Despite lawsuits that threaten financing for charter schools, local officials are hopeful the Louisiana Supreme Court will rule to keep funds flowing to their schools.
Gene Thibodeaux, president of the Lake Charles Charter Academy Foundation, said Monday that pulling funding for local charter schools would impact nearly 2,000 students. But he said he is confident the Supreme Court “will rule by the method that charter schools are funded.”
“If that doesn’t happen, we are confident of two things — that there will be a legislative fix or that there may be private grants to replace those funds that might be lost,” Thibodeaux said.
Thibodeaux said there isn’t an alternative financing plan in place. He said he could not imagine that “the leadership of Louisiana would allow students in our schools to go back to a system that has failed them.”
“That would be morally irresponsible to those students,” he said.
Although he acknowledged the process would be highly competitive, Thibodeaux said there are philanthropic groups around the country that strongly believe in having “parental choice” when it comes to deciding on schools. If there is a need, he said the charter schools would approach those entities for possible financing.
Henry Mancuso, executive secretary for the Charter Schools of Lake Charles, said he is confident the court will rule in their favor. However, if funding does get pulled, he said officials “would approach the Legislature for direct funding.”
“But with all of the budget cuts the Legislature is already dealing with, that’s an option that probably would not work for us,” Mancuso said.
Some education officials and the Louisiana Association of Educators have argued in lawsuits that funding state-chartered schools through a formula designed to pay for local school districts violates the state Constitution. The 1st Circuit Court of Appeals agreed in a 3-2 decision, overturning a prior ruling that the charter financing was legal.
The court this month agreed to delay the impact of the ruling while the case makes its way to the state Supreme Court. At stake is about $80 million in funding for more than 40 Louisiana charter schools.
State lawmakers could decide to fund charter schools separately, but that would require full state financing rather than paying for the schools with a combination of state and local tax dollars. The option would impact the state’s operating budget and its existing financial problems.
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