City charter suit caught up in high court turmoil
A charter-schools suit with major financial implications for the Philadelphia School District is one of 27 cases caught up in the turnover of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
Back in September 2014, the court heard arguments in the case that centers on the School Reform Commission's authority to manage charter-school growth in the financially distressed district.
The court never ruled.
And now that only three of the justices who heard the arguments are still on the bench, the court last week said it would resubmit the case and decide it based on the legal briefs that have already been filed.
That would allow the newest members of the court to participate in this and the other cases that preceded their arrival.
Josh Wilson, a court spokesman, said Tuesday that the 27 so-called resubmissions were unusual and reflected the unprecedented changes in the makeup of the seven-member panel.
"Certainly the extensive turnover on the court is unprecedented in modern history," he said. "We have three new justices.
The charter-school suit brought by West Philadelphia Achievement Charter Elementary School contends that the SRC illegally suspended parts of the state School Code to cap charter enrollment in 2013 and then threatened to close schools that did not sign agreements with enrollment maximums.
The school also asks the state's top court to rule that the 1998 law that led to the state
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