What a mess. But how often do you see someone challenging Eli Broad?
At first it was to be a regular high school to help with overcrowding in the area.
Then it became part of the Grand Avenue redevelopment led by Eli Broad, leading to the building of a $242 million state of the art facility. It was to become the “Fame” high school for Los Angeles.
Then it became a zoned arts high school for kids in the neighborhood. But not so fast, the school board ruled that 300 of the 1700 slots would be opened up district-wide.
They tried to hire an executive director. No dice.
Then they tried to hire a principal. No dice.
Now, get this, Ray Cortines, LAUSD Superintendent is having a public spat with none other than Eli Broad, a champion of charter schools, who is demanding that the school be converted to a charter:
“Cortines complained about an e-mail he said he received from Broad that
was disclosed in an article in the Downtown News. Cortines said Broad
told him that if the district did not give up control, “‘the school is
deemed to be mediocre and a failure.'”
Click here for the LA Times coverage of this school, which still retains the working name: High School No. 9.
Perhaps they would be better with the working title: High School Number 9 from Outer Space, as in Plan Nine from Outer Space.
A post on http://www.change.org provides some insight into what Broad is attempting here. It’s not about the arts; it’s about imposing his and his fellow billionaire “venture philanthropists’ ” agenda on our education system:
The Politics of Venture Philanthropy in Charter School Policy
Here’s a scholarly and informative article to share with you: “The Politics of Venture Philanthropy in Charter School Policy and Advocacy,” by Janelle Scott (Associate Professor at UC Berkeley, formerly NYU) and published by SAGE. It will take a while to read (32 pages), but I believe it will be worth your time.
Scott explains the billionaires’ strategy to push charter schools onto communities and how they are maneuvering their immense foundation-giving to achieve this result. She also describes the not-always-well-intentioned, and/or misguided, history of foundation “giving” which has targeted communities of color in the past.
Complete post:
http://education.change.org/blog/view/the_politics_of_venture_philanthropy_in_charter_school_policy