"Charter middle schools really have the secret sauce for educating middle school kids," said Caprice Young, head of the California Charter Schools Assn. "And there's no reason why L.A. Unified shouldn't take advantage of it."
Founded in Houston and based in San Francisco, KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) has two schools in Los Angeles -- one in South Los Angeles and another in Lincoln Heights. The Broad money will fund four new schools organized under a single Los Angeles-area board of directors. Most of the 57 KIPP schools nationwide are middle schools.
Operating a KIPP school costs more than some charters, in part, because KIPP typically pays teachers more and puts school leaders through intensive, lengthy training. California, in particular, requires a philanthropic subsidy because the state provides far less for schools than some other states where KIPP operates, said spokesman Steve Mancini.
Aspire began with $400,000 left over from the successful political campaign to remove a 100-school limit on the number of California charter schools. Veteran educator Don Shalvey, part of that campaign, also had overseen the 1992 opening of the state's first charter school, in the Silicon Valley-area district where he served as superintendent.
With the Broad money, the Oakland-based organization runs a total of 21 schools in three regions: Oakland, the Stockton area and L.A. County. It intends to open 13 schools in Carson and Huntington Park, where it now operates four.
Aspire is one of two charter groups with permission from the state to bypass local school districts when seeking approval to open schools. The California School Boards Assn., among others, objects to the loss of local control. But supporters see it as a way to offer educational alternatives even where local school boards are hostile.
L.A. Unified has not been antagonistic, but Shalvey said he chose state authorization to allow for better data collection and consistent, comprehensive program evaluation by one entity -- the state.
To create a high school campus in Huntington Park, Aspire joined with Pacific Charter School Development, the third group funded by Broad today. The Huntington Park-based company finds space for schools and converts buildings into campuses, then leases them to charters on affordable terms until the school can purchase the property outright.
