Source: San Francisco Chronicle
By: Jill Tucker
Date: January 29, 2015
Jill Tucker of The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the California Department of Education has confirmed that requiring parents to volunteer or contribute financially, as stated in dozens of charter school parent contracts, is a no-no.
The Department of Education “‘has confirmed that policies mandating minimum hours of parent volunteerism or financial contributions are not legal and could lead to inequity, excluding some of our state’s highest-need students from high quality educational opportunities,“ said Hilary Hammell, attorney for the civil rights advocacy firm Public Advocates, which identified the problem in November.
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The California Charter Schools Association agreed with Public Advocates attorneys and worked with them and state officials to provide clear direction to traditional and charter schools to prevent the practice.
