Your donation will help us produce journalism like this. Please give today.

Currently, more than 64,000 students are enrolled in LA Unified magnet schools. That number is almost guaranteed to climb.

The application deadline to enroll in one of the district’s 191 theme-based magnet schools for the 2014-15 school year is fast approaching. Online information and applications are available at echoices.lausd.net, with paper applications available at local schools, city libraries and district headquarters. All applications are due Friday.

Magnet schools offer LAUSD students the opportunity for a specialized educational in areas such as business or the performing and visual arts. They were established in 1977 as part of a voluntary integration effort to diminish the harms of racial isolation, and they are once again in demand.

After four steady years of decline, the number of applications received by the District for the 2013-14 school year jumped to 63,916, up by more than 7,000 from the previous year, according to data provided by the district. Estelle Luckett, director of Student Integration Services, told LA School Report that the jump is largely a result of opening 12 new magnet schools and the implementation of the online application for the first time last year.

So far, the District has received more than 30,000 applications for the 2014-15 school year, 1,200 more than the District received by this time last year.

Previous Posts: Three-in-One Approach Gives Crenshaw a New Look for Success; Board Preview: Kayser’s New Magnet Proposal