The educational reform group “Great Public Schools Now” has issued a list of possible model schools for Los Angeles County, and the L.A. Times reports that the full list includes 23 magnet programs, 19 charter schools and seven traditional neighborhood schools. The Times says that “… each has a low-income enrollment of at least 75% and more than 60% of students met state targets in English.”

 

Charter schools, especially those crated by teh “parent trigger” that allows parents to take over private schools, have been a civil litigation magnet in recent years. The Times report includes defining terms: “Charters are independently managed and exempt from some rules that govern traditional schools. Most are nonunion. Magnets are district operated and typically offer a special academic program. They were set up initially to encourage voluntary integration.”

 

And the paper repeats that “… questions still surround Great Public Schools Now, including the names of the financial backers and how much money they hope to raise. A confidential draft proposal, obtained by The Times, called for raising $490 million. Critics have questioned whether the underlying goal of the original draft plan — which called for more than doubling the number of charter schools — has changed. That draft was apparently intended for supporters and potential donors.”