• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

$10 Million Awarded to Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools From The Broad Foundation, Individual Donors

Posted on: Thursday, 24 May 2007, 12:00 CDT

LOS ANGELES, May 24 /PRNewswire/ -- The Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools announced today it has received $10 million in grants, led by The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, to help open 13 new charter schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District. These funds will further advance the success and sustainability of the growing charter school movement in Los Angeles, home to the most charter schools and the most students attending charter schools in the country.

"We have long believed that high-quality public charter school models are successful at improving student achievement," said Eli Broad, founder of The Broad Foundation. "With soaring dropout rates and a failure to provide students with the skills they need to succeed in college, in work and in life, our country's education system is not working. However, the models of success -- and certainly the brightest hope for students in Los Angeles -- are high-performing charter school organizations like the Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools."

The Alliance currently operates seven public charter schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District, serving 1,800 students. In September 2007, three new Alliance schools will open, bringing the total schools in operation to ten. All Alliance charter schools outperformed their neighboring LAUSD schools on the 2006 Academic Performance Index (API).

All Alliance students are enrolled in rigorous college-preparatory coursework and provided with an extensive support structure to ensure their success in smaller classrooms and a longer school year. Alliance students receive individual tutoring and attend after-school and Saturday classes to meet college-readiness goals. It is expected that 90 percent of Alliance students continuously enrolled from grades 9-12 will pass the California High School Exit Exam and meet University of California and California State University A through G college-preparatory course requirements, and that 90 percent of Alliance graduates will attend two or four-year colleges.

The Broad Foundation's grant of $6.5 million will support the opening of nine new high schools and four new middle schools in the next four years, with the capacity to serve 8,000 students. The $3.5 million raised from Alliance Board members will also be used to support school expansion. Alliance schools will be located in the neediest communities in Los Angeles where public schools are overcrowded and underperforming.

"Public charter schools in California are demonstrating innovative practices that are making a measurable difference," said State Superintendent Jack O'Connell, who attended the announcement on the campus of Gertz-Ressler High School, the first Alliance school, which opened in 2004. Gertz-Ressler High School earned an API score last year of 766, achieving the third-highest growth rate among LAUSD high schools and ranking it among the top 10 high schools in the district. "These are the kind of impressive academic results that can -- and must -- be replicated," O'Connell said.

Though Alliance schools are outperforming neighboring schools, the students reflect the communities they serve, with up to 98 percent of students eligible for free and reduced meals, 100 percent minorities (80 percent Latino, 20 percent African-American), 25 percent English learners and 5 percent of the students in special education programs.

"As the former California Secretary of Education, I can say without a doubt that today marks a turning point for education in this state," said Alliance Board Chairman Richard Riordan. "When business and philanthropy step forward to focus their resources, it is a testament to a simple fact: charters work. We must always remember that charter schools are public schools, but they put children first."

In the past six years, The Broad Foundation has invested more than $56 million to support the growth of charter schools in a small number of cities including Los Angeles, New York City, Oakland and Philadelphia. Last November, The Broad Foundation announced a $10.5 million grant to Green Dot Public Schools to open 21 new small high schools in Los Angeles over the next four years. The Alliance grant brings The Broad Foundation's support of charter schools in Los Angeles to $36 million.

About The Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools

The mission of the Alliance, a nonprofit charter management organization, is to create a network of small, innovative schools that establish the foundation for college success in students who live in high poverty communities in the Los Angeles area. The vision is to open a minimum of 20 new public charter schools over the next five years. The Alliance, led by CEO Judy Burton, also announced that it will be moving its headquarters to the Frank E. Baxter Education Complex that also houses two of its schools effective June 1, 2007, thus closing the gap between the administration of charter schools and the schools themselves. For more information, visit http://www.laalliance.org/.

About The Broad Foundation

The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation is a national venture philanthropy established by businessman and philanthropist Eli Broad to advance entrepreneurship for the public good in education, scientific and medical research, and the arts. Broad, who founded two Fortune 500 companies, SunAmerica Inc. and KB Home, created The Broad Foundation to dramatically improve K-12 urban public education through better governance, management, labor relations and competition. The Broad Foundation's Internet address is http://www.broadfoundation.org/

Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools; The Eli Broad Foundation

CONTACT: Maggie Bava of Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools,+1-310-552-4180; or Karen Denne of The Eli Broad Foundation, +1-310-954-5058

Web site: http://www.broadfoundation.org/

Web site: http://www.laalliance.org/

Source: PRNewswire

More News in this Category