Albert Einstein reaction ctd...

Los Angeles Jewish Journal, which has followed the saga of Albert Einstein elmentary's charter petition for a few years, has a good report on where AE stands today:

The Saugus Union School District is set to hold a third hearing on Sept. 19 regarding a petition to establish an Albert Einstein Academy for Letters, Arts & Sciences (AEA) charter elementary school in Santa Clarita. 

If approved, the school would be the second in the AEA family of charter schools, along with a charter high school in Santa Clarita that started its third year in August....

 They also describe the media push AE launched this week, first with a (paid for?) op/ed by Kevin Korenthal and mailers, described at their Facebook site:

Faced with what it called “a complicated and sometimes frustrating process of seeking approval for a kindergarten-through-sixth-grade charter school in the Saugus Union School District,” the AEALAS Foundation has launched a concerted public relations effort in support of its petition for a Santa Clarita elementary charter school. 

More reader reaction from yesterday's comments on Albert Einstein & SCVi, the SCV's existing K-12 charter school:

I'm kind of reading from your analysis that you feel the average family cannot make the choice to attend a charter school as they are inconvenient. I'm not as familiar with the demographics at AEA, but SCVi is certainly not the elitist factory I feel you are making it out to be. First, many families, mine included, would need to transport their children to the 'neighborhood school' as well, as there is no busing to our Jr and High schools, and many neighborhoods are zoned for elementary schools outside of a reasonable walk (in SUSD you can pass multiple schools to get to your 'zoned' school). Families carpool, take the city bus, participate in the contracted school bus program (new this year) and have their children in before-and-after school care. Yes it would be more convenient to go to a closer school, which was my point, but it's not as if SCVi is exclusively the school of the middle class SAHM. Every family, regardless of their schooling choice, has to figure out how to get their kid to and from school. How to safely care for their child during hours they may be unavailable (working). I can see the argument that charter schools rob the neighborhood schools of families that are more invested in their child's education (though I imagine the families in the neighborhood schools would take offense), but you seem to be arguing that the charters are exclusionary because they are less convenient, and I disagree. 

It's not just transportation that makes charter schools seem exclusionary to me, it's the total package. First of all, such schools only attract parents who are actively seeking an alternate education. It's like knowing that there is a secret menu at In 'n Out; unless you know that there's a charter option available to you, you'll never even know you could have tried something different.

And I think the parents like it that way.

So only the most active parents are ever going to send their kids to a charter. What kind of parents are these? I'd argue they're highly motivated and they have reached a certain economic level that allows them the time to organize & support a charter school. Do you picture a mom and dad both with full time jobs taking the time to launch a full media campaign to organize a charter, as the AEA parents are doing?

I'm more persuaded by the argument special needs parents make that their child wasn't getting what was needed at a public school, so they had to go to a charter.

But let's be honest here. Does it get any more boutique than what the Jewish Journal described as AEA's curriculum?

It would also be one of a handful of charter schools on the West Coast where Hebrew is taught as a second language. Classes in Mandarin would also be offered. 

A public school. That teaches Hebrew. Who do you think that's going to attract? This is not exclusionary?

-----------------