Court Invalidates Core of LAUSD’s Prop 39 School Site Exclusion Policy

In a major win for Los Angeles charter schools, a Los Angeles court invalidated the key provisions of LAUSD’s controversial effort to exclude hundreds of key public school sites from Proposition 39. In California Charter Schools Association v. Los Angeles Unified School District (June 27, 2025), a superior court judge found that the LAUSD’s policy violated the letter and intent of Prop 39 by deliberately and unlawfully favoring students attending district-operated schools over those attending charter schools. This outcome means that hundreds of school sites desirable for charter schools are again available for sharing under Prop 39—more opportunity for charters and the students they serve. 

What was the Policy?

LAUSD has benefited from Prop 39 by collecting more than $34 billion in school bonds to construct and improve school facilities, yet it has a miserable record for fairly sharing school facilities with charter schools as required by the voter-created law. In 2024, the LAUSD Board of Education adopted the controversial Prop 39 policy that favored its desire to keep certain school locations off limits to charter school competition. CCSA and others closely followed the development of the policy, and YM&C attorneys submitted letters opposing it. The policy blatantly favored District students over charter school students. Among other things, the policy directed District staff to “avoid” co-locating charter schools on campuses where the District is experiencing declining enrollment due to charter school competition, which the District and Court referred to as campuses where charter schools would “actively deter students from attending District schools.” The District also attempted to deliberately “prioritize” what it calls “Priority Schools”, Black Student Achievement Plan (“BSAP”) schools, and its own Community Schools. The District attempted to make it appear that its policy complied with the law by adding a savings clause that stated District actions would only be taken “as operationally feasible and permitted by law.”

The Lawsuit

CCSA sought to strike down the entire policy. Although the Court upheld certain site-safety aspects of the co-location provisions, it invalidated the key, controversial portions opposed by CCSA. CCSA challenged this policy as a facial violation of Prop 39, which requires school districts to share facilities fairly between district and charter schools, treat charter school students with the same level of consideration as district students, and provide charter schools with facilities “reasonably equivalent” to those available to other public school students.

The Court found that the controversial provisions have the effect of unlawfully prioritizing District students over charter school students; LAUSD’s use of the term “avoid” plainly functions as a prohibition, effectively preventing charter schools from accessing substantial portions of District campuses.

Real-World Impact for Charter Schools

This decision reopens “up to 346” school sites for potential charter school co-locations, in some of the areas most desirable for many Los Angeles charter schools. These are some of the most underserved communities in the entire District.  The decision significantly undermines the District’s Prop 39 policy by striking the controversial, highly subjective bases for excluding locations for charter schools. While the District will undoubtedly continue with other practices that make Prop 39 co-locations difficult for charter schools, it cannot create charter-free islands in particular communities or among student groups.  

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