California School Boards Ass'n v. State Board of Education

In 2000, the voters of this state approved Proposition 39, which, among other things, amended Education Code section 47614 1 to require public school facilities to be shared fairly among all public school pupils, including those in charter schools. (Prop. 39, as approved by voters, Gen. Elec. (Nov. 7, 2000); § 47614, subd. (a).) This case considers the validity of various regulations adopted by the State Board of Education (State Board) pertaining to a public school district’s sharing of its facilities with charter schools. We conclude the challenged regulations are valid. We shall affirm the portion of the trial court’s judgment that upheld the majority of the challenged regulations and reverse the portion of the judgment that set aside several of the regulations.

*540 BACKGROUND

The Legislature adopted the Charter Schools Act of 1992 (§ 47600 et seq.; hereafter Charter Schools Act) to “provide opportunities for teachers, parents, pupils, and community members to establish and maintain schools that operate independently from the existing school district structure . . . .” (§ 47601.) The Legislature intended charter schools to be a means of (1) improving student…