Birmingham High's charter-conversion struggles show difficulty of reform

Few chapters in recent Los Angeles public school history have been uglier than the one that is expected to culminate today with a Board of Education vote on whether to allow Birmingham High School to effectively secede and become a charter school. For months, the San Fernando Valley campus has been torn between pro- and anti-charter forces who have accused each other of, among other things, bullying, vandalism, burglary, racism and fraud.

It was, perhaps, fitting that the final days of the charter drive were dominated by a stir over a photo shoot at Birmingham by Sacha Baron Cohen, the comedian and star of "Bruno" whose raunchy alter egos have the ability to make almost anyone look less dignified than they are. Ramon C. Cortines, superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, said Tuesday that he was disciplining the school's principal and athletic director for allowing the photos, but if the charter passes, that will be moot.

Intentionally or not, school district leaders have managed to send a powerful message -- perhaps summed up as "Are you nuts?" -- to other public schools that might be considering charter conversion.

"I think what Birmingham is going to mean in a larger sense is how difficult it is to reform within the system -- how many different kinds of special interests there are, all pulling in a different direction," said school board member Tamar Galatzan, a Birmingham alumna whose district includes the Van Nuys school. "Other schools might look at Birmingham and see that going charter might not be as easy as they thought, and it might not bring the same kinds of benefits that they expected."

If approved, Birmingham would become the fourth large high school in the district to convert to a charter. The others are Palisades, Granada Hills and Locke in South L.A. Charters are publicly funded schools that run independently. They are subject to broad oversight, usually by the local school district that authorizes them.

Disenchantment with Los Angeles Unified has led a number of schools to explore the possibility of breaking away as charters, and principals and teachers have been keeping an eye on events at Birmingham. Although Cortines has repeatedly said that he supports charters, the district has, in recent months, increased costs and reduced revenue for new charters, and offered sweeteners to schools that remain in the district.