Hawthorne Press Tribune
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 62, No. 38 - September 17, 2020
The Weekly Newspaper of Hawthorne
Power Project Empowers
Girls in the City of Hawthorne
Power Project’s mission is to provide girls from undeserved communities between the ages of 9-11, the opportunity to grow using mentor ship to build self esteem, positive life imagery, with the belief system that they CAN accomplish any goal they set and work hard to
achieve. Our program will use the non-traditional sport of ice hockey teamed up with the dedication of strong role models and mentors from our community. These mentors will guide and support these girls into future leaders who will become dynamic and powerful women.
Photo courtesy Power Project.
By Dr. Don Brann
Charter Schools 101
No two children have the same learning
needs. Fortunately, a variety of school choice
options exist today, including public, private,
and charter schools. This column focuses
primarily on charter schools, which serve
more than 600,000 students in California,
or about 10 percent of the public school
student population.
What Is a Charter School?
Charter schools are free public schools
open to all students. That’s right—no tuition
and no limits on who can attend based on
where they live! There are no eligibility or
entrance requirements to attend a charter
school. By law, charter schools must admit
all students who wish to attend the school
and must institute a public lottery process
for admissions if the number of students
interested in attending the school exceeds
the school’s capacity.
In California, charter schools were originally
authorized in 1992 to “encourage innovative
teaching methods” and spur systemic
change. In short, charters were envisioned
to be “research and development” laboratories,
free of many of the bureaucratic
rules that hamper traditional schools to help
enhance district improvement. With fewer
rules and regulations than traditional public
schools, charter schools are allowed the
freedom to innovate and design their own
educational program.
Each state independently regulates charter
schools. In California, charter schools may
be authorized by a school district or a county
office of education. Most charter schools
are classroom based. Some are hybrid (oncampus
+ remote), others are non-classroom
based or online.
Charters must accept students without
discrimination, like any public institution.
Charters are required by law to meet state
and federal academic standards, and may
not discriminate against any pupil on the
basis of ethnicity, national origin, gender, or
disability. By law, charters may not ask any
questions pertaining to a student’s special
needs or English language proficiency until
after an offer of enrollment is made. Charters
are required to hire credentialed teachers for
ABC Doc
college preparatory subjects, just like all
traditional public schools.
Like traditional public schools, charters
receive state funding based on a formula
for each child enrolled in the school. In
California, traditional district schools and
charter schools are funded under the Local
Control Funding Formula (LCFF), which
allocates state and local tax dollars to public
education agencies based on the number of
pupils in each grade level. Additional funding
is provided for students with high needs,
such as low-income students, English learners,
and foster youth. Many charters also do
additional fundraising to obtain grants and
donations to pay for programs that are not
fully funded by the state.
A Personalized Education
Charters have become very popular with
families looking for a free public school
alternative that serves students of diverse
needs and backgrounds. With fewer regulations
and increased autonomy, charters have
been able to adopt innovative curricular
models that are responsive to changing
student, family and society needs. Often
without unions, charters are more nimble
See ABC Doc, page 4
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