LAUSD Schools Face Bankruptcy While Charters Cheat on Admissions

LAUSD Schools Face Bankruptcy While Charters Cheat on Admissions:

LAUSD Schools Face Bankruptcy While Charters Cheat on Admissions

Through admissions policies that exclude vulnerable students by erecting various barriers to entry, charter schools have the potential to create a two-tiered system of public education.”

– ACLU and Public Advocates

The LAUSD Charter School Division (CSD) says that “a review of charter school pre- and post-enrollment forms is part of our oversight process”.  It is, therefore, unclear how these regulators missed the fact that both Granada Hills Charter High School (GHCHS) and El Camino Real Charter High School (ECRCHS) have admission requirements that appear to violate LAUSD policy, their respective charters, the California Education Code and federal law. These organizations rely on public funds to operate but appear to be screening out students who should have a right to attend. Some examples of this cherry-picking are as follows:

Homeless Students:

According to the LAUSD CSD’s own documentation, “charter schools are required to adhere to the provisions of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act and ensure that each child of a homeless individual and each homeless youth have equal access to the same free, appropriate public education as provided to other children and youths.” Under this federal law, students who are homeless have a right “to enroll in the public school serving the attendance area of their temporary residence.” Therefore, GHCHS policies requiring a “DWP Bill and [a] Gas Bill” and “parent/guardian driver’s license with the residential address” is improper as it provides a barrier to enrollment for students without a permanent address.

The policies at ECRCHS are even more stringent as they require “three consecutive months of original current gas AND electric bills with the same parent name and address at the top of the bill” and “parent/guardian identification [that] must match proof of residential address“. More troublesome is the policy that states that “ECRCHS DOES NOT ACCEPT SHARED RESIDENCES OR ROOM RENTALS“. This violates the rights of students whose economic situation dictates that they must accept these types of living situations.

National Origin:

According to the CSD’s own documentation, charter schools “cannot require students to submit [information about their birthplace] as a condition for admission without violating Education Code § 47605” which”requires charter schools to admit all pupils who wish to attend LAUSD Schools Face Bankruptcy While Charters Cheat on Admissions: