Charter brouhaha rages in LAUSD

The battle in LAUSD over finding space for charter schools continues. I'm posting this article from the L.A. Daily News because SFUSD has the same issues, luckily on a smaller scale. Note that Ramon "Ray" Cortines was SFUSD superintendent in the early '90s.

Los Angeles Daily News
4/30/08
Charter-school battle unfolds
District pulls offers of campus space to schools
By Naush Boghossian, Staff Writer

Just one month after Los Angeles Unified offered space on its campuses for nearly 40 charter schools, district officials said Wednesday they have withdrawn seven of the offers and are considering yanking five more.

The withdrawals come amid a growing outcry by the teachers union as well as charter schools and traditional schools unhappy with the prospect of sharing dozens of campuses.

In a letter outlining the plan, Senior Deputy Superintendent Ray Cortines said he decided to withdraw the offers based on the "instructional impacts the charter co-location would impose."

But the move drew immediate outrage Wednesday from charter leaders who said the district is reneging on its deal and may be in defiance of Proposition 39 - a statewide ballot measure passed in 2000 that requires LAUSD and other districts to share facilities fairly among all students.

Click to read the rest of the article.