Four lawsuits in two years. Three filed and lost by the Mount Vernon Board of Education in New York. One filed and won by the Amani Public Charter School. The Amani Public Charter School was approved to open by the NY Board of Regents in December 2010, but has never found a collaborative partner in its local school district. Rather, quite the opposite.
The local school board, the Mount Vernon Board of Education, sued the public charter school three separate times between October 2011 and September 2012 – efforts designed to stop the school from operating. Adding insult to injury, the local district also refused to pay the public charter school the state and federal funds to which it is entitled by New York state law. This illegal withholding pushed Amani into a very precarious position. In order to serve the students enrolled in its school, 70 percent of whom are free-and-reduced-lunch eligible, the school had to wait for the state to make funds available, a lengthy process which often forced the school into debt and left its supporters wondering if it could weather the financial storm. In effect, the local school district was achieving through an unlawful practice what it could not through the courts. Even after losing its third-straight legal battle with the school, the local district still refused to make the legally required payments to the school, ultimately forcing the school to sue the school district for blatantly violating the law. Confronted with the lawsuit from the school, the district did not dispute the allegations. Instead, in early July they settled the lawsuit, which requires the district to pay the school all outstanding and future funds. On July 26, 2013, the school received direct payment from the district for the first time. Sadly, this type of district interference is not uncommon. Recently, Atlanta public charter schools were forced to sue their school district, Atlanta Public Schools, when it illegally withheld funds from charters to pay its own debts. The Atlanta charters scored a clear victory in trial court, and the case is now before the Georgia State Supreme Court. It would be easy for charter school leaders to just give up when facing such an uphill battle, and understandable if they did. The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools applauds the unrelenting commitment by Amani Public Charter School to its students and community. Renita Thukral is the vice president of legal affairs at the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools Learn More: Reporter Newspapers: APS Superintendent recommends denial of Atlanta Classical charter Daily Voice: Mount Vernon Charter School Moves Closer to Being Financially StableLohud.com: Mount Vernon cuts first check to Amani charter school
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