Enrollment in California's charter schools increased by 17 percent over last year. The schools now serve 484,000 students at 1,065 schools - the highest number of charter schools and charter school students in the country, according to a report released by the California Charter Schools Association Wednesday.
Once again this school year a majority of charters that opened are in the Los Angeles area - 40. Sonoma County added 12 new charters, San Diego County 10 and Alameda County six.
The Sacramento region added six new charters this school year - two less than it did last year. Three of those charter schools - with a total of 401 students - are in the city of Sacramento and three - with a total of 806 students - are in Placer County.
The foothills has gained schools that primarily focus on independent study, while two of the three new urban charters mainly focus on closing the minority achievement gap.
Sacramento's new charters include Leroy Greene Academy in Natomas, as well as Oak Park Preparatory and William Lee College Prep in the Oak Park neighborhood.
Placer County's charters include Forest Charter School, Alta Vista Community Charter School and Placer County Pathways Charter School.
See Tuesday's Bee for more on the region's new charter schools
Loretta Kalb started her reporting career at The Sacramento Union, moved to KOVR-13 as a television reporter, editor and producer, headed to The Associated Press in San Francisco and eventually returned to Sacramento and joined The Sacramento Bee. Throughout her career, she has covered the state Legislature, courts, local government and, now, education. She is a Chico native and an Elk Grove resident.
Diana Lambert began her journalism career as a proofreader at the Lodi News-Sentinel. She is now a senior writer at The Sacramento Bee covering K-12 education and California State University, Sacramento. Previously she was The Bee’s Elk Grove bureau chief. Lambert was raised in a military family and lived at bases around the globe. She attended four high schools, graduating from Tokay High in Lodi and then Sacramento State University. She lives in Elk Grove.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.