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In the Los Angeles Charter School victory, the judge broke the broader Los Angeles unified policy that prevented charters (a school chosen by one of one in five public school students) from using classroom space on nearly 350 campuses.
The policy is expected to come into effect when the new school year is open in three weeks, effectively banning charter schools from moving to campuses with specific designations. Includes special programs for Black students, low-performing “priority” schools, and community schools with comprehensive services to address the needs of students and families within and outside classrooms.
Overall, about 346 of the approximately 1,000 campuses were outside the charter limit, a privately managed public school.
The ruling was fought fiercely by charters who said it had rejected a key element of well-known school district policy supported by a majority on the board, but denied state-accepted access to the public school facilities space.
“This is a victory for all public school families and a critical assertion of the rights of charter public school students across Los Angeles,” said Mirna Castrehon, president and CEO of California Charter Schools, who filed a lawsuit against Los Angeles Unification and its Board of Education.
“The court is grateful for LAUSD’s blatant attempt to exclude charter public school students from learning along with students from traditional district schools in communities that violate California law,” Castrehon said.
La Unified has 235 charters, more than any other school system in the country.
LA County Superior Court Judge Stephen I. Goorvitch supported some of the district policies. This is the point that the school system focuses on statements. LA Unified can restrict charter locations based on safety or capabilities issues.
“We are very pleased with most aspects of the court’s decision,” the statement said. The Charter Association “significantly mischaracterizes the plain language of both policy and last month’s ruling. We are firmly committed to serving the best interests of all students in our school community, while continuing to fulfill our legal obligations.”
The district has not decided whether to challenge the sentence.
The fight over access to schools has been a litigation for decades. But in the 1990s, before its legal denunciation, charter schools offered LA Unified escape valves for overcrowded traditional public schools. However, Charter met unions and other political opposition when they exercised their legal rights to use these busy public school campuses. Charters are mostly non-unionized and receive per-theft public funds, like traditional California public school students.
Charter growth, housing affordability, low birth rates and reduced immigration have reduced integrated registrations, down about 50% from the peak. Theoretically, classroom space should be available to everyone, but competition among the few students remains fierce.
And traditional school advocates say their campuses need more space to run an expanded set of programs that help students succeed. They say that the old formula for determining what can be handed over to the charter is unfair and undermines the important efforts of their work, especially black students’ achievement plans, priority schools and community schools.
However, many charter schools were state-designated community schools, and LA Unified took no action to protect their special status and mission.
Registration is declining rapidly in district-run schools, but charters are also closed or consolidated, with fewer students moving.
The ruling arrived at a particularly challenging time for both charter and district-operated campuses.
The Trump administration, although in favour of it, scrambled the equation. LA Charter School and the district are tying weapons together to protect immigrant students and their families. And federal budget cuts are affecting all public schools.
“You’re looking at federal funds… maybe you’re confused. This will affect some of our best children,” said Amy Held, executive director of Larchmont Charter School. And I think federal immigration enforcement “impacts attendance. It is affected by graduation. I think there is obvious fear. It is not healthy for everyone.”
During this sharing crisis, Charter Association Vice President Keith Delakira said. “This district has been a good partner for our school and our family…whether it helps us share and amplify resources; [or] I’m willing to call and discuss it. ”
What the law says
California law gives charter schools the right to public school facilities that are “reasonably comparable” to those available to other public school students. The law also sets up a process that allows charter schools to request space and pay rent to school districts.
The LA Uniform Policy, which was approved by the Board of Education in 2024, “preferring district schools over charter schools, and is too vague,” Gooervitch concluded in a June 27 ruling. “To the maximum possible extent, charter school needs must be given the same considerations as district-operated school needs.”
Charters leaders are worried that so many restrictions will force them to be forced to run their schools from two or more district-run campuses, rather than keeping students in one place.
A staff analysis for the school area examined some of these concerns.
“This could significantly limit the number of TK-12 school sites that could potentially be matched to fulfill the district’s legal obligations,” the analysis states. “There could be more multisite offers… this could lead to increased costs associated with renovation work to prepare for colocation.
Charter critics oppose the legal obligations imposed on public school districts to share campus spaces established by voter-approved Proposition 39 in 2000. They note that campus sharing is an ambitious provision of Proposition 39, which was promoted primarily to lower the threshold for passing voter-approved school construction bonds.
Proposition 39 does not allow charters to be banned from campus or provide the rest to campus space.
The sharing process is tedious and requires a restart every year. Over time, most charter schools made other arrangements. Some negotiated a multi-year shared deal with LA Unified.
From 2015 to 2016, LA Unified received 101 requests. From 2025-26, when it reached the grade, the district received 38 requests. This is a massive drop-off, but still represents over 9,300 students. Six of these charters must be operated from multiple district sites.
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