DLC Bilingual Public Charter Sues Rhode Island Governor, General Assembly Leaders, Says Charter Moratorium Unconstitutionally Targeted the School and Blocks Bilingual Families From School Choice

News

Aug 7

On July 27th, the board of De La Comunidad Bilingual Public Charter School filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island challenging the recently enacted charter school moratorium. The Collective was proud to help create the proposal for this school and champion its approval. Read on for an update from the Collective’s Founder & CEO Victor F. Capellan, who is also a member of the school’s board of directors.

The board of De La Comunidad Bilingual Public Charter School filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island challenging the recently enacted charter school moratorium.

The complaint was filed against Governor Daniel J. McKee, House Speaker Christopher R. Blazejewski, Senate President Valarie J. Lawson, who also serves as president of the National Education Association Rhode Island teachers' union, and the Council on Elementary and Secondary Education.

The complaint argues that the moratorium unlawfully prevents De La Comunidad Bilingual Public Charter School from completing the authorization process and undermines the fairness, transparency, and consistency that families and communities should be able to expect from public institutions. It further alleges that the legislation was directed at the school's pending application and was motivated, at least in part, by opposition to the school's mission and the community it was created to serve, in violation of the United States and Rhode Island Constitutions and laws.

Rhode Island created a charter public school authorization process. De La Comunidad Bilingual Public Charter School followed that process, received a preliminary charter, and completed nearly all of the extensive requirements needed for final approval. Families invested their time, trust, and hope in this vision, believing the process would be fair and that the commitments made by the state would be honored.

Instead, after the school successfully moved through the state's rigorous approval process, the rules were changed.

This case is not just about De La Comunidad.It is about protecting the integrity of Rhode Island’s public process. It is about ensuring that when families and organizations follow the rules established by the state, those rules are applied fairly and equally. It is about an unshakeable belief that every child deserves educational opportunity.

De La Comunidad Bilingual Public Charter School was built by the community, for the community. Its name: De La Comunidad, meaning "of the community," reflects the families, educators, and local leaders who came together to create a school rooted in the needs and aspirations of Rhode Island children.

For more than eighteen months, those families, educators, and community leaders worked together to design Rhode Island's first K–12 dual-language, full-service community school, a school where students will graduate bilingual and biliterate while receiving the academic, social, and family supports they need to thrive.

We are deeply grateful to everyone who has stood with this vision. Your voices continue to demonstrate that Rhode Island families want greater educational opportunity and a stronger voice in their children's education.

We will keep you informed as this legal process moves forward. In the meantime, we will continue working to protect educational opportunity, uphold a fair public process, and ensure every child has access to the great public education they deserve.

Thank you again for standing with De La Comunidad Bilingual Public Charter School, Rhode Island Education Collective, and with the families who believe every child deserves the opportunity to succeed.