Charter school ruling could cost city millions

From the Center for Education Reform newswire, an important court ruling in Maryland:

EXTRA, EXTRA - COURT SAYS CHARTERS ENTITLED TO EQUAL  FUNDING. This just in <http://www.edreform.com/dsp_getfile.cfm?emailclick&amp;fd=19795&amp;massemailid=967&amp;filepath=http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-te.md.charter31jul31,0,4500284.story> from Maryland's highest court:  charter schools are entitled to receive per-pupil funds from districts equal  to what districts spend on their own public school students. The 7-2 decision  was the result of an appeal of the Maryland State Board of Education's May  2005 decision, which ordered districts to follow the law's "commensurate"  funding language, by dividing the amount of money in a district equally over  the total public school student body and paying those per-pupil allotments -  minus 2 percent for administration - out to charter schools for each pupil  they educate. That's the right and fair way to do it, said every court that  subsequently heard the appeal, which districts had filed to try to get out of  the State Board's directive to support charter schools equally. The resulting  funding for Baltimore city charter schools will be close to $10,000 per pupil,  up almost a few thousand dollars from their current district-set formula.  
 
Add this case to the long list of states' highest courts  ruling in favor of charter school legality and equality...  

It's an outrage that public school students who attend one type of public school (a charter) are shortchanged to such a huge degree in so many states:

Last academic year, the school system's budget contained the  equivalent of more than $13,000 per child for all of its public schools,  though not all of that was directly spent on children. The city's charter  schools received $5,859 per child in cash and the rest in services.

Under a formula the city school board approved in May, the  charters will receive $8,415 per child in cash in the coming school year but  will assume employee benefits, a major responsibility that the system  previously covered.

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Charter school ruling could cost city millions
Maryland's highest court tells system to equalize funding, offer cash in lieu of services
By Sara Neufeld | Sun reporter  July 31, 2007  http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-te.md.charter31jul31,0,4500284.story
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The Baltimore school system could be forced to pay out hundreds of thousands of dollars - and eventually millions - to its charter schools under a ruling issued yesterday by the state's highest court.   In a 7-2 decision, the Court of Appeals affirmed the right of charter schools to receive as much money per pupil as regular public schools spend on their students. When the new academic year begins next month, Baltimore will have 22 charter schools serving about 5,400 children, more than in the rest of the state combined.