CHARTER BACKERS WATCH GRANADA HILLS.

Byline: Helen Gao Staff Writer

After winning a hard-fought political battle for independence last week, Granada Hills High now finds itself in the national spotlight representing a major turning point in the thriving charter school movement.

With 3,850 students, Granada Hills is the largest conversion charter school in the nation. A high-performing school located in an upscale community with a significant portion of white students, it embodies the shift of charter schools from their traditional base in heavily minority, inner-city neighborhoods to affluent suburbs.

It has a year to prove what it can do.

Because of its student demographics, Granada's charter has fueled intense political debate with overtones of race and class warfare. While foes condemn the school's independence drive as elitist, defenders have countered with charges of reverse racism.

``Frankly, the whole national charter movement is, in some ways, riding on Granada Hills High School's success,'' said school board president Caprice Young.

If Granada succeeds, ``I think it's going to be used as a model for the rest of the country,'' said Anna Varghese, director of external affairs for the Center for Education Reform, a Washington, D.C., organization that tracks the charter school movement across the country.

``This is the first time we have seen the issue get so much publicity and visibility, so it's great we could use this situation as an example of hey, look, there are great schools that want to do better.''

Under its charter, Granada has one year - instead of the five years it asked for- to prove that it can do better on its own.

If it fails, observers say it will give charter school opponents the ammunition they need to quash the rapidly growing independence movement.

``We are not going to fail. We are going to succeed,'' said Granada Hills teacher Stephanie Schwartz, who has worked for the district for 33 years.

``We are going to be the light at the end of the tunnel for LAUSD and other schools in other districts across the nation.

``If we can do it, so can other schools. We need to show them we don't need downtown. We can do it on our own.''

In the last 10 years, more than 50 charter schools have sprouted up throughout Los Angeles, siphoning off about 30,000 students from LAUSD.

In a few years, the Los Angeles County Alliance for Student Achievement, a nonprofit education reform group, hopes to open as many as 50 startup charter schools serving 50,000 LAUSD students. In addition, Granada Hills' experience is expected to inspire other traditional public schools to seek independence.

Charter schools are exempted from cumbersome state regulations and their local districts' red tape. They receive direct funding from the state and have control of their own budgets, operations and curriculums. In exchange for the freedom, they promise to raise student achievement. If they do not meet their goals, their charters can be revoked.

Confronted with the enormous growth of the decade-old charter movement, LAUSD officials are just now grappling with its financial, racial and political implications.

Many of the concerns focus on questions of equality and fairness; is it fair for high-performing schools in wealthier areas to become independent as a way to gain an advantage and escape from the public education system that some see as the cornerstone of American democracy?

``It's as simple as the First Amendment against the 14th Amendment, which are liberty and equality, which are the core values of the American experience,'' said school board member David Tokofsky, who voted for Granada's petition but also expressed reservations.

``It's also about the definition of community. What is community? Is community Granada Hills? Is community L.A. Unified?''

One of the central questions in the charter debate is, What is the responsibility of Granada Hills to the rest of Los Angeles Unified once it becomes independent?

LAUSD has a $4.8 billion unfunded liability in lifetime health benefits for teachers, $564 million in workers' compensation costs, as well as other debts and stranded costs.

In addition, the district relies on Granada Hills to educate 204 predominantly minority students from the inner city who are bused in daily because their neighborhoods lack adequate facilities.

Board members Genethia Hudley Hayes and Jose Huizar worry that once Granada Hills becomes a charter campus, more neighborhood students will return, filling seats allotted to inner-city students and upsetting the racial balance of the school.

``We have a shared obligation in the district,'' said Huizar before abstaining Tuesday on the Granada charter vote. ``We have failed to build schools where we need them. Now these kids (from the inner city) will suffer even more'' if they can't attend Granada Hills.

Granada Hills' student population is 43.3 percent white, 24.4 Hispanic, 21 percent Asian, 6 percent black, 4.3 percent Filipino and a smattering of other ethnicities.

Huizar is also concerned that poor schools will be left to shoulder the district's outstanding debts.

``This is worse than breakup in a sense,'' he said, alluding to recent failed efforts in the San Fernando Valley to carve the LAUSD into smaller districts. ``At least in breakup, the lower-income communities have a say in how the resources are distributed and how the debt is distributed.''

But others counter that the district has a double standard when it comes to granting charters to high-minority, high-poverty schools. Pacoima Elementary, in a working-class Latino neighborhood in the east San Fernando Valley, was approved without debate the same night that a split board grudgingly voted for Granada's charter.

``It was almost like reverse racism,'' said Joe Lucente, principal of Fenton Avenue Charter School in Lake View Terrace. ``The schools that are predominantly other-than-white in low-income and disadvantaged areas, no problems; they're throwaways. Give us a high-performing school in an upper-class area - hell no, we'll fight to keep them.''

Granada Hills principal Brian Bauer said the school is committed to continue taking in inner-city students and is willing to contribute a share of its funding toward districtwide expenses. However, the district and charter officials have yet to agree on what is a fair amount.

``The vision and the spirit of our petition does not differentiate between where students live or what his or her background is,'' Bauer said. ``It talks about a high-quality experience for all. A few could argue a better purpose for public education.''

School district officials are also wrestling with how to fit charter schools into LAUSD's landscape while the district is at the same time building 120 new schools. Because charter schools enroll students from all over the city, they could significantly impact the district's attendance patterns.

Superintendent Roy Romer is toying with the idea of converting all 50 LAUSD high schools into charter campuses to create a high school charter district and have a nonprofit oversee them.

``If we are going to have high school charters, we need some kind of coherence,'' he said during a brief interview after the board vote. ``I can't run 50 different kinds of high schools. You just can't run a district this way.

``What I am trying to reach for is a way to give (high schools) freedom and charter status, but keep coherence,'' he said. ``It's impossible to have everything piecemealed out.''

Young disagrees with the argument that charter schools tear apart the fabric of the district.

``It all comes down to communication. Charter schools are not islands,'' she said. ``It's just a matter of whether the district is willing to treat them as partners, not enemies.

``I believe they are partners. If the district treats them like partners, they will be part of the solution.''

While some have responded positively to Romer's high school charter district proposal, others feared it's just another ploy for the district to regain control of charter schools.

``I think he would pursue (a high school charter district) if it meant same old, same old and more money for the district,'' Lucente said. ``He wants to retain control and make money on the deal.''