Articles

Oral argument in Edmund’s lawsuit against discriminatory St. Louis policy

March 31, 2017 | By JOSHUA THOMPSON

This upcoming Wednesday, April 5, Wencong Fa and I will be in St. Louis for oral argument in E.L. v. Voluntary Interdistrict Choice Corporation. We will be representing Edmund Lee and his mother La’Shieka White in their quest to strike down a St. Louis policy that prohibits African-American children from attending magnet and charter schools ...

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A good day for students’ school choice in Florida

January 19, 2017 | By CHRISTINA MARTIN

Yesterday, the Florida Supreme Court rejected a union’s lawsuit challenging Florida’s tax credit scholarship program, and a Florida appellate court rejected a school district’s claim that charter schools violate the state constitution. These decisions protect K-12 students across the state. Florida’s tax credit scholarship ...

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Confusing and disappointing decision in lawsuit against charter school

October 17, 2016 | By JOSHUA THOMPSON

This morning we received a disappointing decision in Anderson Union High School District v. Shasta Secondary Home School. The court of appeal held that non-classroom based charter schools may not operate a “resource center” in the county where the charter school is authorized, unless it is within the geographic boundaries of its author ...

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Pennsylvania school districts cannot avoid state charter school law by refusing to act

September 06, 2016 | By CALEB TROTTER

In August, during Back to School Choice Week 2016, I called your attention to the story of Discovery Charter School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 2012, Discovery requested an amendment to its charter with the School District of Philadelphia to increase its enrollment. Because of Discovery’s success, it has amassed a substantial waiting li ...

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Florida charter school application illegally denied by hostile school board

January 22, 2016 | By CHRISTINA MARTIN

This week, PLF filed a friend-of-the-court brief arguing that the School Board of Palm Beach County illegally denied an application to start a new charter school. Charter schools are privately run public schools that operate under a performance contract (charter) with a public sponsor (usually a school district). Charter schools operate free from ...

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School district sues popular charter school to stop school choice

December 08, 2015 | By RALPH KASARDA

PLF attorneys filed a brief last week in Anderson Union High School District v. Shasta Secondary Home School. The case concerns efforts by a California school district to limit the educational opportunities offered by a nearby public charter school to the detriment of students in the district. The school district believes it is losing state fundi ...

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The economic underpinnings of school choice

August 25, 2015 | By WENCONG FA

Two seemingly unrelated phenomena in education often befuddle those interested in the topic. First, substandard public schools continue to fail no matter how much money the government throws their way. Second, teachers’ unions across the country categorically oppose school choice programs of all shapes and sizes. The same economic principle e ...

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President's weekly report — September 12, 2014

September 12, 2014 | By ROB RIVETT

Environment — When is a wetland not federally controlled? We filed this complaint this week in Universal Welding v. United States Army Corps of Engineers.  The Corps is asserting jurisdiction over some of Universal’s low-value wetlands in North Pole, Alaska, just outside of Fairbanks.  The problem is that under the Corps’ own r ...

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Rural school choice : a personal perspective

January 29, 2014 | By JONATHAN WILLIAMS

People across the country are celebrating National School Choice Week. The vast majority of school choice discussions focus on the struggles of kids in failing urban school districts. However, school choice also has a role to play in rural areas. Schools in these communities enroll one of four American students. In these communities four out ̷ ...