What's going on in LA happens all over the country: school systems are deliberately and systematically discriminating against one type of public school and the children who attend them.  Imagine, if you will, that the districts behaved similarly toward some other type of school -- high schools, schools in a particular neighborhood or that serve one ethnic group.  There would be a hue and cry!  Among other measures, we need LOTS of lawsuits about this.

Despite a state law that calls for public school campuses to be "shared fairly" between traditional schools and independently run charter schools, Synergy and dozens of other charters in Los Angeles Unified School District have nothing like a regular school to call their own.

Charter schools operate out of churches, high-rises, warehouses and portable buildings slapped down on parking lots...

The district, beset with overcrowded schools, typically puts charter schools on waiting lists or offers classroom space that is far away, too small or both. For the most part, district policy provides first for non-charter school students, then looks at what is left over to make available to charter schools...

Within the boundaries of L.A. Unified, there are 103 charter schools. Of the 35 that applied for classroom space for the next school year, 21 were turned down or received what they consider untenable offers, three have acceptable offers and the rest are under review, as tallied by the California Charter Schools Assn.

"Charter school students have an equal call on classroom seats," said Caprice Young, who heads the charter association. "The school district finds every way it possibly can to not give space to charter schools. The school district's policy is explicitly illegal."

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L.A. charter schools scramble for space

By Joel Rubin and Howard Blume, Times Staff Writers
April 23, 2007

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-charters23apr23,0,7707032,full.story?coll=la-home-headlines

There was no real intent to do anything for us. Our students are the second-class citizens of the public school system.

— Ref Rodriguez, co-CEO of Partnerships to Uplift Communities

For students at Synergy Academy, Friday afternoons bring a lesson in nomadic teaching.

Classroom rugs are rolled up and pushed against the wall. Collapsible bookshelves are folded down and a mobile computer lab is whisked away. Cleaning supplies get tucked into one corner, a portable nursing station into another. That's life when you're a charter school renting from a Catholic Church that needs the space for weekend catechism classes.

"Everything we have is on wheels," said Synergy co-founder Meg Palisoc, without a hint of sarcasm. "We've had to get creative."

Despite a state law that calls for public school campuses to be "shared fairly" between traditional schools and independently run charter schools, Synergy and dozens of other charters in Los Angeles Unified School District have nothing like a regular school to call their own.