Dive Brief:

• A San Fernando Valley charter school, Ivy Academia Entrepreneurial Charter, has won $7.1 million in a lawsuit against Los Angeles Unified School District after the district failed to provide the school with rent-free classroom space, a violation of state law; L.A. Unified is now expected to challenge the arbitrator's decision in Los Angeles Superior Court.
• The arbitrator who heard the case noted the district's failure to comply with the law had caused harm to children, since the charter school had to take money meant for educational programs and use it to lease a building instead.
• An attorney for L.A. Unified, David Huff, said that the reason the school district did not comply was because it didn't have space to offer the charter; Huff also pointed out that two leaders of Ivy Academia Entrepreneurial Charter were found guilty of the misuse of public funds in a criminal case related to building and property leases from April 2013. 

Dive Insight:

The news of the award comes at a particularly bad time for the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), which has been struggling with a variety of issues over the last year. Charter schools in particular have butted heads with district management and local officials over policy. Over 100,000 students in Los Angeles attend charters, and district resources are tight. 

In February, 21 pro-charter organizations came together in order to send a letter to the Los Angeles Board of Education, alleging the district had been "obstructing efforts to improve public education" because less than 50% of new charters were approved to open in fall 2016, as compared to 77% in 2015 and 89% the year prior. 

Echoing the current Ivy suit, the California Charter School Association also filed suit against LAUSD alleging $450 million in funding allocated by a 2008 bond measure for construction projects on charters hadn't been distributed as promised.

A private report commissioned by former superintendent Ramon Cortines noted LAUSD was “facing a looming, long-term deficit that could force the system into bankruptcy." The district is also currently juggling a federal investigation into a failed 1:1 iPad rollout that has been described as being "surrounded by secrecy."

New LAUSD Superintendent Michelle King previously talked to Education Dive about her appointment, her hopes, and how she plans to tackle problems like school segregation, charter fights and budget crunches in the district.