Dive Brief:

• A New Jersey appeals court ruled unanimously in favor of the state Board of Education Wednesday, giving the board the power to bend existing charter rules and open new campuses for already existing networks.  
• The ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed by the Education Law Center and Save Our Schools, who argued that a 2012 change in the approval process of charter schools should require the OK of the legislature.  
• The two groups feared that change would make the charter approval process too swift and allow unqualified schools to swoop in, bypassing the typically challenging application procedure.  

Dive Insight:

Under the decision of the appeals court the state Board of Education has the ultimate say, and while charter schools will still need to go through the rigorous application process if they want to open in new districts they only need the Board of Education's thumbs up if they want to expand in the same district.