LITIGATION NEWS
Schulman, Lopez & Hoffer, LLP (SLH), filed suit on behalf of American YouthWorks, one of the six charters facing closure, in Travis County District Court, challenging Senate Bill 2 and the TEA’s actions as unconstitutional and a violation of American YouthWorks’ constitutional and corporate due process rights.
SLH was successful (along with counsel for the other schools) in seeking a Temporary Injunction from the Trial Court of the TEA’s closure order, staying the revocation and setting trial for November 2014. However, the State is attempting to circumvent the Trial Court’s Temporary Injunction. In doing so, the State has made significant legal arguments that shake the very foundation of our charter school system.
Specifically, the Texas Education Agency and the Commissioner of Education have argued that charter schools are governmental units for all purposes, and as such, possess no constitutional rights, such as property rights and rights to due process, rights that are ordinarily enjoyed by corporations, rights that as recently as August of 2012, were even recognized in sworn testimony by the former Commissioner of Education, Robert Scott.
Thus, the TEA is now arguing that charter schools are bound by all laws even those laws that may be found to be unconstitutional. The State now claims:
As a governmental entity, a charter school has no rights under the Texas Bill of Rights and it has no vested right in its own existence.
. . .
As governmental subdivisions, charter schools are not “citizens” or “persons” within the meaning of the Texas Bill of Rights and [cannot] “use the sword of the due-process-of-law and other provisions of Article I to invalidate the laws that govern them.”
And this is not merely argument. The State is asking the trial court, and will, if required, ask the Texas appellate courts, to rule definitively that the above statements are the law. Should they be successful, the State will have effectively stripped Texas charter schools of their unique status as nonprofit corporate persons, eliminating their corporate property and due process rights. This, we strongly believe, will erode and undermine the very foundation of the charter school movement in Texas, and the independence and freedom that was intended for Texas charter schools when the movement began.
The State’s clearly stated position is significant, not just to those schools facing closure this year or the coming years, but to all Texas charter schools.
1) Learn about American YouthWorks and why its charter school should not be revoked and closed: http://www.americanyouthworks.org/saving-our-school
2) Learn about Honors Academy and why its charter school should not be revoked and closed: http://www.honorsacademy.org/
3) Learn about Azleway Charter School and why its charter school should not be revoked and closed: http://www.azlewaycharterschool.com/files/UploadedDocs/Message_From_The_Superintendent.pdf
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