“At least 20 Coachella Valley parents came to Riverside to support a countywide charter-school petition opposed by a dozen public school administrators and union leaders Wednesday.
They packed a public hearing before the Riverside County Board of Education meeting on a petition from Imagine Schools for a countywide charter school.
Imagine proposes campuses in five districts: Coachella Valley the first year, Riverside the second year, and then Alvord, Jurupa, Moreno Valley, San Jacinto or Val Verde.
Riverside County Superintendent of Schools Kenneth Young suggested the board have the petition reviewed by both staff and an attorney to see if it meets legal criteria for a countywide charter.
The board is scheduled to vote on the charter June 8.
‘We’re trying to offer parents choices,’ said Aaron Kindel, director of business development for Imagine Schools in Arizona.
District leaders said they already offer parents choices.
Carmen SextonBoykin, president of the California School Employees Association in Alvord Unified School District, said a charter school would be a financial drain on her district at a time it is already struggling financially. Enrollment has declined slightly.
Like public schools, charters receive public money for each student, but charters are free of many of the state’s regulations.
Imagine proposes to educate 240 students in kindergarten and first grade in a dual language immersion program the first year within Coachella Valley Unified School District. It would add a grade level each year through eighth grade. Imagine Schools would grow to 2,490 students by the fifth year when the fifth campus is open, according to the petition.
Dual language immersion programs are designed to teach students to be bilingual, biliterate and bicultural. Students who begin the program in kindergarten usually have higher test scores.
Imagine operates 73 school in 13 states.”
Article published on May 11, 2011 by the Press Enterprise