PHOTOS: Vote on disposition of under-performing LAUSD schools

Alejandra Ayala, right, holds her son Alexis Soto, 2, while addressing the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education.  (Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Michael Piscal, left, of ICEF Public Schools, Corri Ravare, center, also of ICEF, and supporter Monique Bacon watch as the school board votes.  (Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Supporters of charter schools demonstrate outside L.A. Unified offices before the school board decides which bidders from inside and outside the school district will run 18 new campuses as well as 12 persistently low-performing schools.  (Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Wade Fulbright, a teacher and member of the United Teachers Los Angeles, stands in front of the L.A. Unified School District office on Beaudry Avenue during a pre-dawn vigil and rally. The fate of nearly 40,000 students was at stake Tuesday as the Los Angeles Board of Education was scheduled to decide who would take over 12 struggling schools and 18 new campuses scheduled to open in the fall.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Charter-school advocates, from left, Randy Palisoc (on computer), Christopher Fernandez and a covered Lillian Garcia wait before dawn to get their tickets to attend and speak at the Los Angeles Unified School District meeting. Bidders inside and outside the school district have been vying for the schools under a reform plan that the board adopted in August.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Teachers from Emerson Middle School take part in the candlelight vigil outside the L.A. school district office. Every L.A. school that becomes a charter potentially increases the district’s budget deficit -- and likely results in the loss of teachers union jobs because most charters are non-union.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Yvette King-Berg, a charter-school advocate, leads her group in a cheer during the early-morning rally. Charter allies camped out in front of district headquarters beginning at 10 p.m. Wednesday.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Retired teacher Akosua Hobert takes part in the event outside school headquarters.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Sgt. George Sandoval, of the Los Angeles School Police, explains the ticketing and seating procedures for Tuesday’s meeting to teachers and supporters waiting outside district headquarters.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

L.A. school police officers keep watch on the line for tickets at the district office before the highly anticipated school board meeting.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

One participant spells out her sentiments. The main competitors to take over the campuses were groups of district teachers and charter-school operators. Charters are independently run schools that are free from some restrictions that govern traditional schools. Another competitor was Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who sought to increase the number of schools under the control of his education nonprofit.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)