Five Durham area public charter schools have had enough of the runaround over money owed them. They’ve sued Durham Public Schools for $1.2 million. From the News & Observer:
The charters claim DPS is using different formulas to determine how much money they receive and how much the district spends, per student. DPS bases its per student funding on enrollment at the beginning of the year but is paying charter schools based on their monthly numbers, the suit alleges.
A 2009 court decision in Charlotte, where the Sugar Creek Charter School sued Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, determined that the same per pupil funding formula should be used for traditional public and charter schools, said Philip S. Adkins, an attorney representing Healthy Start and Kestrel Heights.
The suit shines a light on the education establishment’s disdain for charters. Why? Because the establishment fears competition. In this brief interview from a few weeks ago, JLF Director of Education Studies Terry Stoops discusses the Sugar Creek decision referred to in the story.
