Opinion: Charter schools are draining LA’s public schools. That’s why I’m on strike
On paper, my school looks good: high test scores, 100 percent graduation rate, an award-winning journalism program (my humble brag) and the smallest comprehensive high school in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). But we fight a constant battle against low enrollment due to competition from charter schools.
Due to our school’s low enrollment, an English teaching position was cut halfway through the fall semester, leaving only two English teachers to teach some 330 ninth through 12th graders.
Inheriting a year-long class halfway through the school year isn’t ideal.
As the new spring semester began last week, I was assigned a new class to teach: 9th grade English. As a credentialed English teacher, I have been used to teaching a full day of introduction to journalism, newspaper and yearbook production. Teaching another course, which I haven’t taught in 10 years, brings me up to four different preps on top of an already demanding load.
I’m striking to stop charter schools from draining our schools. In addition to seeking lower class sizes, more counselors, nurses and librarians and a pay raise, the United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) is asking that LAUSD stop approving charter schools, which have seen a 287 percent increase in the district’s boundaries since 2008. The loss of enrollment across the district means a $600 million loss from our public schools every year. CONTINUE READING: Opinion: Charter schools are draining LA’s public schools. That’s why I’m on strike | PBS NewsHour
