Pa. High Court Says Phila. School District Off the Hook For Overenrolled Charter
By Mike DeNardo
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- It's a victory in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court for the School District of Philadelphia.
The state's high court has ruled that the district does not have to pay the Walter D. Palmer Charter School for more students than the school agreed to.
The court overturned a Commonwealth Court ruling that said the district had to give the charter $1.3 million for enrolling more students than the cap of 675.
In his opinion, Justice Seamus McCaffery wrote that there was no dispute that the school agreed to the cap, and that the charter "intentionally failed to abide by the legally binding agreement it had signed."
State law bans enrollment caps unless charters agree to them -- something the district has been trying to negotiate with charters.