WELLS v. ONE2ONE LEARNING FOUNDATION
Filed 8/31/06 (this opn. should precede companion case, S131807, also filed 8/31/06)
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF CALIFORNIA
JOEY WELLS, a Minor, etc., et al., )
)
v. )
et al., )
Defendants and Respondents; ) Super. Ct. No. S46-CV-5844
)
STATE OF CALIFORNIA, )
)
Real Party in Interest and Respondent. )
__________________________________ )
The Charter Schools Act (CSA; Ed. Code, § 47600 et seq.), as adopted by the Legislature in 1992 and since amended, represents a revolutionary change in the concept of public education. Under this statute, interested persons may obtain charters to operate schools that function within public school districts, accept all eligible students, charge no tuition, and are financed by state and local tax dollars, but nonetheless retain considerable academic independence from the mainstream public education system. Such schools may elect to operate as, or be operated by, corporations organized under the Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation Law. (Id., § 47604, subd. (a).)
Here certain charter schools, their corporate operators, and the chartering school districts were sued on multiple grounds by some of the schools' students and their parents or guardians. The gravamen of all the claims is that the schools--designed to provide and facilitate home instruction through use of the Internet (so-called distance learning)--failed to deliver instructional services, equipment, and supplies as promised, and as required by law. In effect, the plaintiffs assert, the schools functioned only to collect â€
