California: Local boards win appeal on charter schools

[alp227]

by Bob Egelko
San Francisco Chronicle

A state appeals court strengthened the authority of local school boards over charter schools Monday by making it harder for California education officials to approve statewide charters with campuses in multiple counties.

Charter schools are publicly funded and tuition-free but operate independently of local school districts and their union contracts, though districts are supposed to monitor their performance. They have been proliferating both in California and nationwide.

State law allows the state Board of Education, appointed by the governor, to let a company establish charter schools in far-flung counties without local approval or monitoring. Groups of school boards, administrators and teachers claimed the board was overstepping its authority, and on Monday, the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco agreed.

Under a 2002 state law, the court said, the state board can approve a statewide charter only if it offers benefits to students that would be unavailable from locally approved charter schools. Otherwise, the court said, each new charter must be approved by the school district or county education office.

The law was intended "to promote district-chartered schools and local oversight," said Justice Maria Rivera in the 3-0 ruling, which overturned an Alameda County judge's decision.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/27/BA9M1EK5UM.DTL

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. Oversight is good

We need lots more for our charters.

[Catshrink]

2. This is a good move.

Parents want local control of their schools.

[YvonneCa]

3. This is excellent. It gives needed oversight to...

...local districts. On the down side, they will probably appeal.