Expanded Charter Plan for L.A. Schools Approved

The L.A. Times tells the story of the idea, and of the opposition:

In a startling acknowledgment that the Los Angeles school system cannot improve enough schools on its own, the city Board of Education approved a plan Tuesday that could turn over 250 campuses -- including 50 new multimillion-dollar facilities -- to charter groups and other outside operators.

The plan, approved on a 6-1 vote, gives Supt. Ramon C. Cortines the power to recommend the best option to run some of the worst-performing schools in the city as well as the newest campuses....

The vote occurred after a tense, nearly four-hour debate during which supporters characterized the resolution as a moral imperative. Foes called it illegal, illogical and improper....District officials and others have said their ability to achieve more than incremental progress is hindered by the powerful teachers union, whose contract makes it nearly impossible to fire ineffective tenured teachers. Union leaders blame a district bureaucracy that they say fails to include teachers in "top-down reforms."

.....Bidders could apply to manage schools by mid-January. For the charter school operators, the biggest prize is 50 new schools scheduled to open over the next four years......

Charters are publicly funded but independently operated and free from some regulations governing the traditional administration of schools. They also are not required to be unionized.

Of course, then, teachers unions hate them. But the Mayor loves this whole idea:

Among those who could take advantage of the board action is Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who could use it to enlarge the 11-school effort run by a nonprofit that he controls. Villaraigosa, who helped elect a majority of the seven-member board, was an active participant Tuesday, speaking before more than 2,000 parents, teachers and others before the vote.

The L.A. school system did get one concession that the charter folk hated:

The final version included a provision that outside groups would likely contract with the school system for such services as cafeteria, custodial, maintenance, security and transportation. Some charter operators regarded this as a huge concession because they typically outsource these services to save money and say they get better attention from contractors than from the district.

The California Charter School Association can tell you more about what charter schools are and what they promise to do.

United Teachers L.A. plan to move forward given this plan they don't like passing:

While UTLA strenuously opposed opening the door to giving away District schools to private operators, the motion presents an opportunity: It says that groups both inside and outside LAUSD can submit proposals to run schools, and it was amended to give District support to internal teams of school-based stakeholders such as teacher collaboratives.

"If we seize this chance, we could turn this destructive idea into a more promising one," says UTLA President A.J. Duffy. "It could be the mechanism by which we free schools from top-down control in favor of school-centered, teacher- and parent-driven reform focused on the needs of our students."

Local news and politics blogger Ron Kaye writes in support of this pro-charter decision.

Previous City of Angles blogging on this idea as it percolated, and the forces arrayed for and against it.

(Photo by Robyn Beck/Getty Images)