Investigating and analyzing charter schools is becoming a greater burden for LA Unified, and the district isn’t getting any more money to do the work, according to a report presented today. “Charter-related work consumes the most amount of investigative resources due to the time-sensitive nature of the work and the monthly deadlines for board action on...

If members of the LA Unified school board agree on anything, it’s the financial threat posed by declining enrollment. The latest evidence: a 7-0 vote last week to oppose the Great Public Schools Now charter expansion plan. But what to do about enrollment, which is falling about three percent a year, is another matter, the difficulties...

The new executive director of Great Public Schools Now says a hostile LA Unified board resolution, angry union leaders or public opinion will not threaten the group’s goal to create successful schools, whoever’s in charge of them. If anything, said Myrna Castrejón, the widespread opposition to her organization, its plans and founder, Eli Broad, are...

Great Public Schools Now, the Broad foundation spinoff organization with plans expands charter schools in Los Angeles Unified, today named Myrna Castrejón as its first executive director. Most recently a senior lobbyist and political strategist for the California Charter Schools Association, Castrejón will led the new group’s investment in “high-quality public schools” to reduce the...

The LA Unified school board this week awarded, renewed or revised requests from 10 charter schools, and two applications for new schools were rejected. Some of the approvals came with specific warnings by board members to shape up. The charter approvals came at the same meeting that the board unanimously condemned the Eli Broad-affiliated group,...

The LA Unified board today put itself on record as opposing a proposal that originated with the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation to expand the number of charter schools in the district in the years ahead. By a 7-0 vote, the board made it clear that it would do what it could to discourage the...

Charter school administrators, alumni and parents appeared today at a morning meeting of the LA Unified school to oppose a resolution that will ask the board to condemn any threat to the school system through a proliferation of charter schools. “Resolutions like this distract us and are perpetuating harmful myths in the community,” Rachel Hazlehurst,...

The LA Unified school district is analyzing why certain charter schools operate on split campuses. In a report being presented to the school board at a meeting today, the staff found 24 charters using shared facilities on two traditional school sites, and one-third of them are divided among three sites. Representatives of LA Unified charters...

After three revisions, a resolution aimed at curtailing future charter school expansion in LA Unified is finally coming before the school board for a vote on Tuesday. While the measure is largely symbolic in that it cannot change policy regarding charter growth — that is a state matter — it’s a way to open a “difficult conversation...

The school board vote was simple, but the matter is far more complex, drawing a focus to an issue many within LA Unified find uncomfortable to talk about: classism. The issues involved in the Playa Vista Elementary School dispute are a microcosm of complexities within the second largest school district in the country. They involve...