A Failing Charter Gets a Pass

A Failing Charter Gets a Pass:

A Failing Charter Gets a Pass

BREAKING NEWS:

NPE Action endorses Carl Petersen for LAUSD School Board

"Carl Petersen is a...strong supporter of public schools"

-Dr. Diane Ravitch

Former Asst. Secretary of Education

We cannot truly have the impact charters were intended to have – to reinvent public education – if we do not close those charters that have demonstrated an inability to meet the challenge of excellence and chronically underperform.”

– California Charter School Association (CCSA)

According to the statistics provided by the CCSA, View Park Middle School (VPMS) appears to be accelerating towards failure. In 2015, the charter’s Similar Students Rank was a mediocre four out of ten. Last year, it dropped to a one out of ten. Included in a “Findings of Fact” dated January 10, 2017, the LAUSD Charter School Division (CSD) noted that, on the 2014-15 SBAC assessment, only 5% of VPMS’ students met or exceeded the performance standards in math. In 2015-2016, this dropped to 3%. In both years, 0% of students with disabilities met or exceeded these standards. These statistics are part of the reason that the CSD found that VPMS “has presented an unsound educational program” and recommended that the LAUSD Board deny its renewal petition. With a 4-3-0 vote, the Board ignored this recommendation and the charter will continue to operate.

With their votes, Mónica García, Ref Rodriguez, George McKenna and Richard Vladovic showed that they cared so little about the students of VPMS that they will allow them to continue to receive an inferior education. They also caused the LAUSD to become complicit in an organization that has demonstratively ignored the needs of our most vulnerable students. Like large charters in the valley, VPMS is another organization where cherry-picking is an A Failing Charter Gets a Pass: