By Connie Llanos , Daily News Staff Writer | http://bit.ly/fd3CHg
3/01/2011 07:41:22 PM PST - With little fanfare, Los Angeles Unified lost one of its crown jewels to a growing reform movement Tuesday, as El Camino Real High School was approved for charter conversion starting this fall.
The school board approved El Camino's move by a unanimous vote with no discussion.
The Woodland Hills school - which holds the national record for U.S. Academic Decathlon championships, maintains top test scores and boasts several city athletic titles - is the latest in a string of LAUSD campuses to opt for freedom from district regulations by shifting to charter status.
The school also expects to qualify for at least an additional $415,000 in annual state funding under the formulas used for charters.
"This is not about having any animosity with the district ... this is a financial decision," said El Camino principal Dave Fehte.
"This will allow us to continue to be a really good school and to move beyond that."
Like many district schools, El Camino has been pummeled with budget cuts for the past three years, losing teachers, counselors and office workers. School leaders say becoming an independently run charter school is the only way to preserve its quality programs.
The school's faculty voted overwhelmingly in favor of the transformation last year, and it has been largely supported by parents and the community.
Already, 23 LAUSD schools have converted to charter status - about half are located in affluent suburbs and one-third in the San Fernando Valley.
An additional two Valley schools - Sherman Oaks Elementary and Sylmar High School - submitted their initial applications on Tuesday to also convert to charter status.
Some of these schools, like El Camino and Sherman Oaks, fail to qualify for many state and federal grants awarded to schools with needier students because of their location in more affluent communities.
Like traditional schools, charter campuses are run with taxpayer money, but receive funding through different formulas, which can lead to more money in some cases.
El Camino officials hope to use their expected $415,000 in additional funding by re-hiring staff and continuing academic programs.
"We have been an excellent school and we will continue to be an excellent school," said Shukla Sarkar, who has been an El Camino teacher for 25 years.
The flexibility to make decisions about their budget locally, free from most state and district mandates, also makes it enticing for many schools to convert to charter status.
District officials had tried for the past two years to prevent El Camino from converting to charter status, but in the end recognized the arguments that the move would bring more money and stability to the campus.
School board member Tamar Galatzan said the trend of charter school conversions, especially in suburban communities, should concern district and state officials.
In California, school districts receive their state funding based on student enrollment. As more schools convert to charters, large districts like LAUSD lose more kids - and more funding.
"This should sound the alarm bell for school districts and California about the direction our public schools need to take in order to survive," Galatzan said.
Galatzan said she would like to see the state loosen its regulations on how to fund traditional public schools, giving districts charter-like flexibility to spend money.
"The experiment worked," Galatzan said, referring to the funding changes that the state approved for charter schools.
"So now let's roll it out to all schools."
But even while approving new charter schools, district officials on Tuesday also moved to close down eight charter schools, including six where principals and teachers were found to be cheating on state tests.
The school board voted 6-1 to close six Crescendo Charter campuses, which operate in South Los Angeles and the South Bay.
The board also voted to close Cornerstone Preparatory Charter in South Los Angeles, for low academic performance, and Wisdom Academy for Young Scientists in South Los Angeles for an apparent conflict of interest.
Over the last year, LAUSD has had several issues arise with charter schools operating within its boundaries, including two issues with the misuse of public funds at charter schools in the San Fernando Valley.
At Ivy Academia in Woodland Hills, the husband and wife who operated the school were indicted on more than 30 counts of fraud and embezzlement, which they have plead not guilty to.
The principal of NEW Academy Canoga Park also pleaded guilty to embezzling some $1.3 million and was sentenced to five years in state prison.
In both cases the schools were allowed to stay open, despite state law that requires higher levels of accountability for charter schools.
Galatzan said in the two San Fernando Valley cases, the board of directors of both schools acted swiftly to remove the officials accused of wrongdoing.
No comments:
Post a Comment