One of the key components of last year’s AB1505, which modified the California law authorizing the existence of charter schools, is a requirement that chartering authorities must revoke the charters of any schools ranked “low performing” by the California Department of Education for two years in a row.1 The CDE released its rankings last month,2 and twenty-two of LAUSD-authorized charters ranked “low performing.”
If any one of these 22 schools ranks low next year LAUSD must revoke their charters. The California Charter School Association famously picks a few very low-performing schools each year and publicly advocates at LAUSD meetings for their revocation. This is a very, very friendly process the point of which is pure propaganda. The difference here is that no one’s asking CCSA’s opinion and there’s no opportunity for CCSA to spin this in their favor.
And these aren’t just a bunch of random unheard-of charter schools, either. Many of them are run by big name charter management organizations like KIPP, Animo, PUC, Para Los Ninos, and Magnolia. For extra schadenfreude, many of these schools are run by some of the most vocal privatizers, who will go on and on and on without evidence about their educational superpowers. Here’s a list of all 22 of the LAUSD-authorized charters that are halfway to their mandatory charter revocations. A bunch of these are sure to go down next year, so let’s keep watching!
| School | Chartered by | City | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| KIPP Academy of Opportunity | Los Angeles Unified | Los Angeles | Low Performing |
| Bert Corona Charter | Los Angeles Unified | Los Angeles | Low Performing |
| PUC Excel Charter Academy | Los Angeles Unified | Los Angeles | Low Performing |
| APEX Academy | Los Angeles Unified | Los Angeles | Low Performing |
| Magnolia Science Academy 4 | Los Angeles Unified | Los Angeles | Low Performing |
| Para Los Ni±os Middle | Los Angeles Unified | Los Angeles | Low Performing |
| Alain Leroy Locke College Preparatory Academy | Los Angeles Unified | Los Angeles | Low Performing |
| New Designs Charter School-Watts | Los Angeles Unified | Los Angeles | Low Performing |
| TEACH Academy of Technologies | Los Angeles Unified | Los Angeles | Low Performing |
| Animo Jefferson Charter Middle | Los Angeles Unified | Los Angeles | Low Performing |
| Camino Nuevo Elementary #3 | Los Angeles Unified | Los Angeles | Low Performing |
| Animo Ellen Ochoa Charter Middle | Los Angeles Unified | Los Angeles | Low Performing |
| Animo College Preparatory Academy | Los Angeles Unified | Los Angeles | Low Performing |
| KIPP Philosophers Academy | Los Angeles Unified | Los Angeles | Low Performing |
| PREPA TEC - Los Angeles | Los Angeles Unified | Los Angeles | Low Performing |
| Alliance Kory Hunter Middle | Los Angeles Unified | Los Angeles | Low Performing |
| Ivy Bound Academy Math, Science, and Technology Charter Middle 2 | Los Angeles Unified | Los Angeles | Low Performing |
| Animo Mae Jemison Charter Middle | Los Angeles Unified | Los Angeles | Low Performing |
| PUC Inspire Charter Academy | Los Angeles Unified | Los Angeles | Low Performing |
| California Collegiate Charter | Los Angeles Unified | Los Angeles | Low Performing |
| ICEF View Park Preparatory Elementary | Los Angeles Unified | Los Angeles | Low Performing |
| ICEF View Park Preparatory Middle | Los Angeles Unified | Los Angeles | Low Performing |
- This particular language is found in the California Education Code at §47607.2(a)(1)(A), which states:(a) (1) The chartering authority shall not renew a charter if either of the following apply for two consecutive years immediately preceding the renewal decision: (A) The charter school has received the two lowest performance levels schoolwide on all the state indicators included in the evaluation rubrics adopted pursuant to Section 52064.5 for which it receives performance levels.
- Here are links to the data: ◆ Whole state XLSX ◆ Whole state PDF ◆ LAUSD XLSX ◆ LAUSD PDF ◆
