Dive Brief:
- A report by Susan Zoller of MGT of America Consulting, commissioned by United Teachers Los Angeles, presented findings about the annual cost of the city's charter schools to its school board, giving them a price tag of $500 million.
- Some board members suggested tabling a discussion of the report, since it will be contentious, while Superintendent Michelle King suggested holding a separate meeting in which the report will be discussed.
- The school board will now work on drafting a detailed response to the report, including an accounting of how the $500 million has affected traditional public schools in the LA Unified School District.
Dive Insight:
There's nothing new about the debate over the use of public money for charter schools that are, in some cases, privately operated. Over 100,000 students in Los Angeles attend charters, and the district's resources are stretched. Because this new report was directly commissioned by a teacher's union, many will be rightfully sensitive to anti-charter bias. It's unclear whether the Los Angeles School Board will fact-check the report or look for ways to contradict some of its findings.
In the past month, one San Fernando Valley charter school, Ivy Academia Entrepreneurial Charter, was awarded $7.1 million in a lawsuit against LAUSD. That decision was handed down after the district failed to provide the school with rent-free classroom space, a violation of state law. The district is now expected to challenge the arbitrator's decision in Los Angeles Superior Court. The California Charter School Association also filed suit against LAUSD alleging $450 million in funding allocated by a 2008 bond measure for construction projects on charters hadn't been distributed as promised.
And in February, 21 pro-charter organizations sent a letter to the Los Angeles Board of Education, alleging the district had been "obstructing efforts to improve public education" because less than 50% of new charters were approved to open in fall 2016, as compared to 77% in 2015 and 89% the year prior.
On top of ongoing controversy related to the charter schools, LAUSD remains at the edge of a severe fiscal crisis. A private report commissioned by one former superintendent warned that the district was “facing a looming, long-term deficit that could force the system into bankruptcy." The new report about charter school spending will likely exacerbate debate.