California Charter Schools Win Major Legal Victory.SAN CARLOS San Carlos (săn kär`lōs), residential city (1990 pop. 26,167), San Mateo co., W Calif.; inc. 1925. The chief manufactures are plastic products, hardware, and machine parts. , Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 5, 1999-- California charter schools won a major legal victory in the California Court of Appeals last week. The court upheld a lower court decision that rejected a state constitutional challenge of the charter school laws. The suit, filed against the State Board of Education in June of 1998, "resulted in the most significant court decision yet on charter schools," said Sue Bragato, executive director of the California Network of Educational Charters (CANEC CANEC California Network of Educational Charters ). As the state association for charter schools, CANEC participated in the case as a defendant. "The decision is thorough and strong. It dismissed all of the plaintiffs' arguments, leaving no ambiguity," said Bragato. There is one more possible step for this case. The plaintiffs have 40 days to appeal the decision to the California Supreme Court. The court then has 60 days to decide whether or not to hear the case. In the decision, the California Court of Appeals upheld both the old and new charter school laws, including a provision permitting charter schools to be operated as nonprofit A corporation or an association that conducts business for the benefit of the general public without shareholders and without a profit motive. Nonprofits are also called not-for-profit corporations. Nonprofit corporations are created according to state law. public benefit corporations. The plaintiffs challenged the statutes on numerous constitutional grounds, arguing that the Legislature had improperly delegated authority Delegated authority is an authority obtained from another that has authority since the authority does not naturally exist. Typically this is used in a government context where an organization that is created by a legitimate government, such as a Board, City, Town or other for education to private entities, created a second school system, and opened the doors of charter schools to religious institutions. The court disagreed. "Charter schools are part of California's single, statewide public school system... Although they have operational independence, an overarching o·ver·arch·ing adj. 1. Forming an arch overhead or above: overarching branches. 2. Extending over or throughout: "I am not sure whether the missing ingredient . . . purpose of the charter school approach is to infuse in·fuse v. 1. To steep or soak without boiling in order to extract soluble elements or active principles. 2. To introduce a solution into the body through a vein for therapeutic purposes. the public school system with competition in order to stimulate continuous improvement in all its public schools." The court also rejected plaintiffs' argument that the charter school laws violated the separation of church and state
v. in·no·vat·ed, in·no·vat·ing, in·no·vates v.tr. To begin or introduce (something new) for or as if for the first time. v.intr. To begin or introduce something new. . "The purpose of the Act is to encourage educational innovation, experimentation and choice in order to improve learning and expand learning opportunities for all students," the court concluded. The court specifically upheld the use of the nonprofit public benefit corporation law as a vehicle for the operation of charter schools. For more information about California charter schools visit the CANEC web site at www.canec.org. |
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