Space offered to charter schools

Charter schools have been offered space at 39 traditional schools across Los Angeles, including Westchester High near LAX and Taft High in Woodland Hills.

The offers far surpassed those in past years, but so has demand: 54 charter schools requested space for nearly 17,000 students, a near three-fold increase. In a related move, officials have frozen popular permit programs at affected schools to see if they will still have room to accept students from outside the attendance area.

Under a legal settlement, L.A. Unified agreed to work harder to find space for charters -- publicly funded schools that operate independently.

Immediate reaction was mixed. Some charter participants were encouraged, but parents and faculty at traditional schools are complaining that their programs and reforms are being jeopardized.