Wilson

“Charter schools are grounded in private-sector concepts such as competition-driven improvement . . . , employee empowerment and customer focus. But they remain very much a public-sector creature, with in-bred requirements of accountability and broad-based equity. Simple in theory, complex in practice, charter schools promise academic results in return for freedom from bureaucracy.” (Com. on Cal. State Gov. Organization and Economy, rep., The Charter Movement: Education Reform School by School (Mar. 1996) p. 1 (Little Hoover Report).)

Charter schools are a phenomenon of the 1990’s. With the Charter Schools Act of 1992, California became the second state to enact charter school legislation. (RPP Internat. & U. of Minn., A Study of Charter Schools, First-Year Rep., Of. of Ed. Research & Improvements, Dept. Ed. (1997).) Last year, the Legislature fine-tuned the program. Since the close of briefing, new provisions have been added.

Troubled by what they see as a multifaceted assault on the California Constitution, appellants aim to halt the march of the charter school movement in California through a facial challenge to the Charter Schools Act and Assembly Bill No. 544. They…