A state judge has cleared the way for a possible first-in-the-nation takeover by a charter school management group in the beleaguered York, Pennsylvania, school district.
In an order approved last week, the judge, Stephen Linebaugh of Common Pleas Court in York County, granted the state's request to appoint a receiver to oversee the York City School District for three years, according to
Education Week.
Pennsylvania's acting education head, Carolyn Dumaresq, told the
York Dispatch that the move "will begin the process of returning a high-quality education to the students and community of York City."
Local businessman David Meckley will control the receivership; he's been the district's chief recovery officer since 2012.
According to the
Daily Caller, Meckley has already outlined a plan to place all of the city's public schools under the control of Charter Schools USA, a Florida-based for-profit school management company that serves over 50,000 students at 70 schools across the country.
A total conversion to charter schools would be a first in the nation, the Daily Caller reports; only New Orleans, Louisiana, comes close, with over 90 percent of its students attending charters.
Meckley would be able to implement his plan unilaterally regardless of local opposition, and though he's expected to do so, he hasn't issued any comment since the ruling, the Daily Caller notes.
The district told the York Dispatch that it had appealed the order; the teachers' union, the Pennsylvania State Education Association, plans to appeal, Education Week reports. The Daily Caller reports that Democratic Gov.-elect Tom Wolf also opposes the plan.
Meckley was appointed by Republican Gov. Tom Corbett, who leaves office Jan. 20.
"York's citizens don't want this, the elected school board doesn't want this, and parents and educators don't want this," union President Michael Crossey said, Education Week reports.
"With less than a month left in his term, there was no need for the Corbett administration to take this step and undermine the wishes of York's citizens and their elected leaders."