Valerie Sanchez wasn’t pleased when her mother pulled her out of her struggling neighborhood school in Los Angeles and transferred her to a public charter school in another neighborhood.
At her new school, she found teachers she could count on, a focus on preparing every student for college, and the chance to take dance class every day. She quickly realized that her mom was right.
Education is more than just surviving the day. It's making sure that you're prepared to take on the goals and the dreams that you want to take on.
For decades, students in Los Angeles have been lagging behind students in other big cities in math and reading (here’s a summary from the National Assessment of Educational Progress of results).
The Walton Family Foundation has supported more than 220 public schools in Los Angeles (of the 282 that exist) in order to help create a greater supply of high-quality educational options for students like Valerie. Still, advocates estimate that 170,000 students in Los Angeles are attending low-performing schools.
“There are 36,0000 students in Los Angeles on charter school wait lists,” said Danny Corwin, the chief financial officer for the California Charter Schools Association and a charter school parent. “It’s our goal to ensure that every child that wants to attend a charter school has the opportunity to do so.”
