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This information came from a rebroadcast of the last LAUSD meeting aired today, Sunday, December 2, 2001 on KLCS - Channel 58, Los Angeles.

New Charter School in Los Angeles Unified School District

Community activists in East Los Angeles have petitioned the Board of Education for a new charter school. It is to be Kindergarten through 12th grade - a dual immersion "50/50" school - 50% English instruction and 50% Spanish instruction.

The request was initially made by a petitioner wearing an Aztec emblem/calendar shirt. They proudly intend to preserve the culture of the students' homeland. Therefore, they intend to include Nahuatl instruction, the language of the Aztecs. Board President Genethia Hayes was thrilled that the students will not lose their culture as they grow older.

Professor Juan Gomez-Quinonez of UCLA will be one of the directors of the new charter school. We recall Professor Gomez-Quinonez as one of the organizers of the "Grande Marcha" rally against Proposition 187 in Los Angeles in the summer of 1994. He was also a distinguished speaker at the "Latino Summit Response to Prop 187" at UC Riverside in January 1995, where he and 400 other radical Latino professors, politicians, students and community activists pledged non-compliance with Prop 187.

The petitioners have an initial funding grant of $200,000 from the National Council of La Raza.

NCLR had previously denied a request to fund the Belmont Learning Center because they prefer to fund small schools. Evidently, this Reconquista school is more to their liking.

The board members of LAUSD profoundly thanked the National Council of La Raza and are excited and thrilled about the future school.

EM
Irvine, Calif.