Edison Charter Academy Has Improved Academic Performance for Eastside
African American and Latino Students for Seven Consecutive Years
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- In spite of impressive gains in
test scores year after year, Edison Charter Academy (ECA), a K-7th grade
California State Charter public elementary school, is now at risk of losing
its students due to the San Francisco Unified School District's (SFUSD) plan
to evict the school from its long-term site in the Mission district. As a part
of its site closure/consolidation plan, the SFUSD is proposing to use the
Edison school site for Newcomer High School.
Over 90% of Edison Charter's students are low-income children from
African-American or Hispanic families in San Francisco. The school, which has
been operating at near capacity at its current site for seven years, is
located on the East side of the City in the inner Mission, a neighborhood with
few exceptional public schools. ECA provides bus service for children from the
Bay View/Hunter's Point neighborhood.
ECA is one of California's highest performing State Board Charter schools
and boasts an outstanding achievement record. The school has made truly
remarkable progress in recent years, rising from the state's Similar Schools
Ranking of "1" in 2001-2002 to an impressive "7" in 2003-2004. It is expected
to receive a ranking of "8" for the 2004-2005 academic year. From 2002-2005,
ECA also raised its API growth by 119 points, almost twice that of SFUSD
schools, which raised its API by an average of 63 points. Students in all of
ECA's ethnic minority groups, socio-economically disadvantaged as well as
English Language Learners, exceeded the State proficiency targets for 2005 in
English Language Arts and Math.
"The District's plan puts our entire school at risk," stated Charter Board
President and parent Laura Baker. "Edison Charter is a neighborhood school.
Almost 70% of our children walk to school each morning with their parents. If
the school moved to the Haight, most of these families would have no way to
get there. This appears to be a mean-spirited attempt to punish a thriving,
successful school."
Indeed, reasons for relocating ECA seem unclear and inconsistent. ECA does
not meet any of the enrollment and capacity utilization criteria purportedly
used by the district to identify schools targeted for closure, merger or
relocation. More notably, SFUSD has vacant, readily available and conveniently
located property to which the Newcomer school could move if it so desired.
As a state-chartered school, ECA does not fall under the purview of the
district's budget decisions, although it does provide revenue to the District
in the form of rent for use of its school facility. Consequently, the
relocation of ECA would not reduce SFUSD's deficit budget, but, in fact,
require the reallocation of thousands of dollars of public funds intended for
public education towards the two schools' move and facility retrofitting costs.
In response to the District's plan, Edison Charter Academy has given the
SFUSD notice of their intent to sue the District should it be evicted.
Relocation of ECA is illegal under provisions of the Charter Schools Act, the
Schools' charter with the State, and Proposition 39.
Hundreds of ECA families, staff, and neighbors have attended several
recent school board meetings to protest the planned relocation. Newcomer
families and staff have also vehemently expressed opposition to the relocation
of their schools to the current Edison site.
SOURCE Edison Charter Academy
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Related links:
http://www.edisonschools.com
CONTACT:
Laura Baker, President of Edison Charter
Board, +1-415-970-3330, ext. 3024
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