Reform divides a Valley campus
By Connie Llanos/Los Angeles Daily News
Critics of Los Angeles Unified's school reform effort say it simply isn't bold enough, pointing to a recent move to keep most poor-performing schools under district control rather than hand them over to innovative charter operators. Don't tell that to teachers, administrators and parents at San Fernando Middle School. It's true that this chronically underperforming school - one of 12 targeted in the first wave of the district's School Choice plan - will remain in district hands. But no one expects it to maintain the status quo when the school opens this fall. For one, the campus will be divided into two schools, with two principals, two teaching staffs and two student bodies. (more...)