A lawsuit against the State Board of Education’s January 2007 action approving the petition of Aspire Public Charter Schools to establish a statewide benefit charter was filed in Alameda County Superior Court in late October.

ACSA has joined this lawsuit, along with the CSBA Education Legal Alliance, the California Teachers Association and Stockton Unified School District. ACSA’s action was recommended by the association’s newly established Education Legal Support Fund Advisory Committee, chaired by ACSA President Bob Lee and endorsed by the ACSA Board’s Executive Committee. ACSA’s legal support fund has invested $20,000 to participate in this case.

“The legal arena is getting to be an increasingly important place for us to advocate our causes and issues,” said ACSA Management Services Executive Brett McFadden. “Legislators and policymakers are becoming more and more intransigent to the concerns of the education community because of such things as term limits, safe districts and partisanship. The legal arena is becoming our only recourse for certain issues.”

In January 2007, the SBE approved Aspire’s petition to establish a statewide benefit charter school. This action usurped local LEA involvement, oversight, and establishment of future Aspire Charter Schools. With this action, Aspire has the ability to locate and establish charter schools wherever it deems appropriate. No LEA review or input would be required.

ACSA notes this lawsuit does not cast aspersions on the quality of Aspire’s educational program. Rather, the suit is aimed at SBE’s statewide charter approval process, which is believed to be contrary to law.

The lawsuit argues that the SBE’s action went beyond the scope of existing statute pertaining to statewide benefit charters. In addition, Aspire’s petition does not meet the threshold described in Education Code Section 47605.8 pertaining to the creation of statewide benefit charters. The alliance’s position is that approving a statewide charter without considering whether the local district or county office of education can accommodate it, and without the petitioner producing evidence of unique circumstances that would establish the statewide benefit of such a charter, is contrary to existing law.

This position was concurred by the state Legislature, which wrote a letter to the SBE asking it to cease from granting any more statewide benefit charters until clarifying legislation could be adopted. The SBE ignored this request, and granted a charter to Aspire.

This is the second major lawsuit in which ACSA’s Legal Support Fund has taken part, with the first being the suit over the proposed takeover of LAUSD by the mayor. The LSF was established to represent the needs and issues of school leaders. Currently, approximately 100 school districts have joined the Legal Support Fund. Districts are charged a nominal fee to join, on a sliding scale based on ADA.

ACSA will be coordinating with CSBA’s Education Legal Alliance on this suit. In fact, the LSF is guided by an advisory committee, chaired by President Bob Lee and comprising school attorneys, superintendents, a county superintendent of schools and members of CSBA’s Legal Alliance.

For more information about the ACSA Legal Support Fund, contact Brett McFadden at bmcfadden@acsa.org or (916) 329-3810.