Court overturns ruling giving more space to charter schools
Los Angeles school district officials won a key legal battle with charter schools this week, when an appeals court struck down a ruling that could have opened up vast numbers of needed classrooms for charters, while also creating potential hardships for traditional neighborhood schools.
The decision means that charter schools will receive space in much the same way as traditional schools: If the Los Angeles Unified School District puts 26 students in a classroom, then charters will be given rooms based on the same assumption. The California Charter Schools Assn. had argued that its operators were entitled to more space because the district uses many rooms for purposes other than regular classroom instruction.
Charters are free, publicly funded schools that are independently operated. Under state law, school districts must offer space to charters that is “reasonably equivalent” to that provided for students in traditional schools.
The association had prevailed in Los Angeles Superior Court, but a three-judge appellate panel reversed that