ERIC Number: EJ1262991
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019
Pages: 20
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0098-9495
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Charter School Constitutional Funding Challenges: North Carolina and Texas May Serve as Harbingers for the Future
Wood, R. Craig
Journal of Education Finance, v44 n4 p341-360 Spr 2019
Presently, charter schools exist in 43 states. The Minnesota Legislature first created charter schools in the United States in 1991. As of 2018, there were nearly 7,000 charter schools in 43 states serving over approximately 3 million students. The creation, control, and mission of these schools varies from state to state. This analysis examines the state court challenges regarding the funding of charter schools across the nation within the last several years with specific examination regarding charter school suits which have constitutionally challenged the distribution of state and local moneys. Often, these inequity/inadequacy constitutional claims are somewhat similar to traditional public school challenges regarding the mechanisms of distributing state fiscal assistance to public schools. This analysis discusses the logic, as well as the courts' opinions, in upholding or denying the charter school claims. Particular attention is focused on the most recent cases from North Carolina and Texas wherein charter schools empirically and constitutionally argued that the distribution formula, as applied to charter schools, was constitutionally flawed as well as the claims of constitutional infirmities regarding the funding of charter schools. The constitutional challenges from North Carolina and Texas illustrate the complexity and substance of the questions before the state courts. In both instances, the courts had to examine the accounting structures as well as the broad educational clauses found within the state constitutions.
Descriptors: Charter Schools, Educational Finance, Court Litigation, State Courts, Constitutional Law, Educational Equity (Finance), State Aid, Elementary Secondary Education
University of Illinois Press. 1325 South Oak Street, Champaign, IL 61820-6903. Tel: 217-244-0626; Fax: 217-244-8082; e-mail: journals@uillinois.edu; Web site: http://www.press.uillinois.edu/journals.php
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: North Carolina; Texas
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A