By Friday, all California public schools need to have in place a system for complaints about potential violations of the state’s guarantee to a free public education, under a law passed last fall.
In essence, the law prevents public schools (including charters and other alternative public schools) from charging students mandatory pay-to-play fees for interscholastic athletics, among other educational activities.
Since the late 1800s, Article IX, Sec. 5 of the California Constitution has required the state legislature to “provide for a system of common schools by which a free school shall be kept up and supported in each district.” In 1984, the state Supreme Court ruled in