Scary: Up to 18% of LAUSD Students May Be Attending Charter Schools (some funded by Wallmart)

[amborin]

California charter school association gets $15-million grant
The grant is the largest yet to the California charter schools group and the biggest of its kind from the nonprofit set up by the founders of the Wal-Mart Corp.

The state charter school association has received a $15-million grant from the Walton family, the founders of the Wal-Mart Corp, to add 20,000 more charter school students in Los Angeles and 100,000 statewide. (Seth Perlman / AP Photo / May 16, 2011)






The Los Angeles Unified School District has more charter schools — 183 last year — and more charter-school students than any school system in the country, and that growth spurt is poised to continue despite countervailing pressure from reduced education funding and political resistance from teacher unions and other critics.

snip

Charters are independently managed and free from some of the restrictions that govern traditional public schools, including having to abide by a district's union contracts with teachers and other employees.

Wal-Mart has opposed unionization in its own operations, but the Arkansas-based foundation does not require charters that it supports to do likewise, although most charters are non-union. The foundation also supports providing government funding to allow low-income students to attend private schools; such publicly funded vouchers are not legal in California.

snip

The three-year charter growth targets, if successful, would result in
up to 18% of L.A. Unified students — about 110,000 — attending charter schools.
As charters have hired more teachers, the membership clout of United Teachers Los Angeles has shrunk,
with an increasing number of union-contracted teachers losing work at traditional schools.

snip

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-charters-20110823,0,4517250.story?track=rss

data shows LAUSD's traditional schools out-perform charters:

What works in education? Tests show LAUSD outperforms charters

After all the debate over teacher evaluation, class size, reading & math fundamentals, special ed, etc., what actually works in public education?
New test scores released Monday revealed surprising results: that the Los Angeles Unified School District not only held its own in math and English test scores, but in most cases outperformed schools run by four charter reform efforts.
What’s more, the district achieved the feat without outside funding brought in by reform groups to their schools.

snip

http://www.scpr.org/programs/patt-morrison/2011/08/19/20362/what-works-in-education-tests-show-lausd-outperfor

eta: Charter schools have tremendous leeway with curriculum content, and it's apparently not difficult to smuggle bias of one sort or another into the curriculum. What parent has the time to sit in their child's classroom and monitor what's being taught?

[The_Casual_Observer]

1. Freed from "having to abide by a district's union contracts with teachers and other employees"

This is the only thing that matters to Wall mart. It has nothing to do with educating children.

[amborin]

2. yes, union-busting, big time; but also troubling is the leeway charters have for smuggling bias

into the curriculum

there is fairly minimal oversight

[lindysalsagal]

3. So, California students will attend school with shoddy materials, under-funded

under-educated teachers, and really bad florescent lighting?

Wait till their parents find out the textbooks and curricula were written in 3rd world countries by child labor.

Can we sell Florida to cuba, yet?

[muntrv]

4. Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't charter schools also encouraging

re-segregation?

[madrchsod]

5. separate and unequal...thanks to duncan and friends

[marmar]

6. "some funded by Wallmart"

Preparation for the only jobs that will be available.

[Starry Messenger]

7. An "education" while wearing corporate smocks

and learning all about the glories of the invisible hand. Working class parents are going to get hit with this the worst. It's racial and class segregation. It's absolutely fascist and disgusting.

[amborin]

8. kick