Showcasing Successful Teachers

The Issue
Citing no evidence, critics of charter schools in Los Angeles were quick to point out that teachers in charter schools were inexperienced, not as skilled and had lower levels of satisfaction teaching in charter schools. The movement needed a strategic response to combat this misinformation.

The Solution
Knowing these claims were untrue, and since Los Angeles-area schools were the target of these claims, Larson worked with all Los Angeles-based charter schools on developing a teacher survey in order to retrieve information that addressed the criticism. The survey found that more than two in five teachers left the district specifically to teach at a charter school, one in three had advanced degrees and one in 10 came out of retirement just to teach at a charter school. Only seven percent of teachers in charter schools leave to go back to teach in district schools. All these points demonstrated that teachers in charter schools are highly-skilled and satisfied.

Larson pitched this story to The Los Angeles Daily News, which published a four-part cover story feature showcasing why public school teachers are flocking to charter schools. Larson worked with three specific teachers who had a compelling story to tell as to why teachers enjoy the charter school environment. The campaign was a success; critics were kept at bay.