We have reached such a low point that it is a news story if a school district resists turning its space over to charter operators.

In the past, one might have expected district leaders to fight for the students in their care, not to support privatized entities that want public space at no charge.

Surprise of surprises, the pushback now comes from Los Angeles Superintendent John Deasey and the board of LAUSD. They are opposing:

” a judge’s order to comply with a state law that requires districts to share space equally among public school students, including those in charters, saying that it would bring “catastrophic” results, lopsided class sizes, and may force busing of students.”

“But calling the order impossible, district officials have promised to fight the ruling, saying that it would require L.A. Unified to displace students from their neighborhood schools, forcing them to be bused elsewhere, and would dramatically skew class-size ratios in favor of charter students.

“Under the order, the ratio of elementary school students to class size would be 24 to 1 on the district side of the school but 15 to 1 on the charter school side, said LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy. Facilities such as computer labs, parent centers and specially designated classrooms would have to be removed to create space for charter students, Deasy said.

“I want to be very, very clear, this is not possible to carry out,” Deasy told the L.A. Unified school board at its meeting last Thursday.”

The law is the law. The judge is unlikely to back down, no matter what the harm to the hundreds of thousands of LAUSD students.

Still, one is surprised to see the charter-friendly LAUSD supporting its own students.