Arcadia Unified School District v. State Department of Education

*255Opinion

PANELLI, J.

We granted review to decide whether Education Code section 39807.5,1 which authorizes school districts to charge fees for pupil transportation, violates either the free school guarantee (art. IX, § 5) or the equal protection clause (art. I, § 7, subd. (a)) of the California Constitution. We conclude that the statute, on its face, violates neither constitutional guarantee.2

Facts

This case has its roots in an earlier case. In 1985, Francisco Salazar (the intervener in the present case) filed a taxpayers’ suit in Ventura County Superior Court against the State Department of…