L.A. school board to decide who will run new schoolsBy Howard Blume/Los Angeles Times Under intense pressure from various interest groups, the Los Angeles Board of Education on Tuesday is scheduled to decide who will run seven new high schools and six other campuses. It is the second major round of a singular, much-watched experiment to improve academic achievement by turning over schools to groups inside and outside the nation's second-largest school system. The scale of the project is staggering: The seven new high schools add up to more full-size, comprehensive high schools than in the cities of Glendale and Burbank combined. And, every Los Angeles Unified campus that goes to an independently operated charter school means a further reduction in district jobs, exacerbating a budget crisis that already could result in thousands of layoffs. Last year, teams of district teachers were the big winners, emerging with the vast majority of campuses. This year, once again, the school board is under tremendous pressure, including from L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, to reward more independently operated charter schools. The mayor is allied with a board majority he helped elect. (more...) Also: Los Angeles Daily News
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