IN THE MAILBOX

Hannah at L.A.'s Coalition of Essential Schools responds to my question:

Wasn't there a referendum where parents and communities voted overwhelmingly against turning schools over to charter operators and in favor of teacher groups?

Mike: there was a parent/community advisory vote (along with about 15 presentation sessions by the applicants to their communities throughout LA). In some areas, primarily in east Los Angeles, the vote was overwhelmingly for the teacher or district proposals...in other areas of the city (e.g., central and south LA) it was mixed. Charter groups such as Para los Ninos and Camino Nuevo Charter that are connected to their communities were supported in the vote, and had their proposals accepted; others such as Green Dot that have more problematic issues (moivng out or not admitting special ed kids; fudging data, etc.) or have not engaged into specific community building were rejected by those communities, for the most part, I believe. The vote seemed to come down to quality of the presentations (some of ones I saw by the teachers were brilliant) and relationships. It was only the third step in a five part process: step 4 was the recommendations by the superintendent to the LAUSD Board, and (step 5) Tuesday, the LAUSD Board made its decisions (in some instances, not following S. Cortines' recommendations). Hard to make generalizations about LAUSD. Hannah (LA-CES)