Napa Valley Unified School Dist. v. State Bd. of Education

BACKGROUND

Charter Schools Generally and Petitioning to Establish a Charter School Charter schools are a relatively recent addition to California’s educational landscape. With the enactment of the Charter Schools Act of 1992 (§ 47600 et seq., added by Stats. 1992, ch. 781, § 1), “California became one of the first states in the country to authorize charter schools.” (Anderson Union High School Dist. v. Shasta Secondary Home School (2016) 4 Cal.App.5th 262, 268, fn. omitted.) “Charter schools are ‘public schools funded with public money but run by private individuals or entities rather than traditional public school districts.’ ” (Id. at pp. 267-268, quoting Today’s Fresh Start, Inc. v. Los Angeles County Office of Education (2013) 57 Cal.4th 197, 205

Undesignated statutory section references are to the Education Code.

3 (Today’s Fresh Start).) “The Legislature intended its authorization of charter schools to improve public education by promoting innovation, choice, accountability, and competition.” (Today’s Fresh Start, supra, at pp. 205-206.) Typically, the process for establishing a new charter school involves the submission of a complying petition for the…