Making the Grade : Unlike Edutrain, Valley’s Charter Schools Are Thriving

If last week’s collapse of a Downtown “charter” school for dropouts tempts critics to mount hysterical attacks on the Los Angeles school district, they should remember that charter schools are flourishing in the Valley.

The Edutrain school’s charter was yanked after officials found about $1 million in debts and evidence of scandalous waste. That stands in garish contrast to the way in which the Valley’s two schools have handled their autonomy.

Fenton Avenue Elementary School in Lake View Terrace and Vaughn Next Century Learning Center in Pacoima have used their relative independence to accumulate healthy surpluses, increase staff and lay groundwork for big plans. Vaughn expects a surplus of $534,000 this year; Fenton, $280,000.

Vaughn Director Yvonne Chan has bought property and is banking money for a new classroom building to relieve crowding and increase the number of teaching days by nearly half. Benefits to pupils so far include daily access to a nurse practitioner and the testing services of a bilingual psychologist.

Fenton Principal Joe Lucente has cut class size; hired a counselor, a psychologist and a librarian. He has also improved security and started an after-school enrichment program.

Chan, for one, has some sympathy for Edutrain. She notes that it was started from scratch and was led by people without experience in routine fiscal accountability. And she adds, with some asperity, that non -charter L.A. schools are allowed to wallow along in their old inefficient ways.

Edutrain may be freedom’s price. Vaughn and Fenton, by the evidence so far, are its reward.