LOS ANGELES – Today, the California Charter School Association (CCSA) filed a lawsuit in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, to enjoin the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) from implementing its new policy limiting public student access to LAUSD public school campuses.
The lawsuit follows the LAUSD Board’s vote on March 19, 2024, to enact a new policy that bans charter public schools from sharing space with more than 300 district campuses, a practice employed by LAUSD commonly known as co-location. Even though board members claim this will not impact current schools, the policy does not adequately protect charter public schools. It will have a devastating impact on thousands of charter public school students enrolled on campuses across LAUSD.
“Despite offering to work collaboratively with the Board on a new policy that would improve the process of sharing campuses, LAUSD disregarded the voices and needs of charter school families and adopted a new policy to harm their schools. CCSA was left with no other option than legal action to enforce the rights of charter school students to reasonably equivalent facilities from the District under Proposition 39,” said Myrna Castrejón, President and CEO of CCSA. “The lawsuit comprehensively explains to the court how the policy is in direct violation of state law and should be invalidated.”
“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,” continued Castrejón. “Families choose to send their children to LAUSD's charter public schools because they have found programs uniquely tailored to their needs among the rich diversity of education programs offered to Angeleno families. This policy limits options for those parents.”
The lawsuit filing can be found here. In January, CCSA also sent a letter to the LAUSD Board addressing the legal concerns with the proposed policy, which can be found here. The attachments referred to in that letter can be found here and here.
About the California Charter Schools Association
The vision of the California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) is to build great public schools of joy and rigor that prepare all California students for success in college, career, community, and life. The mission of CCSA is to meet parent, educator, and community need for great public school options by supporting and advocating for high quality non-profit charter schools and sharing their success throughout California’s public schools. Learn more.
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