Los Angeles Teachers Contract Would Stymie Charter Programs

The Los Angeles Times (12/12, Blume) reports describes the innovative curriculum at five Los Angeles schools which "coexist at the Sotomayor Learning Academies, which opened this fall under a Los Angeles school district policy called Public School Choice. The 2009 initiative, the first of its kind in the nation, has allowed groups from inside and outside the Los Angeles Unified School District to compete for the right to run dozens of new or low-performing schools." The piece notes that under a tentative teachers contract with the district, "the district would no longer hand over campuses to outside nonprofits, including charter schools. That would be a step backward, said former school board member Yolie Flores, who wrote the Public School Choice policy two years ago."