Move over Budget Impasse: Supreme Court hamstrings school districts
Ruling makes fiscally responsible budget impossible especially in Southeast PA
The aftershocks of this week’s stunning decision on the Philadelphia SRC could very well be felt in school districts across the Commonwealth. Brace yourselves.
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The state Supreme Court ruled that the Philadelphia SRC did not have the legal authority to suspend parts of the state charter law and school code. Imposing limits to charter school enrollment has been found to be unconstitutional.
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The state Supreme Court ruled that the Philadelphia SRC did not have the legal authority to suspend parts of the state charter law and school code. Imposing limits to charter school enrollment has been found to be unconstitutional.
Outside of Philadelphia, districts have been working with charter operators to establish agreed upon limits as to how many students they can enroll, and thus, how much they can bill (or be reimbursed by) the districts on a per student basis.
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Without enrollment caps, districts are at the mercy of charter operators who can fill charter schools with as many students they can handle, creating a financially disastrous predicament where unchecked charter spending will mean siphoning even more money from already cash-strapped public schools.
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SDP Superintendent Bill Hite recently noted that as spending on charter schools rises public schools are not afforded equivalent resources. While most operators have signed pacts to cap students, there are no guarantees these agreements will hold and the district may have no legal power to enforce them.
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School districts spent approximately $1.4 billion last year on charter schools and this year spending could be even higher.
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The ruling compels the legislature to correct the haphazard patchwork of state law that governs charter operations. Failure to do so will mean drastic cuts to public schools as districts rob Public Peter to pay Charter Paul.
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Read our statement on the SRC ruling
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Without enrollment caps, districts are at the mercy of charter operators who can fill charter schools with as many students they can handle, creating a financially disastrous predicament where unchecked charter spending will mean siphoning even more money from already cash-strapped public schools.
.
SDP Superintendent Bill Hite recently noted that as spending on charter schools rises public schools are not afforded equivalent resources. While most operators have signed pacts to cap students, there are no guarantees these agreements will hold and the district may have no legal power to enforce them.
.
School districts spent approximately $1.4 billion last year on charter schools and this year spending could be even higher.
.
The ruling compels the legislature to correct the haphazard patchwork of state law that governs charter operations. Failure to do so will mean drastic cuts to public schools as districts rob Public Peter to pay Charter Paul.
.
Read our statement on the SRC ruling
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“The underlying piece here is that we have a lot of bad legislatively-created policies, and the legislature has said that rather than fix them, we’ll let the SRC handle it. The court has said, well the SRC can’t fix them, the legislature has to fix them,” said Michael Churchill, a lawyer with the Public Interest Law Center , about Tuesday’s Supreme Court ruling. READ MORE