Opportunities to enroll children in choice public schools outside their neighborhoods, a well-received program that began four years ago during a downturn in enrollment, have dwindled significantly because of surging demographics.
The Los Angeles Unified School District announced last week that only 7,400 seats are available this fall in its open enrollment program, about two-thirds of last year's number and down from a high of nearly 22,000 when the program began in 1994.
The state's class-size reduction initiative in kindergarten through third grade, coupled with the so-called baby boom echo, have especially affected elementary schools in West Los Angeles and the western San Fernando Valley--places where for years schools were underused or closed because of aging residents and flight to suburbs and private campuses.
Since the open-enrollment program began, however, shuttered schools are reopening in response to demand. Districtwide enrollment is at an all-time high of 680,000, an encouraging sign for some public school boosters but one that is providing less flexibility for parents seeking alternatives.
The one-month period in which parents may apply to schools outside their immediate neighborhood begins May 4, when the district will release the names of the schools with seats available. Administrators are bracing themselves for widespread disappointment.
"These are real seats and only so many are available," said Bruce Takeguma, assistant director of school management services. "It's going to be a real difficult start of the school year if we don't get the word out now. There is not as much choice."
The program has worked well for some families, keeping students in the public school system who might otherwise have left the district or turned to private schools.
"It was like winning the Miss America pageant," said Kijoo Ahn, of learning that his daughter Susan had gotten one of the 250 open positions at Granada Hills' Frost Middle School two years ago.
The Ahns had considered moving to another neighborhood rather than send their children to their local school, Patrick Henry Junior High School in Granada Hills, which they considered to be academically inferior and physically unappealing.
They felt fortunate to find an opening at Frost, which has slightly higher test scores than Patrick Henry and is a more attractive place but lies in a more expensive neighborhood whose school-age population had declined.
