A charter high school in Los Angeles abruptly announced it was closing its doors One month after school began. It is closing because it couldn’t attract enough students. The school had a ninth and tenth grade but hoped to add two more grades. There was not enough demand.
Next time you hear about those elusive waiting lists–waiting lists of 3,000, 40,000, one million–to get into charters, think of this story.
City Charter Schools has a partnership with the charter school organization Bright Star Schools, which has offered to absorb as many students that wish to go there, Braimah said. In addition, school officials have identified “a long list of schools” that have openings to help students transition, she said.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
So there’s a long list of schools with empty seats.
Yet this is the report put out yesterday re CCSA and Pacoima Charter Schools. Michelle King, Supt., and a cast of thousands attended this event. Wonder how much it cost the taxpayers…or did Eli Broad foot the bill????
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Sept 17, 2016, 14:00 ET
News provided by
California Charter Schools Association
Rally in the Valley: More Than 2,000 Families Marched in Support of Charter Schools
March Celebrates the Birthplace of the California Charter School Movement and Rallies Support From Local Leaders, Educators, Parents and Community
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — More than 2,000 charter school teachers, students, families, supporters, and local representatives joined together today in Pacoima in the northeast San Fernando Valley for a march and rally to highlight the success and growth of local charter schools. The first annual Rally in the Valley, hosted by California Charter School Association Families, celebrated charters’ academic achievements in the birthplace of two of the first charter schools in the country. Today, the area’s network of about two dozen charters outperform neighboring traditional schools while serving the same socio-economically disadvantaged community.
The rally also called upon elected representatives in local and state government to support pro-charter policies, including the growth of high quality charters and other high performing public schools, better facilities for charter students, and an end to the politics and rhetoric challenging parents’ right to choose the best public school for their children.
“As parents, we want what is best for our kids, and for many of us that means we want charter schools,” said Jessica Aguirre, a parent at Youth Policy Institute Charter Schools. “We demand more high quality public schools of all types to choose from, not just here in the San Fernando Valley, but across Los Angeles.”
The day began with thousands of charter supporters marching down Herrick Avenue from two campuses – Vaughn Next Century Learning Center and Pacoima Charter Elementary School. The march was followed by a community rally, where speakers honored individuals who made those first charter schools possible, recounted success stories from parent and school leaders, and declared a call to action for elected officials, asking them to continue support for high quality public schools for all students. Speakers included Tony Cardenas, Representative for California’s 29th Congressional District, Monica Ratliff, LAUSD Board of Education, and numerous charter school parents, teachers, and graduates.
“This community shows us what is possible when charter schools are given the time and support they need to flourish,” said Jed Wallace, President and CEO of the California Charter Schools Association. “Families across Los Angeles need and deserve the same high quality public school choices that exist here in Pacoima.”
To learn more about the California Charter School Association and the achievements of local charter schools, visit http://www.ccsa.org.
About the California Charter Schools Association
The California Charter Schools Association’s vision is to increase student learning by growing the number of families choosing high quality charter public schools so that no child is denied the right to a great public education. Our mission is to ensure a million students attend charter public schools by 2022, with charter public schools outperforming non-charter public schools on every measure. We do this by serving as the advocacy organization that builds the policy environment needed to grow as quickly as possible the number of students attending high quality charter public schools. For more information, please visit our website at http://www.ccsa.org.
SOURCE California Charter Schools Association
Related Links
http://www.ccsa.org/
and once again…my comment with a link did not post….wonder how the gods of WordPress decide edit them????
this is only a test….
That’s what’s confounding about the Broad-Walmart plan to add 300 new charters to Los Angeles.
I spoke with someone who works in LAUSD’s charter division, and he told me that in the last four years, prospective and approved charter schools have way overestimated the number of students that would be attending their schools. In each of these schools charter proposal, operators have some cockamamie method for calculating what the demand will be — very unscientific and inaccurate, obviously. Again, in the last four years, the new charters that have opened have been fallen anywhere between 30-70% short of their estimate. There’s saturation.
A couple years ago, there was a new Alliance charter school in the valley that claimed it would enroll 300 students, and it only got 70.
It’s like you want to say, ‘Hey charter industry. We’re all stocked up in LAUSD! Go sell your wares elsewhere.”
The charter industry’s response has been predictable. In their marketing to parents, they simply trash the traditional public schools with every lie (our teachers are all fully credentialed… we’re just like a rich kids’ private school, only tuition’s free), scare tactic (traditional schools are full of gangs, assaults, rapes, etc. ), and bogus statistics/promises (attend here and your child has a 93% of graduating college) that “proves” charter superiority… every lied they can come up with, they throw at people.
However, there is often dissonance on the part of the parents, who have older siblings, relatives, or the parents themselves who attended the school being trashed.
They think, “You know, my older/oldest (or I myself) went to ____ Elementary / Middle School / High School, and we really loved it, and we really loved the teachers. He/She iss currently attending Cal State (L.A., Northridge, etc.) What the-hell are you talking about?” OR “I know parents whose children were kicked out of charters for frivolous reasons, and they’re not happy about it. Why would I risk that with my child?”
Jack: thanks for the info.
As usual, the LATIMES is so busy rebranding itself to a Rheephorm 2.0 version that it doesn’t have time for its reporters to, er, actually find out stuff and report it.
Like what you found out.
😎
When the Times announced this charter scam’s closing, the reporter didn’t mention it was a charter. It was called a high school.
It keeps getting worse, but in the 30+ years I’ve lived in the Los Angeles area I’ve never seen any success in LAUSD. Just propaganda.
As long as the state keeps feeding LAUSD with huge funding these ‘bad guys’ du jour will keeping pocketing the money for their current scheme.
Latest brilliant idea is to spend $5 Million on free community college for qualifying students.
Who’s funding this one? So are the ‘bad guys’ now invading community colleges?
Worryingly, the game of funding any schools — from preschools on up to community colleges — is now ever more likely to be connected to TESTING, and a subsequent decision about scores being acceptable enough to continue future funding. In other words, “Educational Institution: ONLY accept students who will perform acceptably well or we will stop supporting your cause.” Elitism, culturalism and segregation in action.
Nothing new, move along, no need to gawk at the wreckage.
So how’s that school choice working out for you? Supposedly parents will vote or choose with their feet but not when a charter school closes overnight without any warning. This is a scandal and a travesty. It is not that uncommon that these charter schools abruptly close down when school is in session or just before school starts, leaving hundreds of kids, parents and teachers in the lurch while shifting the burden to the real public schools which must absorb all these kids posthaste.
A week ago I helped a friend who wanted to buy a youth mattress. He selected Walmart as the pickings were rather slim.
The online order said the item would be ready the next day as the item was being stocked over night.
The next day, the order was not ready when it said it would be.
The worker at the store said it might be back in the stock room, but there was a lot of stuff in the way so it would be a while.
The online order read it was ready at 3, but still “processing.” Three days later, it was still listed as “processing” but would be ready by 3 three days ago.
So much for the Walmart business model.