Ruling soon on charter school act

Charleston County school leaders soon may know whether they will be required to spend millions of dollars more annually on the district's charter schools.

Circuit Judge Roger Young heard arguments Tuesday about whether Act 189 -- legislation applicable only to Charleston County -- is constitutional.

Statewide law calls for charter schools to pay their bills with an amount of money determined by a formula, but local law requires the school district to give to charter schools anything that it would provide to any other public school.

Armand Derfner, who represented the district, told the court that the special legislation for Charleston conflicts with and supersedes state law, making it unconstitutional. Attorneys for state officials countered that such legislation is permissible.

If Young rules that Act 189 is constitutional, the school district would be mandated to cover more of its charter schools' expenses, such as those for buildings and transportation. Those costs likely would add up to several million dollars, which would leave less money in the district's general operating fund for the district's non-charter schools.

The ruling also could have statewide ramifications; other districts are watching closely to see whether this kind of law will hold up in court.

If Young strikes down Act 189, local charter schools would continue paying operational costs, such as rent, from the same pot of money that also goes toward its classroom expenses. Many charter schools either struggle or fail to open because of the difficulty in securing an affordable building.

During the hearing, the judge asked both sides to submit proposed orders within 45 days, and he also asked for the state of South Carolina to be added to the defendants.

The district had specifically named the governor, the speaker of the House and the president of the Senate in their official capacities, and Young said he wanted to make sure the proper parties were included.

The first part of the hearing was spent discussing a motion filed by the defendants' attorneys to dismiss the case. They told the judge that their clients weren't the appropriate parties to sue; Young responded by asking them who the defendants should have been. He told the attorneys that, at some point, the constitutionality of Act 189 would have to be decided.

Attorneys spent the second half of the hearing explaining their position on the local law. Young directed his questions afterward toward Emory Smith Jr., the assistant deputy attorney general representing the governor.

He told Smith that the S.C. Constitution states that everyone needs to be treated equal, and he questioned whether Act 189 was a deviation from that principle.

Smith said it wasn't because the state Supreme Court has recognized the General Assembly's right to provide support for public schools through laws applicable to local school districts.

Derfner told the judge that the case boiled down to a general state law and a special, local law that conflicts with it. When those laws contradict, the constitution makes it clear that the general law prevails, and no one can deny the conflict in this case, he said.

School board Chairwoman Ruth Jordan said afterward that she hopes the district finally gets a decision on the issue. She said she felt good about the chances for a favorable ruling.

Mary Carmichael, executive director of the state's Association of Public Charter Schools, also attended and said she too felt optimistic about the case's outcome. She said Act 189 makes funding for charter schools in Charleston more equitable.