Locals Upset About Public Schools Sharing Space with Charter Schools

Some local parents and members of the community are concerned about plans for classrooms at Venice High School to be used to house charter schools.

The move comes as a result of the passage of Proposition 39 in 2000 which stated that all public school students could share public schools, including those who attended charter schools.

The thought that empty classrooms at Venice High School could be used to house a charter school does not sit well with some Venice High School parents.

"There isn’t one parent at Venice High School that I know of that is jumping up and down for joy,” said PTSA President Kristin Duerr. "I’m certainly not happy about it, but the law is the law. As much as we have fought to keep Venice High School from having this problem, we are facing an issue that we don’t have a lot of power on which is the fact that the Los Angeles Unified School District is being sued because they were not abiding by the law."

Occupy Venice, run by Rob Dew, plans to address the issue at an event next week. Dew said that while charter schools receive public funding, they have been “co-opted” by private interests.

"Our primary focus is the attempted takeover of public schools by private entities," Dew said. "I intend to make the case this is a national problem that needs to be addressed."

His organization will host "Public Schools under Attack" next Tuesday which will feature guest speakers, including at least one Venice High School parent, and video clips on the subject.

"I want to say, on the record, this isn’t an attack on charter schools," Dew said. "There are good charter schools."

Dew said that while there are charter schools that were started by former teachers and principals  "who were fed up with the system and wanted to do something different," he thinks the original intent of charter schools has been "manipulated" by private entities.

Marina del Rey Middle School also faced a similar issue in recent years when Goethe International School co-located at the school.

For her part, Duerr simply wishes there were other alternatives for all public school parents.

"I’m upset that we’re facing these terrible issues," Duerr said. "We shouldn’t have any empty classrooms because we have so many things that are lacking at Venice High School that if we had the money to have the programs at Venice High School that we need, we wouldn’t have any empty classrooms."

The Occupy Venice event will take place from 7 p.m. – 10 p.m. at 1320 Main St. on Tuesday, May 21.