Legal & ELA
Legal Advocacy
CSBA’s Legal Department provides board members with information and resources that help them navigate relevant legal requirements and developments in an accessible and efficient manner. The department coordinates the activities of the Education Legal Alliance (ELA), which initiates and supports litigation in cases of statewide significance to all California schools. The department strives to provide current and useful information to CSBA members about developments in the law that affect local educational agencies. In 2025, that task took on a new urgency as the federal government took numerous actions that created rapid change and, at times, significant confusion for LEAs.
charter school
petition appeals
The reform of the process for appealing charter school petitions that have been denied by school district and county office governing boards to the State Board of Education (SBE) was a key part of 2019’s Assembly Bill 1505 (O’Donnell). Included in the reforms was a limitation on the authority of the SBE’s review of appeals of denied charter school petitions to a review of the documentary record to determine whether there has been an “abuse of discretion” by the local boards. The SBE failed to comply with the AB 1505 reforms when it reversed the denials of the Mayacamas Charter Middle School (MCMS) petition by the Napa Valley Unified School District (NVUSD) and the Napa County Board of Education (NCBOE) in September 2022. In January 2023, the ELA, alongside CSBA and ELA member NVUSD, filed a writ of mandate and complaint for declaratory relief against the SBE, asking the Sacramento County Superior Court to direct the SBE to properly follow AB 1505 and apply the correct standard of review. This is the first litigation regarding SBE’s limited authority to review charter school appeals under AB 1505.

After the ELA prevailed in the Superior Court, the charter school appealed. In an opinion issued on March 16, 2025, the Third District Court of Appeal upheld the Superior Court decision in the ELA’s favor, finding that the SBE erred in finding that the NVUSD and NCBOE abused their discretion when they denied the MCMS’s petition. Finding in favor of the ELA and the NVUSD, the Court of Appeal held that “the State Board’s determination was not supported by substantial evidence in light of the whole record and was arbitrary, capricious, and entirely lacking in evidentiary support.” The court held that both the district and county board acted appropriately when denying the charter school’s petition. Further, the court held that “[t]he State Board failed to properly apply the abuse of discretion standard of review as it was statutorily required to do.” This decision is a significant win for charter authorizers in California. It demonstrates CSBA’s and the ELA’s long-standing commitment to protecting local control for charter authorizers and ensures that the reforms of AB 1505 are lawfully implemented.

A gold and bronze Lady Justice statue holding scales stands in front of a blurred wooden background with a gavel.
Read the full ELA annual report here
other 2025
accomplishments
The Legal Department prioritized informing CSBA members of rapid changes, including on the following topics:
Close-up of a United States Immigrant Visa document showing "IV Case Number" and registration details.
  • Updated CSBA’s Legal Guidance on Immigration, contributed to CSBA’s FAQ on Immigration Enforcement in California Public Schools, informed CSBA members about the immigration legal landscape with a column for the spring issue of California Schools magazine and provided information during a webinar regarding Immigration Enforcement in Schools and to attendees at Coast2Coast and the Superintendents Advisory Council.
  • Wrote 15 articles for California School News and the CSBA blog covering issues such as the federal funding freeze and actions by the U.S. Department of Education regarding diversity, equity and inclusion; Title IX; Title VI and funding.
Close-up of a legal gavel resting next to the Great Seal of the United States featuring the eagle and "E Pluribus Unum" banner.
  • Monitored President Donald Trump’s executive orders and provided related information to CSBA members, including the Small School District Advisory Workgroup and the Superintendents Advisory Council, about the impact of those executive orders.
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