The St. Louis Public School System may have to fork over monies it withheld from the newly formed charter schools from 2000-2004. When the charter schools were first developed, the state had no other way to pay them but through the traditional school districts, and the school districts in St. Louis–and probably all over the state of Missouri–arbitrarily delivered funds to the charter schools, withholding $3.86 million in state funding.
Since the charter schools had been developed, the St. Louis school district has lost 10,000 students to the charter schools, leaving the district strapped for cash. The charters are independently run, non-district public schools, and the loss of student costs the St. Louis district $100 million per year in funding.
After a folly of letters were sent to the state department of education, the discrepancy between the charters schools and the public school districts went under review by the state. However, the state set the complaints to a low priority.
It was not until a charter school opened suit against the state that the state made it a priority. In the suit, the charter school asked the judge to force the state to make a decision about the back-monies. In November of 2009, Cole County Circuit Judge Patricia Joyce sided with the charter schools, but she did not tell the state how to make a decision; she merely insisted that the state come to a decision.
Tags: charter schools, money, st. louis