UCLA Study on Charter Schools

* Re “Study Doubts Charter School Success Claims,” Dec. 4:

The UCLA charter school study is misleading and inaccurate. There have been numerous in-depth studies of charter schools conducted nationally and locally over the last several years. WestEd Policy and USC evaluated LAUSD in 1998, the U.S. Department of Education sponsored a national study in 1997 and 1998 and in 1996 the Little Hoover Commission examined California charter schools. Each of these studies identified positive results from the charter school movement. The 1997 SRI International evaluation, from which the UCLA study quoted negative demographic findings, states that “overall, charter schools had a similar ethnic composition to all public schools in the state.” In the UCLA study, charter schools are made liable for situations currently beyond their control, such as underfunding, school board ambivalence and the fact that the state has changed the assessment systems three times during the six-year history of charter schools.

WILLIAM E.B. SIART

Santa Monica