Charters and traditional public schools are claiming that their funding allocations are inadequate and unfair.
Given the massive cuts in education funding, their claims are not trivial. Their arguments, however, are different. Judges are ruling differently as well. Based on information reported by Education Justice, a program of the New Jersey based Education Law Center, and Access, a research institute at Columbia University, charters want facilities and traditional public schools seek fairness.
Equity is a major concern in U.S. Schools. Deep cuts in funding education have the school systems turning to the courts for help. Even though educational reformers hoped charter schools would function as well as public schools at a lower cost, they too are filing lawsuits. Public schools seek equitable funding for schools in low income areas which have less revenue to support their schools. Senators Jack Reed RI and Sherrod Brown OH and Congresswoman Marcia Fudge OH, recently introduced the CORE act S.B. 2557 to require that all students have equitable access to the resources necessary to achieve college and career readiness. The bill contends that between 10 and 25% of high schools do not offer more than one course of the core courses in Algebra, Geometry, Biology or Chemistry.
Education Justice reports that even though opposition to funding equity for schools is ‘deep, long standing, and bipartisan’, there are efforts yet again to provide adequate funding for schools located in low income areas. Current cases include South Carolina, Colorado, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
Charter school funding cases have been filed in several states based in part on the equal protection clause. An Arizona appellate court ruled, however, that charters are not entitled to the same funding as traditional public schools. In Craven vs. Huppenthal, the court stated that charters initially claimed they could provide a better education at a lower cost. Now, they want equal funding. A similar case Brown vs. New York was filed in September, 2014 claiming that charters were not receiving equitable funding because the state did not provide money for facilities. Courts have ruled that charters are free from many regulations the public schools have, and their students are able to return to public schools if they are dissatisfied with the charter. A similar ruling was made in Texas. Thus, the children are treated fairly, they can chose.