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Charter School Advocates Challenge LAUSD Location Policy
Students enter New Heights Charter School, which shares a campus with Martin Luther King Jr Elementary School.
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Brian Feinzimer
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LAist
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Topline:
Charter school advocates filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging a new Los Angeles Unified School District policy that steers the independently run public schools away from hundreds of school campuses serving high-need students.
The backstory: The Los Angeles Unified School District Board earlier this year approved a policy that instructs district staff to avoid granting charter schools space on some campuses — those focused on improving outcomes for Black students and providing additional community resources.
“We have consistently maintained that this policy is a shameful and discriminatory attack on public charter school students for which the district shares a responsibility to house,” said California Charter Schools Association President and CEO Myrna Castrejón.
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The way-way-backstory: The lawsuit is the latest in a legal battle that stretches back more than 20 years to a voter-approved law, Proposition 39, that requires school districts to provide space to charters that is “reasonably equivalent” to what students who attend traditional public schools receive.
What’s next: The lawsuit asks the courts to halt and rescind LAUSD’s co-location policy. California Charter Schools Association said in a press conference that it doesn’t expect a legal ruling before this summer. In the meantime, several charter schools are in the midst of trying to secure space for the next school year and it’s unclear how the new policy has or will impact where they are able to operate. An LAUSD spokesperson said the district does not typically comment on pending or ongoing litigation.
Go deeper: How Charter Schools Are Steered Away From LAUSD’s ‘Most Fragile’ Campuses
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