NC school boards may owe charter schools millions

RALEIGH — 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 News & Observer of Raleigh reported Wednesday that other school districts are seeing 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.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)