John M. W. Moorlach | Voice of OC

Moorlach: Data Shows Charters Do Not Hurt School District Finances

Opinion

By John M. W. Moorlach | December 12, 2019

State Senator John Moorlach writes that charter schools do not appear to hurt district finances but rather are the model for opportunity and achievement in the state’s otherwise dismal education picture.

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Downtown Santa Ana is home to the Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA) — but as popular and successful as it is, you won’t find many kids from Santa Ana enrolled at the prestigious charter school.

Why?

Santa Ana Unified found that it’s tied to admissions, diversity and fundraising practices at the school. OCSA officials disagree and have pushed back..

Carla Javier, arts education reporter for NPR-affiliate KPCC and its website, LAist.com, closely examined how what had been a 20-year-long cordial relationship went sour — and what that could mean as OCSA’s charter is set to expire on June 30.

Among her findings: While OCSA’s campus is scattered around Santa Ana’s Main Street, enrollment data show that less than 10% of its student body actually lives in Santa Ana.

What’s more, in a district where about 88% of Santa Ana students are considered economically disadvantaged, just 12% of OCSA’s students fall into that category. Latino enrollment in Santa Ana Unified schools tops 90%, but OCSA’s student body is less than a quarter Latino.

The demographics of the school aren’t in line with Orange County overall either, where 34% of the population and 49% of public school students identify as Latino.

You can read the full special report here.

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