Changing to Charter. Rebecca A. Shore
for training conducted by Senator Gary Hart and his staff. We were thoroughly enlightened. Though scared by lawyers and district staff, 86 percent of the teachers voted to start the charter application process. We believed that we could do no worse. On July 1, 1993, we became the first independent, urban conversion charter school not only in the state of California but in the nation.
“When no government funds flowed to us in July . . . I mortgaged my house. All staff agreed not to be paid until August.”
We had no clue of the hard journey ahead. Skills needed to educate students were never a problem; the problems centered on legal and fiscal liability issues. When no government funds flowed to us in July, when our year-round school began, I mortgaged my house. All staff agreed not to be paid until August.
When local banks refused to set up accounts due to our lack of legal status, we had to manage with our small donation account until the Internal Review Service (IRS) recognized our existence. When the labor unions demanded their monthly dues even when the employees received no paycheck, I took out personal savings to pay all dues. When no reputable insurance company submitted bids for our liability, workers’ comp, and health care, we had to accept a lower-rated firm at high premium costs. When the free or reduced-price meal program was threatened, we flew to the nation’s capital to beg for approval just one day before school opened.
Building a Powerful Coalition
When very few applicants responded to our eleven open teaching positions, Vaughn started classes with seven emergency-permit teachers and four long-term substitutes. When the assistant principal, the plan manager, and seven other classified employees left, we did not fill these positions, because everyone was willing to pick up the slack. Gradually, a coalition developed that included media and legislators, businesses and foundations, universities and organizations.
“We became media savvy immediately. We were a failing inner-city school striving to be independent and accountable. The press portrayed our struggles as a battle between David and Goliath.”
Media and Legislators
We became media savvy immediately. We were a failing inner-city school striving to be independent and accountable. The press portrayed our struggles with the large Los Angeles Unified School District as a battle between David and Goliath. The Daily News and Los Angeles News published almost weekly stories as we developed our charter, gained our teacher votes, and battled through the approval process and all the subsequent problems with funding. Even the Sacramento Bee tried to defend the defenseless. We were invited to radio talk shows. Television channels joined in the advocacy. We were spotlighted in local news, in a segment by Diane Sawyer on Prime Time, on Good Morning America and national and local PBS stations, and in magazines such as Time, Business Week, and Newsweek.
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