Articles

Pennsylvania Supreme Court enables school district’s bad behavior

August 11, 2017 | By CALEB TROTTER

This week the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decided Discovery Charter School v. School District of Philadelphia. As we discussed last year, Discovery is a successful Philadelphia school that serves grades K-8. In light of its students’ academic success, Discovery amassed a waiting list of 1,448 hopeful new students. In 2012, Discovery sought ...

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Victory in Anaheim parent trigger law case

April 28, 2017 | By CALEB TROTTER

A little over a year ago we wrote about a maddening case in Anaheim, California. In 2015, a group of elementary school parents sought to take advantage of California’s Parent Empowerment Act (the “parent trigger”) to force the Anaheim City School District to convert their children’s continually failing school into an indepe ...

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Weekly litigation report — December 31, 2016

December 31, 2016 | By JAMES BURLING

Affordable housing mandates on their way up Unsurprisingly, the California Supreme Court denied our petition for review in 616 Croft Avenue v. City of West Hollywood. This is the case where the City is demanding a half-million dollars in affordable housing subsidies from a couple who want to build more housing — 11 condominiums where … ...

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Are schools like shoes?

December 21, 2016 | By ETHAN BLEVINS

No one could find decent shoes in communist Russia. You’d get a pair with no choice regarding quality, type, or shoe size. No thought for your situation; no need to please the customer. You got what they gave you. Our public school system faces the same basic problem. Quality and fit too often suffer because we’ve forgotten … ...

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Weekly litigation report

October 22, 2016 | By DEBORAH LA FETRA

Individual Rights – Equal Protection. In the long-running saga of Rothe Development, Inc. v. Department of Defense and Small Business, a small business is challenging the racial classifications in Section 8(a) of the Small Business Act as a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment guarantee of Equal Protection. That section sets a goal for the feder ...

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Weekly litigation report — September 10, 2016

September 10, 2016 | By JAMES BURLING

Union access shenanigans from the Department of Labor PLF supports charter schools from death by limbo Environment and the right to intervene in lawsuits Property rights: Loss in Knick v. Scott Township Beer drinkers must register to drink? Adverse anti-discrimination ruling Union access shenanigans from the Department of Labor We filed a new case ...

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The perfect response to John Oliver's nonsense charter school rant

September 02, 2016 | By JOSHUA THOMPSON

Our friends at We the Internet TV, put together this scathing, hilarious, and appropriate rebuke to John Oliver’s silly diatribe on charter schools. … ...

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Back to School Choice Week 2016 : The latest in the Philadelphia school district’s attempt to stop charter schools from growing

August 26, 2016 | By CALEB TROTTER

Discovery Charter School is a successful Philadelphia school that serves grades K-8. In light of its academic success, Discovery has amassed a waiting list of 1,448 hopeful students. In 2012, Discovery sought permission from the School District of Philadelphia to amend its charter to increase enrollment by 430 students over a four-year period. B ...

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Hope for Washington's charter schools

January 27, 2016 | By ETHAN BLEVINS

National School Choice Week has special meaning this year in Washington, where lawmakers are fighting to save Washington’s charter schools. In 2012, Washington voters passed the state’s first charter school act. The state then approved numerous charter school applications, and the new schools prepared to open their doors in 2015. ...