HIGH ACHIEVING SCHOOLS STILL ENSNARED BY OPEN ENROLLMENT ACT

By Tom Chorneau, SI&A Cabinet Report – News & Resources http://bit.ly/1cVterW

Friday, August 16, 2013  ::  The state’s list of the 1,000 low-achieving schools subject to open enrollment was released earlier this month, absent for perhaps the first time the collective groan the announcement has prompted from districts in the past.

Adopted in 2009 as part of an effort to convince federal officials judging the Race to the Top competition of California’s commitment to changing the culture around failing schools, the Open Enrollment Act gave students attending one of the targeted sites the option of enrolling in a different school anywhere in the state with a higher performance record.

The original bill sparked significant controversy after the formula used to identify target schools also captured a large number of high performers. Although some steps have since been taken to limit the better schools’ exposure to the program, a quick review of this year’s list shows a reasonably large number with good test scores.

Indeed, the 2013 Open Enrollment list includes 84 schools that achieved the state’s target score of 800 or better on the Academic Performance Index. Another 226 scored 750 or better.

Recognizing the stigma attached to being included in the program, the California State Board of Education moved to rename the target list of schools simply Open Enrollment schools.

The board has also been sympathetic in granting districts some relief from the program through its waiver authority. As practiced, the SBE waiver allows districts with API scores of at least 800 to have their schools removed from the Open Enrollment Act’s list of low-performers.

While schools receiving relief are not subject to public labeling as “low-performing,” the waiver comes with the condition that the district honor any transfer request.

The law requires that no local educational agency have more than 10 percent of their schools on the list. There is also a ratio specified so that 68.7 percent (or 687 of the 1,000 on list) are elementary schools, 16.5 percent (or 165 of the 1,000 on the list) are middle schools, and 14.8 percent (or 148 of the 1,000 on the list) are high schools.

State law excludes juvenile court schools, county community schools, community day schools, and charter schools.  (emphasis added)

Districts with schools included on the new 2013-14 list must notify parents of their option to transfer in time for submission of an application by Jan. 1, 2014 – although the school district of enrollment may waive this deadline.

Within 60 calendar days of receiving an application from a student seeking to transfer pursuant to the Open Enrollment Act, a school district of enrollment shall notify the applicant and the school district of residence in writing whether the application has been accepted or rejected.

Related links:
Full State Open Enrollment List

LAUSD Open Enrollment Schools as listed

District	School Name	School Type	2012 Growth API
Los Angeles Unified	Central High	H	427
Los Angeles Unified	Communication and Technology at South Re	H	506
Los Angeles Unified	Youth Opportunities Unlimited	H	510
Los Angeles Unified	Social Justice: Global Issues Academy at	H	527
Los Angeles Unified	Performing Arts Community at South Regio	H	527
Los Angeles Unified	Social Justice: Fine and Performing Arts	H	531
Los Angeles Unified	Marlton	E	536
Los Angeles Unified	School of Communications, New Media and	H	544
Los Angeles Unified	Green Design at South Region High No. 2	H	558
Los Angeles Unified	Humanitas Art School at Roosevelt High	H	565
Los Angeles Unified	Academy of Medical & Health Sciences at	H	567
Los Angeles Unified	Crenshaw Senior High	H	569
Los Angeles Unified	School of Law & Government at Roosevelt	H	569
Los Angeles Unified	Samuel Gompers Middle	M	571
Los Angeles Unified	Teacher Preparation Academy at Valley Re	H	575
Los Angeles Unified	Horace Mann Junior High	M	575
Los Angeles Unified	George Washington Preparatory High	H	578
Los Angeles Unified	Social Justice Leadership Academy at Est	H	582
Los Angeles Unified	CIVITAS School of Leadership	H	584
Los Angeles Unified	Public Service Community at South Region	H	586
Los Angeles Unified	John C. Fremont Senior High	H	586
Los Angeles Unified	Thomas Jefferson Senior High	H	589
Los Angeles Unified	Charles Drew Middle	M	590
Los Angeles Unified	Sun Valley High	H	591
Los Angeles Unified	Manual Arts Senior High	H	593
Los Angeles Unified	Humanitas Academy of Art and Technology	H	594
Los Angeles Unified	Los Angeles Teachers Preparatory Academy	H	597
Los Angeles Unified	Helen Bernstein High	H	605
Los Angeles Unified	School of Engineering and Technology	H	607
Los Angeles Unified	David Starr Jordan Senior High	H	608
Los Angeles Unified	Barack Obama Global Preparation Academy	M	611
Los Angeles Unified	Santee Education Complex	H	612
Los Angeles Unified	School of Math and Science	H	614
Los Angeles Unified	William Jefferson Clinton Middle	M	618
Los Angeles Unified	East Los Angeles Performing Arts Academy	H	620
Los Angeles Unified	East Valley Senior High	H	621
Los Angeles Unified	Susan Miller Dorsey Senior High	H	624
Los Angeles Unified	Edwin Markham Middle	M	626
Los Angeles Unified	Arts, Theatre, Entertainment (ArTES) at	H	631
Los Angeles Unified	Forty-Second Street Elementary	E	631
Los Angeles Unified	Bret Harte Preparatory Middle	M	632
Los Angeles Unified	West Adams Preparatory High	H	632
Los Angeles Unified	Gardena Senior High	H	633
Los Angeles Unified	Orchard Academies 2C	M	633
Los Angeles Unified	Florence Griffith Joyner Elementary	E	633
Los Angeles Unified	City of Angels	H	635
Los Angeles Unified	George Washington Carver Middle	M	637
Los Angeles Unified	Edward R. Roybal Learning Center	H	642
Los Angeles Unified	Engineering and Technology Academy at Es	H	644
Los Angeles Unified	John Muir Middle	M	644
Los Angeles Unified	Woodcrest Elementary	E	645
Los Angeles Unified	Academy of Scientific Exploration (ASE)	H	645
Los Angeles Unified	Belmont Senior High	H	647
Los Angeles Unified	Los Angeles Senior High	H	647
Los Angeles Unified	East Los Angeles Renaissance Academy at	H	647
Los Angeles Unified	Academy of Environmental & Social Policy	H	648
Los Angeles Unified	Los Angeles River at Sonia Sotomayor Lea	H	648
Los Angeles Unified	Woodrow Wilson Senior High	H	648
Los Angeles Unified	Robert Fulton College Preparatory	H	649
Los Angeles Unified	Miguel Contreras Learning Complex	H	649
Los Angeles Unified	Academic Leadership Community	H	649
Los Angeles Unified	La Salle Avenue Elementary	E	651
Los Angeles Unified	ARTLAB at Sonia Sotomayor Learning Acade	H	652
Los Angeles Unified	School of Arts and Culture at Central Re	M	652
Los Angeles Unified	Huntington Park Senior High	H	653
Los Angeles Unified	Los Angeles School of Global Studies	H	653
Los Angeles Unified	Ambassador School of Global Leadership	H	653
Los Angeles Unified	Orchard Academies 2B	M	654
Los Angeles Unified	Carlos Santana Arts Academy	E	657
Los Angeles Unified	Business and Technology at Central Regio	M	657
Los Angeles Unified	Johnnie Cochran, Jr., Middle	M	662
Los Angeles Unified	Sun Valley Middle	M	664
Los Angeles Unified	Twenty-Fourth Street Elementary	E	667
Los Angeles Unified	Tom Bradley Environmental Science and Hu	E	667
Los Angeles Unified	Judith Baca Arts Academy	E	670
Los Angeles Unified	One Hundred Twelfth Street Elementary	E	671
Los Angeles Unified	Fifty-Second Street Elementary	E	671
Los Angeles Unified	Manhattan Place Elementary	E	671
Los Angeles Unified	Hollenbeck Middle	M	674
Los Angeles Unified	Miramonte Elementary	E	676
Los Angeles Unified	Sal Castro Middle	M	677
Los Angeles Unified	Robert Louis Stevenson Middle	M	679
Los Angeles Unified	Vista Middle	E	683
Los Angeles Unified	Southeast Middle	M	683
Los Angeles Unified	Washington Irving Middle	M	684
Los Angeles Unified	Angeles Mesa Elementary	E	684
Los Angeles Unified	Los Angeles Academy Middle	M	686
Los Angeles Unified	Mary McLeod Bethune Middle	M	686
Los Angeles Unified	Panorama City Elementary	E	686
Los Angeles Unified	Alta California Elementary	E	687
Los Angeles Unified	Henry T. Gage Middle	M	687
Los Angeles Unified	Weigand Avenue Elementary	E	689
Los Angeles Unified	Hillcrest Drive Elementary	E	690
Los Angeles Unified	Sixth Avenue Elementary	E	692