Alliance College-Ready Public Schools
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (January 2016) |
This article may rely excessively on sources too closely associated with the subject, potentially preventing the article from being verifiable and neutral. (January 2016) |
Alliance College-Ready Public Schools (LA Alliance) is a not-for-profit organization which operates charter schools in Los Angeles. Based at the Frank E. Baxter Education Complex (next to Gertz-Ressler High School and on the east end of Richard Merkin Middle School), it is governed by a board of 27 directors and represented by president & CEO Dan Katzir.[1]
Schools
As of 2015[update], Alliance College-Ready Public Schools operates 17 high schools and 10 middle schools.[2]
- High Schools
- Alliance College-Ready Academy High School 16, Downtown Los Angeles
- Alliance Dr Olga Mohan High School, Downtown Los Angeles
- Alliance Gertz-Ressler High School, Downtown Los Angeles
- Alliance Leichtman-Levine Family Foundation Environmental Science High School, Glassell Park/Lincoln Heights
- Alliance Susan & Eric Smidt Technology High School, Glassell Park/Lincoln Heights
- Alliance Tennenbaum Family Technology High School, Glassell Park/Lincoln Heights
- Alliance Marc & Eva Stern Math and Science High School, East Los Angeles
- Alliance Morgan McKinzie High School, East Los Angeles
- Alliance Cindy & Bill Simon Technology Academy HS, South Los Angeles/Watts, East Los Angeles
- Alliance Health Services Academy High School, South Los Angeles/Watts, East Los Angeles
- Alliance Judy Ivie Burton Technology Academy High School, South Los Angeles/Watts, East Los Angeles
- Alliance Patti & Peter Neuwirth Leadership Academy, South Los Angeles/Watts, East Los Angeles
- Alliance Renee & Meyer Luskin Academy High School, South Los Angeles/Watts, East Los Angeles
- Alliance William & Carol Ouchi High School, South Los Angeles/Watts, East Los Angeles
- Alliance Collins Family College-Ready High School, Huntington Park
- Alliance Margaret M. Bloomfield High School, Huntington Park
- Alliance Alice M. Baxter College-Ready High School, San Pedro
- Middle Schools
- Alliance College-Ready Middle Academy 21, Sun Valley
- Alliance Richard Merkin Middle School, Downtown Los Angeles
- Alliance College-Ready Middle Academy 5, Glassell Park/Lincoln Heights
- Alliance College-Ready Middle Academy 8, East Los Angeles
- Alliance Christine O’Donovan Middle Academy, South Los Angeles/Watts
- Alliance College-Ready Middle Academy 4, South Los Angeles/Watts
- Alliance Leadership Middle Academy, South Los Angeles/Watts
- Alliance College-Ready Middle Academy 12, South Los Angeles/Watts
- Alliance Jack H. Skirball Middle School, South Los Angeles/Watts
- Alliance Kory Hunter Middle School (formerly Alliance College-Ready Middle Academy 9), Huntington Park
History
LA Alliance was created in 2004 by business and community leaders involved in the Los Angeles Educational Alliance For Restructuring Now (LEARN) reform effort of the early 1990s in the Los Angeles Unified School District.[3]
Following massive budget issues at Inner City Education Foundation (ICEF) Public Schools, another charter school organization in Los Angeles, there were rumors that LA Alliance would take over the ICEF schools in March 2011.[4] Former LA Mayor Richard Riordan was negotiating the merger as a member of both boards of directors.[5] The combined organization would have operated 30 schools with over 12,000 students, however the deal fell through over financial concerns and other complications.[6]
Teachers
Since March 2015, teachers at LA Alliance have been engaged in a union organizing campaign. That month, 70 teachers told LA Alliance that they wanted the United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) to represent them and asked the company to refrain from interfering.[7]
LA Alliance created a website called Our Alliance Community that opposes the organizing effort. UTLA filed three unfair labor practice (ULP) charges with California’s Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) in August 2015 that accuses LA Alliance of retaliation and refusing to meet with union organizers.[8] In October 2015, PERB asked the court for injunctive relief (at this time there were four ULP’s on file).[9] The Los Angeles County Superior Court issued a temporary restraining order on October 30th and ordered LA Alliance to not “coerce or ask teachers about their positions on unionization, must allow organizers to come onto school grounds, cannot block emails from the union, and must stay 100 feet away from UTLA organizers.”[10]
Leadership
Judy Burton, a long time Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) employee, left the district in 2003 to help found LA Alliance.[11] She served as President/CEO until returning to the district in December 2014. The following month, Dan Katzir took over as President/CEO. Katzir previously worked as a consultant and as the Managing Director of the Broad Foundation.[12]
Former LAUSD principal Howard Lappin was hired for school year 2004-05 to run College-Ready Academy High School. He helped turnaround Foshay Learning Center.[13]
References
- ^ "Board of Directors". Alliance College-Ready Public Schools. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
- ^ "Schools". Alliance College-Ready Public Schools. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
- ^ "CALIFORNIA SCHOOL FINANCE AUTHORITY SCHOOL FACILITY REVENUE BONDS (ALLIANCE FOR COLLEGE-READY PUBLIC SCHOOLS PROJECT) SERIES 2015A (TAX-EXEMPT) AND 2015B (TAXABLE) EXECUTIVE SUMMARY" (PDF). California School Finance Authority. Feb 11, 2015.
- ^ Blume, Howard (Sep 28, 2010). "Philanthropists move to rescue ICEF Public Schools". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Blume, Howard (Mar 26, 2011). "Charter school parents gather at Richard Riordan's Brentwood home". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Blume, Howard (May 13, 2011). "Planned merger of charter school organizations dissolves". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Sawchuk, Stephen (Sep 9, 2015). "Unionization Bid Sparks Discord in L.A. Charter Network". Education Week.
- ^ Sawchuk, Stephen (Oct 21, 2015). "Teachers' Union Scores Win in Calif. Charter Network Unionization Effort". Education Week.
- ^ Torres, Zahira (Oct 20, 2015). "State labor panel to file injunction in charter school unionization push". Los Angeles Times - Los Angeles, Calif.
- ^ Cohen, Rachel (Nov 3, 2015). "Judge Issues Restraining Order After an L.A. Charter Network Interfered with Teachers Union Drive". The American Prospect.
- ^ Boghossian, Naush (Jan 9, 2006). "Longtime Educator Making a Difference". Los Angeles Daily News.
- ^ "Alliance charters names Katzir to become new chief executive". LA School Report. Jan 28, 2015.
- ^ Hayasaki, Erika (Jun 6, 2005). "Profile – Howard Lappin – Charter Job Lures Principal Out of Retirement; Intrigued by the concept, the longtime educator helped start a high school for poor and minority students in South Los Angeles". Los Angeles Times - Los Angeles, Calif. pp. B.2. Retrieved 2008-10-28.
- Flanigan, James (Feb 16, 2006). "Entrepreneurial Edge - Venture Capitalists Are Investing in Educational Reform". The New York Times.