by Erica L. Green
Baltimore Sun
October 6, 2015
The legal battle over funding for Baltimore city charter schools gained three more complainants Tuesday, bringing the number of schools now suing the city school system to 14.
Last week, Baltimore Montessori Public Charter School, Creative City Public Charter School, and Empowerment Academy all joined in alleging the district has lacked consistency and transparency in how it allocates funding to their schools.
KIPP Baltimore, part of the high-profile, national KIPP charter school network, also announced last week that its three schools would join in filing suit.
The new additions come as the city council prepares to probe the district at a hearing Wednesday about its plans for funding charter schools.
The hearing was spurred by a resolution introduced by Councilman Bill Henry that called on the district to reconsider a proposal that would have reduced the budgets of several of the schools. It also calls on the district to fund charters per the state’s charter law — which the district says it cannot afford.