In the fall of 2004, California Charter Academy (CCA) abruptly shut its doors before the start of the schools year, stranding several thousand students and jeopardizing public confidence in all charter schools.

Show that the California Charter Schools Association was holding this “bad apple” accountable and was doing everything in its power to remedy the situation.

Larson Communications led a media campaign demonstrating the movement’s strong commitment to accountability. They:

• Developed a fact sheet documenting how the Association raised awareness of CCA’s questionable practices and called for their public investigation.
• Issued fact sheet and press release to state and national media.
• Pointed out where the school district authorizers, and not charter schools, had failed to do their job.
• Helped place students in nearby, higher-quality charter schools and publicized the story.
• Generated positive news stories in The San Jose Mercury News, The Los Angeles Times and Education Week.

The end result?  Students got placed in better schools.  The California charter school movement maintained its credibility and has continued its responsible, high-quality expansion.