A major education experiment lasting a generation is on the brink of a controversial ending as Los Angeles school district officials intend to shut down Alain Leroy Locke College Preparatory Academy and take back the Watts campus from its private operators.

Green Dot Public Schools, the charter group that has managed Locke for nearly two decades, is mounting a last-ditch appeal before the board of the county Office of Education, whose staff has also recommended closure.

At issue is whether about 1,000 students would fare better academically if Locke were run instead by the L.A. Unified School District, which concluded that Locke is “chronically underperforming.” Based on that analysis, the school board in March voted, 4 to 3, to end the charter.

District officials point, essentially, to test scores that are lower than the state average, lower than other charters and lower than nearby district-operated “comparison” schools. The district says its charter evaluations are consistent and fair — based on rules set out by the state and district policy.

But Locke and its community supporters — including an array of elected officials and Tanya Ortiz Franklin, the L.A. school board member for that area — disagree. They say much has improved since Green Dot took over the beleaguered campus in 2008, an unprecedented move for the nation’s second-largest school system: It was the first time that L.A. Unified turned over a high school and all its students to an outside organization.

The takeover 17 years ago was also the first time that a local charter organization accepted the mission of a neighborhood public school, taking in every student who showed up.

In the last year of district control, about 12% of Locke students tested as proficient in English Language Arts, and about 3% in math. That year also included a violent mass melee among students on campus.

Last year, the proficiency numbers were 28.1% for English and 9.5% for math.

Tension between public schools and privately operated charters has persisted. Charter adversaries note that mega-donors helped launch charters, which are mostly non-union, in part, to weaken the influence of unions and redirect public education dollars.

Green Dot founder Steve Barr stipulated that his group’s schools would be union-represented — but that commitment satisfied only a small number of opponents.

Students made a sign for the enclosed Locke high school garden in March 2026.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Charter supporters cite progress over the years, including markers of academic growth, vastly improved graduation rates and a more secure and attractive campus.

In a Thursday news conference, they urged county education officials to renew the charter.

Aatra Abbas, 29, said her family chose Locke for her three teenage siblings after visiting several nearby schools. She and her non-English-speaking immigrant parents were impressed by a staff intent on accelerating learning and a safe, welcoming campus.

“This conversation is often framed around policies, reports and decisions, but for families like mine, it is much more personal than that. It is about trust,” Abbas said. “My siblings found a community. They found teachers who believed in them, opportunities that challenged them and helped them grow. My brother made such tremendous progress that he exited English learner services within a year.”

While at Locke, senior Sashell Goss, 18, took Advanced Placement courses, enrolled in college classes and an on-campus nursing program and participated in athletics. Locke’s Black Excellence program played a major role in her successes, she said.

“When I first came to Locke, I was quiet, I kept to myself, and I didn’t feel very connected,” said Goss, who will attend Cal State Bakersfield in the fall. “At times, I felt invisible. The Black Excellence program found me and invited me into the space. ... I felt safe, supported.”

Letters of support include one from the family of James B. Taylor, Locke’s first principal when the school opened in 1967. Taylor lived long enough to see the first seven years of the charter’s efforts and became a Green Dot enthusiast, according to a letter signed by 11 family members.

Taylor “witnessed Locke transform into the kind of school he tried to create and always believed it could be — a place where teachers lead with kindness and high expectations, where families are respected partners, where students strive to reach their full potential, and where leaders are courageous enough to do what is right for students. In short, a school rooted in excellence, consistency and care.”

Green Dot contends that the school district opted for a narrowly bureaucratic perspective to conclude incorrectly that Locke has fallen fatally short of the mark under Green Dot.

Underlying the debate is an intense competition for public school students, which has become an existential threat in an era of sharply declining enrollment, especially given the reality that school districts are funded based on enrollment. In addition, an anti-charter school-board majority wants to push charters off district campuses to the extent possible.

In the analysis of L.A. Unified staff, the charter “failed to meet or make sufficient progress toward meeting standards that provide a benefit to the pupils.”

It found that the charter “is not demonstrating the clear and convincing evidence necessary to justify renewal of a chronically underperforming school, and that students currently enrolled at the Charter School would be better served if the Charter School were closed and enrolled in schools with higher levels of pupil academic achievement.”

An inspirational sign at Locke high school in Watts in March 2026.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

After 17 years, there’s not been enough progress, L.A. Unified officials concluded.

That evaluation, however, overlooks a crucial factor, charter supporters say. Green Dot has been handed a new group of far-behind students every single year. And these students fell behind or were not brought up to grade level standards while attending schools operated by L.A. Unified. Meanwhile at Locke, documentation shows that the typical student is achieving a year or more of learning every school year, Green Dot says.

The Locke student population is especially challenging.

According to Green Dot, in California “Locke is the only school that has a student population that is comprised of more than 25% English learners; more than 8% homeless students; more than 20% students with disabilities; more than 90% socioeconomically disadvantaged; and has a non-stability rate of more than 30%.”

“Non-stability” refers to the percentage of students who are enrolled for less than the full school year. Locke also had a high transiency rate before Green Dot was in charge.

Locke high school in Watts in March 2026. L.A. County Unified School District analysts noted that, based on test scores, nearly all the surrounding schools improved more than Locke in the last three years.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Green Dot says it can document that the longer a student is enrolled, the more that student thrives academically.

County education staff analysts were not impressed and turned Green Dot’s evidence against it. They countered that Green Dot was underperforming by failing to fully meet the needs of recent arrivals or students who were in and out of the school.

The state testing system — on which the charter evaluation is based — gives no credit at the high school level for how much students have improved since starting at Locke. Instead, the metric is where they stand in absolute terms — based mostly on testing conducted in the 11th grade.

County analysts noted that, based on this annual data for 11th grade, nearly all the surrounding schools improved more than Locke in the last three years.

That’s true. But it’s also true that the last three years have coincided with a period of rapid test score rises in L.A. schools under the administration of Supt. Alberto Carvalho.

Locke has improved as well over that time.

Franklin, the school board member who represents the area, voted against closing the charter.

“I have seen firsthand the strengths of its instructional program, comprehensive extracurricular offerings, deeply committed alumni network and robust mental health and social emotional support,” she wrote in a letter to the county.

“Locke has demonstrated, through clear and measurable evidence, sufficient academic progress to meet the criteria for renewal, and Green Dot’s continued operation of Locke is in the best interest of the students and community it serves.”