Advocates voice 'grave concern' over LAUSD's review process for new charter schools
Charter school leaders are rallying behind applicants who hope to open a new charter high school, intensifying their accusation that Los Angeles Unified School District officials are playing politics with charter applications.
Leaders of 30 L.A. charter networks have signed a letter questioning district staff's recommendation that school board members deny a petition from Westside Innovative School House, or "WISH," to open a high school in the Westchester neighborhood, according to a draft of the letter KPCC has obtained.
The letter's signatories hold up WISH — which already runs an elementary and middle school nearby — as a model charter operator, writing that the denial recommendation "reinforces our grave concern that the credibility of the district’s charter petition review process is being undermined."
L.A. Unified staff said their denial is justified, saying WISH's existing charters are losing money and that its middle school has failed to meet agreed-upon enrollment targets.
But to charter advocates, it's more evidence to support their claim that L.A. Unified — concerned that a massive push to double the number of students enrolled in Los Angeles charter schools could hurt the district's finances — is beginning to unfairly deny applications to open new charter schools.
"One of the main attacks by charter opponents is that charter schools don’t serve students with special needs and they don't serve students with moderate to severe needs," said the California Charter Schools Association's Sarah Angel. "And here we have WISH trying to open a high school to serve all students, including those with moderate to severe needs, and the district is trying to find every small reason to recommend denial them."
Tuesday's session of the L.A. Unified school board could end up looking a lot like last month's meeting, where charter advocates, staff and board members debated the fate of four charter petitions at length.
The board accepted staff's recommendation to approve a charter application for Arts in Action Community Middle School. But they went against the staff's recommendations to approve El Camino Real K-8, and to reject charter applications from Partnership to Uplift Communities (PUC).
WISH's application is up for a board vote on Tuesday. The operator's elementary and middle schools are built around "full inclusion," which means all kids of all abilities Advocates voice 'grave concern' over LAUSD's review process for new charter schools | 89.3 KPCC:
