The Unguarded Hen House
-California Department of Education, 2013
“All students who participate in the ceremony must wear a cap and gown. After January 31,2015, caps and gowns are $60.00 (CASH ONLY) and are only available at Senior Clearance on June 3, 2015.”
-Granada Hills Charter High School
California taxpayers send more than $3 billion to privately operated charter schools every year. This money is supposed to be used to educate our children in a way that is consistent with the law, but there is little assurance that the money diverted from public schools is benefiting the students. Charter schools were supposed to bring more accountability to education, but local, county and state agencies lack either the tools or the will to provide the necessary oversight. This creates a situation where these schools are permitted to operate outside the boundaries of the law.
Like their public school counterparts, charter schools in California are prohibited from charging their students “a pupil fee...for participation in an educational activity.” When I realized that Granada Hills Charter High School’s cap and gown fee was a violation of this law, I notified them of the problem. While they did agree to refund the fee that I had paid, they refused to change their policies so that all parents would be made aware that caps and gowns would be provided without charge. To make matters worse, they announced that contrary to the law, they would charge students $30 for tickets over their allotment of four. Clearly, it was going to take an outside force to ensure their compliance with the law.
I first contacted the LAUSD about these issues on May 8. While the district had just increased the budget so that their schools could comply with this law, the The Unguarded Hen House - Change The LAUSD:
