At Birmingham charter school, relief and pride replace the booing
The high school had its ups and downs in its first year of separation from L.A. Unified, but the smiles on campus attest to success, however modest.
 A Class of 2010 graduate celebrates at Birmingham Community Charter High School in the Lake Balboa area of Los Angeles. (Stefano Paltera, For The Times / May 28, 2010) |
The year ended much as it had begun, with multitudes filling a sun-splashed football stadium to hear speakers offer words of hope and inspiration.
One big difference: No one booed this time.
It was less than a year ago that Birmingham High School in the San Fernando Valley received approval to pull out of the Los Angeles Unified School District and become a charter school — still publicly funded but with its own local leadership and budget.
The decision followed months of bitter infighting involving teachers, administrators, students, parents and the teachers union, with charges and countercharges flying between those who supported the charter conversion and those who opposed it.
It was a scale model of the larger battle being waged over charter schools nationally. Advocates, led by U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, believe charters offer the flexibility needed to reform American education. Foes, including labor unions and education traditionalists, see them as a boondoggle.
At Birmingham, the fight got personal.
Opponents predicted a financial and academic disaster if the school were allowed to go charter; proponents predicted that it would blossom once it was unshackled from the L.A. Unified bureaucracy and rules. Friendships splintered over accusations of character assassination and double dealing. When school began last August, students filed into the campus stadium for a somewhat listless pep rally punctuated by catcalls and boos.
On May 28, in the same stadium, the charter school held its first graduation. This time, there was unbridled jubilation — hardly a surprise, this being a graduation. But there also was widespread
One big difference: No one booed this time.
It was less than a year ago that Birmingham High School in the San Fernando Valley received approval to pull out of the Los Angeles Unified School District and become a charter school — still publicly funded but with its own local leadership and budget.
The decision followed months of bitter infighting involving teachers, administrators, students, parents and the teachers union, with charges and countercharges flying between those who supported the charter conversion and those who opposed it.
It was a scale model of the larger battle being waged over charter schools nationally. Advocates, led by U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, believe charters offer the flexibility needed to reform American education. Foes, including labor unions and education traditionalists, see them as a boondoggle.
At Birmingham, the fight got personal.
Opponents predicted a financial and academic disaster if the school were allowed to go charter; proponents predicted that it would blossom once it was unshackled from the L.A. Unified bureaucracy and rules. Friendships splintered over accusations of character assassination and double dealing. When school began last August, students filed into the campus stadium for a somewhat listless pep rally punctuated by catcalls and boos.
On May 28, in the same stadium, the charter school held its first graduation. This time, there was unbridled jubilation — hardly a surprise, this being a graduation. But there also was widespread
