Second bite at the apple
ACLC/NCLC/Nea is moving forward on their quest to bring their model of education to Alameda, after being denied by the Alameda Unified School District they are going to take it to the next level, literally and figuratively, of course: the Alameda County Board of Education. Even though the application had been so carefully picked apart, rather than go back to the proverbial drawing board, ACLC/NCLC/Nea has so much faith in their application that they are sure that if it doesn’t get approved by the County Board of Education, surely a sympathetic bureaucrat in Jack O’Connell’s office will give them the eventual green light.
According to AUSD, it is anticipated that the application will go before the County Board of Education on March 11th, which gives folks plenty of time to write to the seven board members telling them what you think about the application. With the looming $4 million in cuts and a possible additional million or so if the ACLC application is approved, I’m not sure if AUSD can make up the difference. According to the Alameda Journal article items up for possible cutting like cutting two elementary schools would only save the district $600,000, so in order to fund ACLC AUSD would have to close two elementary schools ($600K), and one middle school ($600K). Seem like a fair trade off to anyone? In order to provide “choice” we might be eliminating what makes Alameda schools so desirable, the coveted “neighborhood school.”
While the financial impacts are not something that can be considered in denying or approving a charter application, in these tough financial time, shouldn’t it be? Filed under: there outta be a law. There really should be a law out there that says if the state makes ANY cuts to local school districts, charter applications can be denied if it is deemed that they would unduly impact the school district and they cannot be approved by appeal to the “higher powers” during that time.
But hey, just think about it, if the school district has to go one step further and eliminate class size reductions throughout the district (savings of $500K) parents at Edison need not worry that their Kindergarteners won’t get in, upping the classes to 30 or so will ensure that all kids get in, but may not be getting the kind of quality education that is desired.
What does she mean by “choice”? We need a choice for a better quality school. I would rather try unknown than stay in a bad school.
Where did she get the idea that Alameda schools are so desirable?
Maybe Edison school is so desirable. There are many undesirable schools in Alameda.
One of reasons that some people might think that Alameda schools are so desirable is the API or Standardized test score. What I found out is that schools teach mostly what is being tested.
There is no science, very little social study, etc. Only reading, spelling and math. Even when I raised a concern, the principal and the teacher don’t think they need improvement on the content of curriculum.
In my opinion, public schools in Alameda aren’t providing quality education for all. Then they should provide alternative choices.
I am looking for a non-religious private school. Meanwhile I will submit an application for the new charter school.
Comment by Hyun Oh — February 18, 2008 @ 9:17 pm
Every year more than 110 Alameda 6th graders apply for about 10 available openings at ACLC. The people who run ACLC and teach there are employees of AUSD.
These good people are your neighbors. They want and provide an approach to schooling that the rest of AUSD does not provide.
Who is AUSD and who are you to deny them this opportunity?
The President of the AUSD school board accuses ACLC of having racist policies inspite of the fact that it uses a lottery system devised by AUSD!! The President of AUSD sends his kids to private school which is far far from a lottery. How much hypocrisy is too much?
Comment by robert boyd — February 24, 2008 @ 1:10 pm