations, the State Board of Education continues down the path of ignoring the needs of traditional school students in charter school matters and has adopted regulations here that favor the two percent over the 98 percent.”