news-record.com

RALEIGH (AP) — North Carolina public school leaders are reworking their budgets after a court ruling that could force them to pay charter schools millions of dollars.

The state Supreme Court this month refused to review an appeals court ruling that said the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system undercounted how much it owed charter schools. School districts with charter schools are supposed to pass along a per student share of local education money to the independent public schools.

"The money that is going to be taken from them should have gone to the charter schools in the first place," said Richard Vinroot, the lawyer who represented five charter schools that successfully sued the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system. The former Charlotte mayor and Republican candidate for governor sits on the board of a charter school, The News & Observer of Raleigh reported today.

Vinroot said other charter schools in the state could ask for three years' worth of money from public schools.

Now other school districts around the state are examining how closely they followed Charlotte-Mecklenburg's practices and how much more money they will have to provide charter schools.

Wake County might have to provide its 13 charter schools an extra $1 million a year. Durham County's seven charter schools account for about 10 percent of the county's student population.

"Durham is the most severely impacted district in the state by this ruling," said Hank Hurd, Durham schools' chief operating officer.

The Supreme Court decision does not affect a separate lawsuit filed in September against seven school districts seeking local money for buildings, new buses and equipment.

Charter schools have open enrollment and don't charge tuition. But they are run by private boards and are exempt from many rules imposed on traditional public schools, giving them more flexibility to test learning techniques or focus programs on at-risk children. Only 100 charter schools are allowed to operate in North Carolina at any time.