L.A. SCHOOL BOARD APPROVES WIDE-RANGING PACT WITH CHARTER SCHOOLS
--HOWARD BLUME | L.A. TIMES/LA NOW | HTTP://LAT.MS/FTL9HJ
November 30, 2010 | 7:08 pm - Financially struggling charter schools have secured a commitment for low-interest loans as part of a wide-ranging pact with the Los Angeles school system.
The agreement, approved Tuesday by the Board of Education, also sets up a fledgling though uneasy political alliance to raise new funds. Under it, charter schools and the Los Angeles Unified School District would campaign together to raise tax revenue--and then share the proceeds.
Charter schools are independently managed, free from many restrictions that govern traditional schools. About 10% of L.A. Unified students attend charters.
The agreement on low-interest loans would be groundbreaking in California, said Jed Wallace, head of the California Charter Schools Assn. The loans “are not going to cost the district anything, but yet it could help save the charter schools of Los Angeles.”
The loans would be especially timely because of the ongoing state budget crisis, particularly as the state has delayed substantial payments to schools for months.
The practice has caused a cash flow crisis for schools, putting an estimated 180 vulnerable charter schools across the state in danger of insolvency, said Caprice Young, the chief executive of ICEF Public Schools. The problems at ICEF, which operates 15 local schools, also stem from high debt and overspending, issues that resulted in the
