Charter School Sues District For $1.7M

PHILADELPHIA - The Walter D. Palmer Leadership Learning Partners Charter School announced Monday morning that it's suing the city's public school system.

The charter school wants $1.7 million from the Philadelphia School District.

Fox 29's Shawnette Wilson reported live Monday morning from Northern Liberties to explain why.

The lawsuit has resulted in a hearing that will be held Wednesday in Harrisburg.

The fight has actually been going on for years, and the founder of the school, Walter Palmer, said this is about school choice.

During a Monday morning rally and news conference at the school in North Philadelphia, Palmer said students won't have the choice they deserve if the school district and the state don't give them that $1.7 million.

The district wants to cap enrollment at 625 students. Right now, the charter school has more than 900 between two buildings.

Three years ago, the district reportedly began withholding tuition money based on the enrollment cap it wants.

Palmer said the school has struggled, breaking its own budget to keep kids at the school while all of this has been going on.

"I go for the children who, for the most part, nobody else wants," Palmer said. "We have 900 children. Seventy-five percent are black. Twenty-five percent are Hispanic/Latino. They come from 17 of the 18 poorest-performing zip codes. Seventy percent are single parents. They are facing drugs and alcohol and crime and arrests. Some of our children are homeless, and they come to school every day. And so consequently we've been able to make major changes in their lives."

Palmer went on to say that the district withholding money isn't about performance. He said the kids improved their math and reading scores the last school year.

Palmer believes the school district is doing this just to cope with its own budget problems. He claims the district is still getting that $1.7 million from the state even though the district isn't putting it toward his charter school.

Fox 29 called the district Monday morning for comment on this matter but did not hear back by the time the report aired at 11 a.m.