Dive Brief:

• This week, the Los Angeles Board of Education will vote to formally support or oppose a massive $490 million charter expansion, which would move 50% of district students into charters over the next eight years.  
• Even if the board votes against supporting the expansion it cannot override a California law that mandates school systems approve new charters without regard for financial impact on the district. 
• The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation are behind the expansion, which the United Teachers Los Angeles union strongly opposes. An effigy of Eli Broad was present at a rally.

Dive Insight:

Right now, 16% of L.A students attend charter schools. This expansion would change that, and although the Board of Education's position will likely be used as a political tool, it carries no real weight. "State law requires L.A. Unified to approve valid petitions for new charter schools," the LA Times reports, "so it isn't clear what powers the board would have to stop the expansion."

Regardless of the upcoming vote, the expansion issue comes at a difficult time for Los Angeles Unified. At the moment, the district is immersed in a $1 billion dollar discrimination lawsuit, a federal investigation of its failed iPad 1:1 program, and a looming budget meltdown. Critics of the charters cite the typical reasons for opposition: financial opacity, a lack of accountability, scare regulation, and taxpayer support of an education system that is privately controlled.