One item that both Obama and McCain appear to agree on is the increasing role of charter schools in public education. No matter who wins, we can expect to see more attention on this issue as a lever for school reform. The federal investment and attention to them will increase and in many urban centers they may play a larger role. That appears to be the case in Los Angeles….
With economic issues sucking up so much political oxygen this year, K-12 education hasn’t received the attention it deserves from either Presidential candidate. The good news is that school reformers at the local level continue to push forward.This month the Inner City Education Foundation (ICEF), a charter school network in Los Angeles, announced plans to expand the number of public charter schools in the city’s South Central section, which includes some of the most crime-ridden neighborhoods in the country. Over the next four years, the number of ICEF charters will grow to 35 from 13. Eventually, the schools will enroll one in four students in the community, including more than half of the high school students.
