ROMER SAYS ARNOLD'S PLAN COULD COST LAUSD MILLIONS.

Byline: Jennifer Radcliffe Staff Writer

A proposal by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that would make it easier for struggling schools to convert to charter schools could wreak havoc on the Los Angeles Unified School District and cause millions in losses to the district, officials said Tuesday.

The plan is expected to be introduced to the State Board of Education on Thursday as part of the Governor's Initiative to Turn Around Failing Schools. It could require state-monitored schools that don't make gains to be subject to state-assigned management or charter school conversion.

``This can produce chaos in this district,'' Superintendent Roy Romer said. ``I'm trying to warn people about it.''

Los Angeles Unified has 11 of these struggling schools, including Chatsworth High, Grant High and Anatola Elementary in the San Fernando Valley. As many as 126 other LAUSD schools could join the ranks next school year.

Campuses that fail to make gains on the state's Academic Performance Index can voluntarily enter the little-publicized intervention program, called the Immediate Intervention/Underperforming Schools Program.

They're given extra resources, including $200 more per student, but if they continue to fail to make progress, they are pushed into a stricter state-monitoring program.

This proposal would allow parents at those struggling schools to more easily convert their campuses to charters, perhaps by a simple-majority vote, LAUSD officials said.

``It's a very drastic, big move,'' school board Vice President Marlene Canter said.

The LAUSD would not have authority over the new charter schools, which would divert millions of dollars from the school district, officials said.

``These schools could be taken from the district,'' said Peggy Barber, coordinator of the LAUSD's Office of Legislation Implementation.

This plan comes on top of No Child Left Behind regulations, which also require drastic reconfiguration steps to be taken to improve struggling schools. The LAUSD has opted to reconfigure its lowest-performing schools by implementing ``small learning communities.''

School board member Julie Korenstein urged LAUSD leaders to speak out against the plan at the state meeting. It's scheduled for final approval in July.

``What a clever way to disguise the vouchers,'' she said. ``This is a crisis for public education.''

Board President Jose Huizar said he believes the community is frustrated by the lack of improvement in public schools.

Jennifer Radcliffe, [phone]

jennifer.radcliffe(at)dailynews.com