STUDENTS PROTEST PLANNED CLOSURE OF GREEN DOT CHARTER SCHOOL

By Howard Blume – LA Times LA Now blog

March 22, 2010 |  5:01 pm -- About 400 students took part Monday in a peaceful sit-in and walkout to protest the scheduled closure of their South Los Angeles charter school at the end of the academic year.

The school, Animo Justice Charter High School, is operated by Green Dot Public Schools, one of the city’s best-known charter operators.

Green Dot officials said the school was losing too much money because of under-enrollment and said students would be able to enroll at other Green Dot schools in the area. They also said Green Dot teachers in good standing would still have jobs.

Animo Justice would be the first Green Dot school closed by the rapidly growing nonprofit, which runs 19 schools in the L.A. area and one in New York City.