Teachers Union and School District are Appealing Court’s Decision to Keep Open Charter Schools Serving 13,000 Louisiana Children; Oral Arguments Set for Monday, February 29BATON ROUGE, La., February 24, 2016 – PublicSchoolOptions.org and Louisiana parents Jennette Franklin and Christin White-Kaiser requested leave of court to file an amicus brief in the case of Iberville Parish School Board, et al. v. Louisiana State Elementary and Secondary Education Board, et al. Franklin and Kaiser have children who attend Louisiana charter schools, some of whom are directly threatened by the frivolous lawsuit brought by the Louisiana teachers union and Iberville Parish School Board.The brief provides a voice for parents of children who could lose their school choice option and asserts the constitutional guarantees and rights of students attending public charter schools. It is critical that parent voices of children directly affected by the lawsuit be heard in the proceedings. The amicus can be found here.Last May, a District Court judge ruled in favor of Louisiana parents and students with a clear message: charter schools are public schools and the current funding mechanism established by the state can continue. In spite of the judge’s decision, which allows over 13,000 Louisiana children access to the school that works best for them, the teachers union and Iberville Parish School Board have pushed forward with an appeal in their continued fight to diminish options in public education in the state. Oral arguments in the appeal are set to begin on Monday, February 29 in Baton Rouge at Southern University.If the plaintiffs are successful in their suit, public funding would be discontinued to Type 2 charter schools in the state, which could cause those schools to close. Type 2 charter schools currently serve over 13,000 students in the Louisiana. Many of these students would be left without other public school options and sent back to a local school that has already failed to meet their learning needs.The brief strongly urges the court to take into consideration the children and families served by these public charter schools, which have been unrepresented in these proceedings.STATEMENT FROM CHRISTIN WHITE-KAISER:“As we await word from the court, we hope that parent voices will be a part of these proceedings. Our children stand to be directly affected by the outcome of this lawsuit, and as the ones who should be trusted to make educational decisions for our children, we ask the court to listen to parents and reject the union’s attempt to strip away parent choice.”

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