What happens when a charter school opens based on faulty data? A look back at PUC iPrep

This morning, PUC iPrep closed its doors. It had been on the brink of collapse for weeks, and watching this happen in slow motion has been extraordinarily heartbreaking to follow this story on the Eagle Rock Facebook group. Why did they close? On their websites, they state “Enrollment is the largest source of funding for the school, and with this level of enrollment, the program is not viable.”

But by saying that, they are not telling the whole story.

Over a year ago, I wrote about PUC iPrep. Their charter petition was approved based on data from East Chinatown, but instead they had chosen to locate the school in Eagle Rock.  I argued that by opening up in Eagle Rock, they were being deceptive, since their charter petition was based on data from 8 miles away. I argued,

Instead of opening up in a high need area, they are opening up in an area that has some of the highest performing elementary and middle schools in Los Angeles.

PUC had the opportunity (and the board mandate) to open this school in a high need area, where it most likely would have attracted a lot higher enrollment. Instead, it opened the school in an area with higher performing schools that it could not compete with.

They were deceptive, and it bit them back.

What upsets me most about the closing of PUC iPrep is that they continued to be dishonest in their promotional materials all the way through their closing. A few weeks ago, they put out this pdf online:

But this data is extraordinarily misleading. Last year, the only tested grades they had were 6th and 7th grade. Meanwhile, Dahlia Heights and Eagle Rock Elementary had data from 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th grade. Eagle Rock High had 7th, 8th and 11th. So you are comparing apples with oranges. These are not comparable samples. 

Also, if they want to compare themselves to schools in the area, maybe they should include the other PUC schools in the neighborhood. They probably don’t want to do that, however, because the other PUC schools aren’t outperforming local schools. 

I also love how ridiculously unofficial their language proficiency scores are. Its literally just an excel spreadsheet with the names blocked out.

I think the entire problem with the premise of the school was summed up in the final lines of the statement published in their website. “There are high-quality schools nearby.” And then they give a list of schools – and they literally list every single school around them, even ones with terrible data. The first school on their list of middle schools, Anahuacalmecac International University Prep, a K-12, where only 5% of students meet or exceed standards in math. 

Breathe, data nerd, breathe.

I believe strongly in founding principles. The way you start something has a lot to do with the way it turns out. And when your founding document, your charter petition, is based on faulty data, it will carry through your entire organizational history.