Whistle-blowing teachers to open a Los Angeles charter school

Howard Blume:

Los Angeles teachers who became whistle-blowers during a cheating scandal won the right Tuesday to open their own charter school.

The new enterprise, called Apple Academy, won unanimous approval from the Los Angeles Board of Education. The school's chief executive, former L.A. teachers union president A.J. Duffy, had been a longtime critic of charter schools.

The cheating, which came to public attention last year, ultimately led to the shutdown last summer of all six Crescendo charter schools. As a result, the families of about 1,200 students had to enroll elsewhere on short notice. And Crescendo employees, including teachers who reported the cheating, were left without work.

"It was a rough ending to last year," said former Crescendo teacher Elise Sargent. "We're so excited to move forward."

Posted by Jim Zellmer at January 27, 2012 3:04 AM
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