Charter schools say L.A. Unified is unfairly scrutinizing their campuses
price Young thought the worst was behind her, that her group's charter schools would be free to grow after straightening out the poor financial record-keeping that prompted a recent state audit.
She was wrong.
The school district still found fault with her organization's petitions to open new campuses. District officials told her to expect rejection.
Young's group, Magnolia Public Schools, eventually abandoned the effort.
Her experience is becoming more common as the Los Angeles Unified School District's administrators and board of education become increasingly resistant to greenlighting new charter schools.
Charter supporters say the district is unfairly scrutinizing their independently run campuses because it sees them as a threat.
At Tuesday's board meeting, members are poised to reject two new charters — this in addition to the three charter petitions that Young withdrew from consideration.
Since July 1, L.A. Unified has denied six petitions and approved five others, according to figures from the California Charter Schools Assn.
That's less than a 50% approval rate. Two years ago it was 89% and last year it was 77%, according to the association.
In a letter emailed to the board Monday, leaders of charter groups accused the district of obstructing their efforts to improve public education:
"We are concerned that this district is looking for reasons to prevent new charter schools from opening, even those proposed by the most respected, successful charter operators. Issues that in the past were seen as minor or correctable are now elevated to significant issues that somehow warrant denial."
Twenty-one charter organizations, enrolling 56,000 students, signed the letter, which continued:
"Given the measurable drop in approvals for new petitions, the inconsistent and non-transparent review processes, and the backroom pressure to abandon our efforts to grow, we all feel it is appropriate to bring these concerns into the light of day."
The school district has not analyzed its approval rate, said Jose Cole-Gutierrez, head of the charter-school division, and he denied any wrongdoing or change in policy.
"The process has remained the same, and the findings are there for the board and the public to review," he said. "Our office continues to be focused on quality for students and putting students first."
Charters' rapid growth — to about 101,000 students in L.A. — is responsible for about half of a precipitous drop in district enrollment and the funding that comes with it.
Charter operators said that families who want to take advantage of charters should not be thwarted. The charter association also points to regulations indicating that charters can't be blocked because of harm to the district budget.
The issue with Magnolia included problems with signatures on the petition and under-enrollment at some ofCharter schools say L.A. Unified is unfairly scrutinizing their campuses - LA Times:
