L.A. CHARTERS GET MILLIONS FROM STATE FUNDS TO HELP OPEN 14 NEW SCHOOLS.Byline: Naush Boghossian Staff Writer The state awarded about $8.3 million - nearly one-third of its grants to develop and open charter schools - to educators and community groups in underserved Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. communities, the California Charter Schools Association announced Thursday. The money from the State Board of Education will help fund the start-up costs of 14 charter schools in high-need communities of Los Angeles and to two model charters that will share their program ideas with the entire public school system. ``This is great for public education and it will open up doors of opportunity to thousands of Los Angeles families,'' said Gary Larson
Gary Larson (b. August 14 1950) is the creator of The Far Side , spokesman for the California Charter Schools Association. ``It's clear there is a growing momentum around charter schools being the most promising path for systemic education reform.'' The state also awarded 69 grants totaling about $23 million to school districts in San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. , Alameda Alameda (ăləmē`də, –mā`də), city (1990 pop. 76,459), Alameda co., W central Calif., on an island just off the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay; settled 1850, inc. as a city 1884. and Santa Barbara Santa Barbara (săn'tə bär`brə, –bərə), city (1990 pop. 85,571), seat of Santa Barbara co., S Calif., on the Pacific Ocean; inc. 1850. counties - areas that have most recently seen the highest performance gains of charter schools, Larson said. ``By supporting the development of high-quality charter schools and holding them accountable for improving student achievement, we provide an important choice for students currently attending low-performing schools in their local area,'' state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell
Jack T. O'Connell (born October 8, 1951) is a California politician. said in a statement. The plan is to open the schools for the 2006-07 school year, Larson said. Partnerships to Uplift Communities, a charter school development and management corporation, received five grants, including two to open schools - one in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. . ``We are committed to do this work whether we get the grants or not, but the money makes it much easier for us,'' said Jacqueline Eliott, founder and co-CEO of the corporation. ``It gives us the money to be able to do start-up in a truly quality manner with adequate personnel, equipment, time and focus, and to provide a really exemplary environment and program for the child.'' Two of the four grants awarded to successful schools to share their innovative practices with public schools were in Los Angeles - California Academy for Liberal Arts liberal arts, term originally used to designate the arts or studies suited to freemen. It was applied in the Middle Ages to seven branches of learning, the trivium of grammar, logic, and rhetoric, and the quadrivium of arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music. and Camino Nuevo Charter School. ``That's important because that means that the broader public school system is benefiting from charter schools as well,'' Larson said. Naush Boghossian, (818) 713-3722 naush.boghossian(at)dailynews.com |
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