13 California charter schools newly 'certified'

The main organization representing California charter schools gave its seal of approval today to 13 newly "certified" charters, bringing the total to 86. The California Charter Schools Assn. came up with the certification process last year as a way of rewarding schools that meet its highest standards for quality.

The organization's interim Chief Executive, Peter Thorp, issued a statement saying the 13 schools "represent a strong commitment to continued achievement and accountability in California’s charter school movement."

The association says it has 420 schools that have applied for certification, which is based on student achievement, responsible governance and fiscal integrity. The program involves an independent review  by agencies that include the Western Assn. of Schools and Colleges, Cambridge Education’s Charter Program Quality Review, Insight Education Group and the state Board of Education’s Charter Renewal Review.

The 13 newly certified charters are:

Bert Corona Charter School, Pacoima
Desert Sands Charter High Schools, Palmdale
East Palo Alto Academy – Stanford New School, Menlo Park
eScholar, Red Bluff
Heritage College-Ready Academy High School, Los Angeles
Horizon Charter School, Lincoln
Huntington Park College-Ready Academy High School, Huntington Park
Los Angeles Leadership Academy, Los Angeles
Natomas Charter School, Sacramento
Oakland Military Institute, College Preparatory Academy, Oakland
Richard Merkin Middle School, Los Angeles
Rocklin Academy, Rocklin
SIAtech, Vista

-- Mitchell Landsberg

Comments

[Kim Smith]

It's great that all the new charter schools are being place in the Los Angeles county areas, but what about the old schools that still suffer from low test scores, lack of books, bad conditions in the buildings, not to mention the lack of teachers that causes over crowding in the classrooms. The mayor was nominated to help our communities and the only help I see is going toward the Hispanic culture and thier communities, leaving out our Afro Americans communities. There are more activities being generated for and toward them, forgetting there is another race of people in these poverty areas. It's unfair that there are so many illegals being allowed to come into this state have a child here and don't have to go back to their own country this is why we are now having the over crowding in our schools, changes in medical care, and the welfare systemis overwhelming. there has to be another solution to this ever going problem and it's not just about building of schools.