Board Finds Tujunga Charter School Plan Vague

Advocates of a proposed charter school in Tujunga made their pitch to the Los Angeles Board of Education on Monday, telling school officials that the new campus would boost student achievement by emphasizing individual attention in the classroom.

The board made no decision on the proposal for the so-called Northwest Charter School, instead peppering proponents with questions on issues from how they will pay for the campus to the ethnic composition of the student body.

Some board members called the plan vague and wondered whether the school would be able to meet its goal of opening in September.

“I have no idea what this school is [about],” board member David Tokofsky told about 100 parents in the audience after listening to the presentation.

The charter advocates will appear before the school board next month to answer questions about the school, which would initially serve 100 students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

They also need to work out differences with the teachers union, United-Teachers Los Angeles, which has opposed establishment of the school, partly because of concerns over teacher pay and benefits, said John Perez, vice president of UTLA.

The campus would be the fourth charter school to open in the San Fernando Valley in four years. As with its predecessors, Northwest would be governed by parents, teachers and community members.

Linda Smith, a special education teacher and the chief architect of the charter school proposal, said that students would receive individual instruction based on their abilities. Smith said she would test students to ensure that they understand their lessons, and regularly assess progress with parents.

“I think the school will allow us to initiate new ideas without having to go with what someone else dictates,” said Smith, 45, who has taught for more than 30 years and is currently assigned to Esperanza Elementary School in downtown Los Angeles.

Most of Northwest’s students would come from private schools, according to the plan submitted by Smith. She said students would come from Tujunga, Sunland, Glendale, La Crescenta and other areas as far away as Atwater Village and Hollywood. Charter schools are allowed to recruit students outside their immediate school districts.

Smith said that she is now negotiating with a Jewish temple on Tujunga Canyon Boulevard to lease space and that she has collected more than $130,000 in funds and equipment for the school. The school district requires such start-up schools to have $200,000 in funds or pledges.

Several parents who support the school said the campus would offer an opportunity to directly influence their children’s education--and a tuition-free alternative to expensive private education.

“If they approve this school, I will move to Tujunga,” said Lisa Nelson, an Atwater Village resident and mother of four children attending private schools. Like many other parents, Nelson said she heard about the school through word of mouth.

“I really love her ideas of the parents being able to contribute,” she said.