| On November 8th, the voters of who live in the Los | | | | Angeles schools officials, they expect another 4,304 |
| Angeles schools district will be faced with their fourth | | | | to be dropped this year. There are several reasons |
| proposition, called Measure Y. The $3.985 bond | | | | for these drops in enrollment.First, one in every 20 |
| measure, which will be paid by property taxes, is for | | | | students is choosing to attend a charter or private |
| more planned expansion within the Los Angeles | | | | school, rather than attend traditional Los Angeles |
| schools, allowing them to add another 25 elementary | | | | schools. The 88 charter schools within the state now |
| schools to the current list of 160 schools that are | | | | enroll about three percent (about 200,000) of the |
| scheduled to be constructed by year 2012. Some of | | | | public school students. About 35,000 of these |
| the money also is slated for other needs, such as | | | | students attend charter schools within the Los |
| new school buses, repairs and charter schools.The | | | | Angeles schools. The number of charter schools |
| other three bond measures were passed for Los | | | | within the state continues to increase, with another |
| Angeles schools new construction and repairs that | | | | 20 new charter schools planned for this fall.The |
| were long overdue. Classrooms were literally falling | | | | California Charter Schools Association predicts that |
| apart, and classes were excessively overcrowded | | | | ten percent of public school students within the state |
| with year-round schedules for many schools. The | | | | will attend charter schools by the year 2014, with |
| previously passed measures underwrote the current | | | | perhaps an even higher percentage in the Los |
| 160 schools on the list for construction.Many people, | | | | Angeles schools area. They cite that the number of |
| however, are asking if this fourth measure is truly | | | | charter schools would need to triple in order to |
| needed. According to the Los Angeles Daily News, | | | | accommodate all of the students currently on waiting |
| the traditional Los Angeles schools are slowly but | | | | lists. With the smaller size and flexibility of charter |
| steadily losing students from their rolls. Since the | | | | schools, they can be created and implemented in a |
| 2002-2003 school year, the traditional Los Angeles | | | | very short time, as compared to the large, traditional |
| schools have lost 4,471 students. According to Los | | | | Los Angeles schools that take years to construct. |