Los Angeles, Oakland Underfunding Charter Schools

Students from View Park Preparatory Accelerated Charter High School play a game of rugby on the parking lot field on campus in Los Angeles, Calif., on Sept. 11, 2015. Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images

Commentary

For more than 30 years, charter schools have been a revolutionary innovation to advance student achievement, especially for poor and minority children. Although Minnesota was the first state to advance charters, California was right behind, and now enjoys more than 1,300 charters, serving 11.7 percent of the state’s students, according to the California Department of Education.