The Brief

Depending on who you ask, charter schools represent either an existential threat to public schools or an innovative model for learning.

But for many families, charters are just one of many public school options to consider.

This story isn’t wading into the debate of whether the existence of the schools are good or bad. Rather, this is a quick guide to understanding:

• How charters got here
• Who’s in charge 
• What we know about student outcomes
• Why a family might choose to attend one
• What to consider when looking at schools

Why do charter schools exist?

Charter schools were conceived as the test kitchens of the public education system. The original notion was that charters would launch small-scale experiments — and that larger, less-nimble districts could learn from charters and take their experiments to scale.

California was the second state in the U.S. to legalize charter schools in 1992 (the first was Minnesota).

"The way I explained it was that it was like having a great deal more freedom in a public school. But unlike a private school which has an enormous amount of freedom, there would be certain steps that you couldn't cross over,” late California State Sen. Gary K. Hart told LAist in 2016. “What we were attempting to do was to give local communities much greater freedom as to how they went about establishing their educational goals and objectives and how they went about accomplishing those objectives."

To that end, charters are exempt from many of the state laws that govern traditional public schools. Leaders of a charter school have more freedom to try new methods of teaching, select the materials they wish to use, and more easily hire (or fire) teachers, who at most charter schools are not unionized.

California charter schools cannot:

• Charge tuition 
• Discriminate against any pupil on the basis of ethnicity, national origin, gender, or disability
• Be affiliated with a specific religion

More than a quarter of the state's charter schools are located in L.A. County, according to the California Department of Education. L.A. Unified School District alone is home to more than 300 charter schools. About 16% of Los Angeles County public school students attend a charter school.

In some cases, the model works as California law intends and students have access to high-quality, innovative schools.

“A core tenet of the charter school movement is the notion that, you know, there's not one size fits all,” said Keith Dell'Aquila, vice president of local advocacy in the Los Angeles region for the California Charter Schools Association. “Our kids are different and unique, and so we need a school system and a system of schools that are also different and unique and meet different needs.”

But critics say there's much about the model that isn't working. They say charter schools are no longer a small-scale experiment, but a massive, flawed parallel school system that threatens the existing, district-run system.

How does a charter school get made? 

Anyone can propose a charter school. Prospective operators must create a document that describes how the school will run, including who’s in charge, the educational program, and how students' progress will be measured.

Before a charter school can open, it needs permission from an authorizer. In most cases, the authorizer is the elected board of the school district in which the charter school is located. Sometimes an authorizer is the county's Office of Education or the State Board of Education.

Legally, authorizers can consider whether the school's academic, financial and governance plans are sound. And, as of 2019, whether the charter would have a negative financial effects on district schools or undermine existing programs.

If an authorizer rejects the prospective founders' petition, the applicant can appeal to a higher level — first to the county's Office of Education and, in a limited number of cases, to the California State Board of Education.

If the authorizer approves the petition, the founders must reapply every few years and show the school is meeting its goals and student needs.

During this renewal process, authorizers can revoke the charter of schools that are financially unsound and where students do not make academic progress. Like the initial petition, this decision can be appealed.

Charter schools may choose to shut down of their own accord. For example, KIPP, a large network of charter schools, cited low enrollment in its decision to close three L.A. campuses in 2024. In a few extreme cases, charter schools shut down after operators enriched their own bank accounts while providing a substandard education for students.

One study found that about a third of California charter schools closed within 10 years. State data show that 183 charter schools have closed in L.A. County since 1999. School closures displace students and can have short- and long-term negative effects on students.

Who is in charge of charters?

You’ll encounter two distinct types of charters when it comes to governance.

Independent charters make up the vast majority of California charter schools. Nonprofit organizations run these schools. The day-to-day operations are overseen by a board, often appointed by the school’s founders or nonprofit leaders.

Independent charter schools must follow California’s open meeting laws. Community members, parents and educators can attend board meetings and have the opportunity to make a comment on items up for discussion. Charter schools must also provide access to public records.

Some charter school operators run just one or two campuses. In other cases, larger organizations manage several schools, up to hundreds in some cases.

Dependent charter schools operate within the governance of a traditional public school district. (In LAUSD, these schools are called affiliated charters).

Roughly one-quarter of California's charter schools operate as a district-run school.

Many of these schools were once regular district schools that converted to charter status. The head of LAUSD’s charter school division once described them as “really connected to the mothership.” The leaders of the school district oversee the schools, but they have some of the same legal freedoms as independent charter schools.

Where does the money come from? 

Charter schools receive public funding. California distributes money to schools based on students’ average daily attendance and provides additional dollars to support low-income students, foster youth and English language learners.

Like traditional public schools, charter schools may also seek grants and private fundraising.

One big difference between charters and traditional public school districts is that charters cannot ask voters to approve bonds to fund facilities. There is some money available for charter school construction and repairs through a state program.

Are charter schools better than traditional public schools? 

The answer isn’t clear.

It’s hard to create an “apples-to-apples” comparison between traditional public schools and charter schools because there are so many variables — from where students live to their socioeconomic background and how the schools are run.

Stanford researchers have been studying charter school academic performance since 2009. The most recent Center for Research on Education Outcomes study, released in 2023, found that as a whole, charter school students score slightly higher on reading and math tests than their “twin” from a nearby district school. Black and Hispanic students made even greater gains, but still didn’t catch up to their white peers.

The study's authors point out that because charter schools operate with so much flexibility, the success of one student or group of students at one school does not guarantee that the result will be universal.

Critics of CREDO’s research point out that the gains cited are so small as to be insignificant and question the organization’s methodology.

Charter school advocates acknowledge that the promise of innovation has fallen short in the classroom.

“The singular focus on closing the achievement gap and getting students to and through college has forced many of our leaders to focus on tried and tested methods of teaching,” the former head of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools told an EdWeek columnist last year.

In short: Whether your child thrives in a charter school will be shaped by their unique attributes, your family’s goals and a multitude of factors specific to that school.

What’s the controversy over?

Limited resources

California funds schools based on average daily attendance. Overall K-12 education spending has increased in recent years, but the state spends less per student than lots of other states.

School districts lose out on the state funding that follows each student who enrolls in an "independent" charter school. (School districts retain the funding for dependent and affiliated charter school students).

Though adding up how much money districts lose when students enroll in charters is not a straightforward exercise, this funding loss is central to what makes charter schools so controversial.

Another limited resource is space.

Charter schools may opt to lease private space at market rate and a small number have built their own facilities, but for others, their authorizers are also their landlords.

California voters passed Proposition 39 in 2000. The law requires schools provide space to charters that is “reasonably equivalent” to what students who attend traditional public schools receive. Disagreements on what “reasonably equivalent” actually means has resulted in multiple lawsuits.

In LAUSD, dozens of charter schools share a campus with a traditional public school. The policy, called co-location, has frustrated some parents and educators on both sides.

Traditional public school educators say co-locations have cost campuses space for music, food pantries, counseling and other resources. Charter school operators say the district has done the bare minimum to meet their students’ needs.

The LAUSD board voted in 2024 to steer co-locations away from campuses focused on improving outcomes for Black students and serving high-needs students. (The California Charter School Association subsequently filed a lawsuit that, as of June 2025, is still working its way through the court system).

The politics

In recent LAUSD elections, pro-charter and pro-union backers have spent millions of dollars to support their candidates of choice in each race. Though the biggest beneficiaries are not always victorious — see, for example, the 2024 race for the San Fernando Valley’s board district 3.

United Teachers Los Angeles often chooses to endorse candidates that closely align with its platform, which in recent years has included limiting the growth of charter schools in addition to workforce issues like teacher salaries and class sizes.

Charter school backers, which include the California Charter Schools Association and private philanthropists, generally advocate for candidates they believe are more likely to approve new charter schools and renew the charters for existing ones.

Prior candidates have rejected a focus on charter growth and results as an oversimplification.

The district’s political leaders are tasked with making decisions to support all public school students and families — regardless of whether they attend a charter or traditional public school.

The reality is that the majority of the challenges that face Los Angeles students (poverty, mental health struggles, pandemic learning loss) — and schools (aging facilities, falling enrollment, teachers shortages, limited funding) are shared by both charter and traditional public schools.

Teachers

California requires most public school teachers to earn a teaching credential. Requirements include:

• A bachelor’s degree
• Completing an accredited teacher prep program and two years of additional training
• A background check 
• 600 hours of student teaching

Historically, some charter school educators did not need a teaching credential, but in 2019 California passed a law requiring all charter school teachers to be credentialed by July 2025.

But both charter and traditional public schools can hire uncredentialed teachers through internship programs, emergency permits or waivers —16% of full-time California teachers lacked the appropriate credentials in the 2022-2023 school year, the most recent year of data from the California Department of Education. (You can also look up teacher qualifications for school districts and individual charter schools by selecting “staff assignment data,” on the department’s data website.)

A report from the California Charter School Association found charter teachers are, on average, younger and less experienced than traditional public school teachers.

The demographics of charter school teachers largely matches those of traditional public school teachers overall — most are white and about 20% are Latino. It’s worth noting that the California Department of Education has not published teacher demographic data since the 2018-19 school year, so that’s the most recent year available to compare.

Most staff at California charter schools are not part of a union, but at nearly 20% of schools that are organized, educators negotiate directly with school leaders over pay, benefits and other working conditions.

What information should I consider in my decision?

What are my child’s interests?

While all schools expose students to a variety of subjects and activities, some may focus on incorporating a specific theme or style of teaching throughout a child's educational journey.

LAist talked to several families who reconsidered their school options in later elementary years after their child showed interest in a specific topic.

Does my child have unique needs?

If you know or suspect your child has a disability, they may need additional support at school.

Federal law guarantees students with disabilities a “free appropriate public education,” but Congress has never fully funded special education as intended when the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) first passed in 1975. A lot of parents say they have to advocate for services to help their children learn and many families struggle to get help.

This law also applies to charter schools, though nationwide and in California, charters enroll a smaller proportion of students with disabilities than traditional public schools.

Advocates for students with disabilities say charter schools have the potential to improve outcomes for students with disabilities, but research thus far shows students who receive special education services make fewer academic gains than their peers in traditional public schools in academic growth. Smaller charter schools with fewer financial resources may have a harder time providing the resources these students need.

Here are some questions to consider asking a prospective school:

• What resources are available for families of children with disabilities? 
• How do you meet the needs of students with disabilities? 
• What's the turnover for special education teachers? Special ed aides?
• How do you identify children who struggle to read and what kinds of tools are available to help? 

How competitive is enrollment?

Charter schools must admit any student who wishes to attend, but if there is more demand than available seats, the school holds a lottery to determine who gets in. A school may also give priority to specific groups of students. For example, siblings of current students or those who reside within school district boundaries.

Ask:

• About the capacity, number of applications in previous years,  the number of openings for your child’s grade for the upcoming year and which students are prioritized if there is a lottery.

How will my child get to school?

California lags the nation in providing bus transportation to students.

The state doesn’t require schools to offer transportation though the federal government requires schools to provide it for a few specific groups of students, including some with disabilities and those experiencing homelessness.

Dell’Aquila, with the charter school association, said some schools run their own bus service or purchase Metro passes for families.

“Our schools are incredibly committed to helping anybody who wants to be there,” Dell’Aquila said.

Ask:

• What transportation is available?

Who cares for my child before and after school?

Many working families need child care outside of typical school hours, but not all schools offer before-or-after school programs.

Ask:

• Does the school provide before-and-after school care? If so, what’s the cost? 
• Can the school provide any referrals or suggestions for third-party before-and-after school care providers? 

Where will my child go for middle and high school? 

In the traditional public school system there is a clear pathway for where a child will attend school from kindergarten through high school — though families may choose to explore other options.

Not all charter schools offer every grade.

Ask:

• What grades does the school offer? 
• Are there any plans to expand? 
• If there is not a middle or high school, do staff have recommendations? 

What data can I consult to make my decision? 

For better or worse, we have a school accountability system based largely on students’ standardized test scores.

“The scores tell you something, but usually they are — across the whole country — highly correlated with socioeconomic status,” Learning Policy Institute founding president Linda Darling-Hammond told LAist. “A lot of what they tell you is how well off economically are students in this school, rather than how much is the school contributing to their gains and growth.”

For example, one study in Mississippi found a school’s overall scores can mask outcomes for low-performing groups of students.

No one metric defines a great school and there are many factors beyond test scores to consider — from data about student attendance, discipline and parent surveys on school safety.

By far the most frequent piece of advice we’ve heard is to go on an in-person school tour if possible.

“The very best thing that people can do is go to the school and try to watch the way that educators interact with students, the way that students interact with each other, and the way that families are included or not in the life of a school,” said Jack Schneider, a University of Massachusetts Amherst education researcher and parent. “Once you do that, you really get a sense of what kind of place kids are going to school.”

Some schools post information about tours online, but you may have to call for details.

Once you’re there, here are some questions to ask:

• Can I talk to staff and students? 
• Do staff send their children to the school?
• What is staff turnover? 
• What professional development is available for staff? 
• How big are classes?
• What extracurricular activities are available? 
• What is the school’s approach to social and emotional learning? 
• How does the school handle discipline and bullying? 
• How much time do students spend on screens, i.e. working on computers or tablets? 
• Are there any recent or planned improvements to campus? 
• What opportunities are there for parents to get involved? Is there a parent-teacher association (PTA) or other organized group of families?
• Can the school help connect families to other community resources i.e. meals, mental health, housing support, internet access? 
• When is the school’s charter up for renewal? 

Here are some things to observe:

• What time of day does the tour take place? Is it a moment of transition like the beginning of the day or lunch?
• Are students engaged in the lessons? Wandering around campus? 
• What is the condition of the buildings, classrooms, playgrounds and school grounds?  Is there green space? 
• How are staff interacting with students and each other?
• What information is posted in the front office and hallways? Are there opportunities for parental involvement? 

We have a comprehensive overview of the information you can review from the comfort of home, but here are a few places to start your search.

Individual school websites: At their best, these platforms are a window into the school’s history, curriculum, current programs and events. On the other end of the spectrum, information can be sparse or outdated. But a bad website isn’t necessarily indicative of a bad school.

Individual school websites: At their best, these platforms are a window into the school’s history, curriculum, current programs and events. On the other end of the spectrum, information can be sparse or outdated. But a bad website isn’t necessarily indicative of a bad school.

Look for:

• Information about the school’s history including how long it’s been open and who operates the school
• Events 
• Tours 
• Extracurricular activities and after- and before-school programs
• How to contact teachers and administrators
• Parent and family resources

California School Dashboard: Here you can compare a school’s test scores and other information against state standards. Many measures are assigned a color from red (worst) to blue (best) based on performance from the current year and growth from the prior year.

School Accountability Report Card (SARC): The wonkiest of these options. The SARC is an annual assessment each school must submit each year; among the data is:

• Teacher qualifications
• School facility conditions
• Student support staff on campus (librarian, nurse, psychologist, etc.)

The website isn’t super user-friendly. Search for an individual school here and then click the button that says “view full SARC” to see all of the available information.

LAUSD’s school explorer, for affiliated LAUSD charter schools: You can search by location or by keywords. Each school page provides an overview of the programs and services available and few data points with a comparison to the district average including:

• Test scores
• Student demographics
• The percentage of students who feel safe at the school

For more information, including suspensions, attendance and the progress made by English Language Learners, visit the district’s open data site.

How can I meet other parents? 

There’s parent Facebook groups, but there are also a variety of school, local government and parent-run organizations who can connect you to families willing to share their experiences.

At the school level:

• Parent-teacher association or a booster club.
• School site council, a group of parents, community members, staff, and students that advises leadership. 

At the city level:

• Local neighborhood council, the smallest and most accessible unit of L.A. government. Many have a representative focused on education.

How to enroll in a charter school

You’ll encounter two types of charter schools in LAUSD.

Affiliated charter schools run by the district and overseen by the elected school board.

• How to apply: Choices applications for affiliated charter school programs are typically due in mid-November and there is a late enrollment option early the following year. Apply online or in person at the school. When there are more applications than seats available, the school will conduct a lottery and must publish the date on its website. Students who are not selected join a waiting list.

Independent charter schools run by nonprofit organizations with unelected boards.

• How to apply: Independent charter schools have a separate application process that is unique to each school.

Illustration: Olivia Hughes / LAist

For California’s local governments hoping to have some say over where and how large apartment buildings get packed near major transit stops, it’s crunch time.

Last fall, state lawmakers made it legal for developers to build mid-rises — some as tall as nine stories — in major metro neighborhoods near train, subway and certain dedicated bus stops.

But the final version of Senate Bill 79, which goes into effect on July 1, offered local governments plenty of wiggle room over the where, when and how of the new law.

With the summer deadline rapidly approaching, cities across the state are starting to wiggle.

Like a statewide game of Choose Your Own Adventure, local elected officials for the San Francisco Bay Area to Los Angeles to San Diego are exploring ways to either lean into the spirit of the law, come up with their own plan tailored to the city’s whims and needs, or slow the local roll out for as long as possible while considering their options. Those that do nothing will be forced to accept the transit-oriented rezoning prescribed by state legislators.

Los Angeles opted for a strategy of maximum delay last month when the city council voted to overhaul a portion of its zoning map in order to buy itself a few more years of planning time.

The move took advantage of a set of escape clauses written into the state law: Transit-adjacent areas that already allow at least half of the housing required under SB 79 can hold off on changing the rules until a year after the next state-mandated planning period.

For Los Angeles and much of Southern California that’s 2030.

Likewise, many lower income neighborhoods, those at risk of wildfire and sea-level rise or sites listed on a historic preservation registry also qualify for that temporary delay.

L.A.’s city council mashed every pause button it could.

Along with temporarily exempting zoning changes in poorer neighborhoods, known fire zones and historic districts, the council preemptively voted to allow modest multiplex buildings as tall as three or four stories in dozens of higher-income neighborhoods currently restricted to single family homes. That will bring those areas up above the cut-off needed for the four-year reprieve, according to the city’s planning staff.

By swallowing a little more allowable density in the short term, the city was able to ward off a whole lot more — for now. Backers of the measure said that will give the city more time to come up with a better alternative that still complies with the law.

The vote “adds meaningful housing capacity now and gives us time to decide where the rest of density should go within our own communities,” Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky said before the vote.

When 2030 arrives, the city will either have to come up with its own plan that meets the overall density requirements of the state law — but with some allowable flexibility over where all the potential growth goes — or belatedly accept SB 79 whole cloth.

The L.A. vote came as a disappointment to many pro-development advocates, who have called upon city officials to speedily accept the state-imposed densification immediately, or barring that, to take more aggressive steps in the meantime.

“We’re pretty concerned that this is not actually going to produce housing,” said Scott Epstein, policy and research director with Abundant Housing Los Angeles, a “Yes In My Backyard” oriented advocacy group.

He noted that smaller apartment buildings are less likely to be financially feasible in areas where land costs are exceptionally high. The city’s ordinance achieves its increase in allowable density by permitting modest apartment buildings in relatively affluent neighborhoods.

But even some of the state law’s fiercest defenders see a silver lining in the city’s delay tactic.

“On the one hand, it’s disappointing because we're delaying the full potential of the law,” said Aaron Eckhouse, local policy programs director for California YIMBY, one of the sponsors of SB 79. But in Los Angeles, he noted, city officials have long been fiercely resistant to proposed zoning changes in neighborhoods dominated by single-family homes.

Now Los Angeles council members are effectively saying, “‘okay, we will do this on our terms rather than on the state’s terms,’” said Eckhouse. “But it is still happening, because the state forced the issue.”

How can cities go their own way?

The Los Angeles approach mirrors one being pursued by officials in San Francisco. There officials are considering a policy of exempting industrial areas and many of the city’s low-resource neighborhoods, while preemptively pushing up the allowable density on certain low-rise locations to get them over the 50% threshold and qualify for a delay until 2032.

But unlike Los Angeles, San Francisco doesn’t plan to spend years coming up with a bespoke local alternative. Instead, the city is proposing to roll out its own version before July 1. That task was made a bit easier given that local officials just wrapped up a citywide densification effort last year as part of Mayor Daniel Lurie’s “Family Zoning Plan.”

The current proposal is set to be heard by a Board of Supervisors subcommittee later this month.

For cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco that decide to come up with their own local plans, they will still need to get the approval of state housing regulators. Officials from California’s Housing Department have yet to publicly weigh in on any individual city’s plans. But their boss has. In a handful of social media posts, Gov. Gavin Newsom has lambasted Los Angeles and San Diego for their proposed efforts to shield certain portions of their city from the requirements of the law. Newsom did not suggest that either city was violating the law itself.

Some cities may simply decide not to bother. Sacramento, for example, will soon consider an ordinance that would make modest tweaks to the way it accepts development applications subject to the state law, but otherwise leaves the state-set zoning rules intact.

Other municipalities, with smaller budgets and fewer professional planners on staff, may not have much choice but to accept the requirements of the state law, said Jason Rhine, a lobbyist with the League of California Cities, which opposed the bill when it was working its way through the Legislature.

Rhine said that some cities are still scrambling to understand the basics of the statute, such as how it applies to future transit infrastructure or how the law defines distance from a transit stop.

“If you’re a planner trying to come up with an alternative plan authorized by (the law), you don't have the information needed to even get started,” said Rhine. He said he is urging state lawmakers to consider extending the July 1 deadline. No one has taken him up on the idea yet.

‘A matter of urgency’

In Oakland, the decision over whether to delay or accept the state upzoning has played out at the neighborhood level.

Last month, the city’s planning staff proposed an ordinance to take the full suite of possible delays in order to buy time and develop an alternative plan. This, city staff stressed, was not about opposition to the goals of state law, but about a preference among local planners to reconsider the city’s plan comprehensively and at all once, rather than in fits and starts.

“It’s no dispute over outcome,” Oakland Planning Director William Gilchrist told the council. “I think it really comes down to a question of when and how.”

Even so, three city council members objected, arguing, in effect, that they would like the state’s override in their districts now, thank you very much.

Zac Unger, who represents some of the city’s more affluent neighborhoods in North Oakland, argued that parcels that have already achieved the 50% density threshold should not be exempt in his district, especially because the bulk of them are located along busy commercial corridors.

Change is coming, one way or another, he argued at council. “I am arguing for, in a sense, coming to grips with that reality right now rather than spending a year providing people with the false idea that we can somehow exempt ourselves from state law.”

Two other members — Charlene Wang and Ken Houston — who represent some of the low-resource neighborhoods entitled to delay, also wanted to adopt the law in their districts now. “In an urban area like Oakland we should be far exceeding the density minimums in (state law),” said Wang.

In a follow-up interview, Unger noted that the debate in Oakland may be more symbolic than it is in other cities. By happenstance, city planners have been working for years toward an overhaul of the city’s zoning map, which they aim to wrap up next year. In other words, Oakland is likely to have an alternative plan that complies with the state law’s requirements by 2027 anyway.

“If we implement SB 79 on July 1 of this year instead of July 1 of next year, there won’t be buildings blowing up from the street,” he said. “It’s just a matter of urgency — and a statement of values.”

Aside from those cities that are racing to embrace the state law and those seeking delay or their own versions, there is another possible category: Those that resist the law entirely.

After California lawmakers passed a law in 2021 allowing homeowners to split up their properties into as many as four separate units, density-averse cities pushed back. Some took the state to court, others explored adopting municipal charters, one flirted with the idea of becoming a mountain lion refuge. None of the measures ultimately succeeded.

If SB 79 is met with a similar array of resistance, we aren’t likely to see that until after the July 1 deadline, said Eckhouse with California YIMBY.

“The reason to do something now is either to lean into it or to use the provisions of the law for flexibility and deferrals,” he said. “But if they just want to stand in the door and say ‘no,’ we might not find out about that until the zoning standards go into effect.”

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.

MacArthur Park will briefly look different this summer.

City officials and community groups are planning a two-day event for a FIFA World Cup watch party in July. The events will close a part of Wilshire Boulevard that passes through the park and turn the street into a pedestrian space.

For some residents, that change can’t come soon enough.

“I support this idea because right now kids aren’t really able to play in this area,” said Palea Hernandez, a Westlake resident and mother of three young children. “It’s not safe and clean enough for them.”

The events, scheduled for July 10 and 11, will coincide with the playoff matches. The teams have not been determined yet. Organized by Council District 1, the events will include food vendors, a large screen to view the games, and family activities.

Organizers say the goal is not just to celebrate the tournament, but to give residents a preview of what MacArthur Park could become.

The concept mirrors the proposed Reconnecting MacArthur Park project, which would permanently close the stretch of Wilshire that cuts through the park and unify its north and south sides into one continuous green space.

“They do plan to close Wilshire Boulevard between the parks to be showing the World Cup,” said Diana Alfaro of Central City Neighborhood Partners. “So that is something that’s basically the same as reconnecting MacArthur Park.”

More than 60% of surveyed residents support removing the roadway, according to preliminary findings from that study.

The World Cup events will offer a temporary version of that idea.

The Los Angeles Department of Transportation plans to release a report on their outreach into the community and an evaluation on alternatives to reconnecting Wilshire Boulevard. The open streets event in the summer will preview potential changes to the area.

Organizers plan to model the event after open-street initiatives like CicLAvia, using a road closure to create space for pedestrians. Chelsea Lucktenberg, a spokesperson for Council District 1, said there will also be community organizations tabling with resources, including on where to get grocery and rental assistance. 

“We’re also looking to have activities and fun. Maybe a soccer clinic and other pop-up workshops,” she said.

The office is still finalizing details, but outreach to local vendors and businesses is expected to begin in May.

Lucktenberg said a similar event had been planned for last June but was canceled due to safety concerns during a period of heightened immigration enforcement activity in the area.

Not everyone is convinced the event alone will make a difference.

“If I’m being honest, I hate LA. I don’t like this place,” said Alex Valenzuela, who was born in Westlake and visits the area periodically when he has business at the Mexican consulate nearby. “The park is nice, but I just don’t like the fact that everywhere you see, there are homeless people, people smoking, people on drugs.”

Concerns about homelessness and drug activity came up repeatedly in interviews with residents and workers near the park.

Fernando Rodriguez, owner of Variedades A and K, where he does money transfers and sells vitamins and other household supplies, supports the idea as long as it does not disrupt access for workers. 

He believes kids could benefit from closing down Wilshire and opening it up for activities, but that the city needs to address homelessness in the area.

“Every day it’s packed with homeless people. The kids come to play in the park, but I’ve seen the homelessness and drugs,” he said. “Even if they close down to provide activities for kids, it’s not going to be safe for them if all the homeless are still here.”

Jonathan Santos, a leasing agent inside the MacArthur Park swap meet, said he would support the plan if it leads to visible improvements.

MacArthur Park will briefly look different this summer.

(

Steve Saldivar

/

The LA Local

)

“I would support this if it gets rid of the homelessness. I’m sick and tired of it,” Santos said. “I think closing down this street might be the beginning of something.”

Santos, who grew up in the neighborhood, said he no longer feels comfortable bringing his children to the park.

“My kids do not like it here … No way I would let them come here to play at MacArthur Park,” he said.

Others said more activity could help shift the feel of the park, even if temporarily.

“I feel like it will take a lot of homeless people away if they see a lot of people in the area with little kids,” said Erica Garcia, a local resident and mother. “I’ve been living here for two years now and I don’t bring my kid out here because it’s not safe.”

Garcia said she would be open to bringing her baby out to the park in July to experience the World Cup activation if there are extra security guards and police patrolling the area.

Outreach to local vendors and businesses is expected to begin in May as organizers finalize plans for the July event. Lucktenberg said residents can also expect to hear more about the events starting in May. The viewing parties at the park are just some of several that will be hosted across the city, including a block party at Liberty Park in Koreatown.

Neither of those parties are officially sanctioned by FIFA, who are planning to host their own events at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.

The post FIFA World Cup events to close Wilshire through MacArthur Park for two days in July appeared first on LA Local.

Early spring means the return of warm weather and … taxes. On a recent weekend, Dan and Glynna Courter were enjoying the sun with friends over a picnic of blueberries and Cheez-Its at Birmingham's Railroad Park.

When the topic moved to how they're feeling about their tax refunds, nearly everyone at the gathering responded with a chorus of lukewarm just fines.

The lack of enthusiasm was surprising considering everyone on the picnic blanket received sizable refunds, including about $10,000 for the Courters combined. But Glynna thinks their refund wasn't that much different from last year. The couple withhold the maximum taxes from their paychecks, which helps them avoid the risk of owing taxes and leads to a bigger refund.

"We might go to a nice restaurant," Dan added, after Glynna said they'd use the refund for savings.

This is not the vibe Republican lawmakers were planning for this tax season. The White House had already declared this the "largest tax refund season in U.S. history," and so far it's on track to be, due to the Republicans' signature tax and spending law, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The White House projected the average refund "to rise by $1,000 or more this year."

But that extra refund bump has fallen short of that projection.

So far, the average refund has totaled about $350 more than last year. By early April, the average tax refund sat at $3,462, which is 11.1% higher than the same point last year, according to the IRS.

And Americans appear to be shrugging their shoulders at the tax changes. A recent survey by the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington think tank advising on federal policy, found 62% of respondents either thought the tax changes harmed them or made no difference. Even among Republicans, only 35% said the changes favored them.

"There's a bit of a disappointment in how much those refunds are," said Tom O'Saben, the director of tax content and government relations at the National Association of Tax Professionals. "People are quietly, perhaps, happy but not to the extent where I would call it significant."

Americans who owe taxes could be seeing a bigger slice of the savings

One possible explanation for the lower refunds is that the benefits from the tax law changes could be showing up more for Americans who don't receive refunds, but owe taxes. The IRS data on tax refunds this season does not factor in how much less Americans owed compared to last year.

"The evidence is stronger that more tax relief is relatively flowing to those who otherwise would owe when they file," said Don Schneider, deputy head of U.S. policy at the investment bank Piper Sandler.

But Schneider points out that owing less money is harder to notice than getting cash in hand.

"Getting it in a refund is probably more impactful, more easy to understand than having a reduction in what you otherwise would owe," Schneider said.

Higher-income procrastinators still have to file

Wealthier filers so far seem to have received larger benefits from the tax changes.

"Higher income taxpayers are much more likely than lower income taxpayers to report significantly higher refunds this year," said Andrew Lautz, director of tax policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center.

That's due in part to the increase in the SALT, or state and local tax, deduction cap raised by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Filers can now deduct up to $40,000 for property, sales and income taxes paid to state and local governments. The deduction primarily goes to wealthier Americans who own homes with big mortgage payments.

Since they traditionally are more likely to procrastinate sending in their returns, that could cause this year's average tax refund to grow later on, but likely still fall short of the additional $1,000 mark, Lautz said. "It is unlikely that we will see that kind of boost by the end of this."

Refunds are getting eaten up by higher gas prices

Part of the tepid response to refunds could be related to the extra cash Americans are spending at the pump.

The war with Iran has brought the average price for a gallon of regular in the U.S. well above $4. Data from the Bank of America Institute and PNC shows consumers have continued spending on gas, and depending on how long gas prices stay elevated, all of the benefits Americans received from the 2025 tax and spending bill could go solely to staying fueled up.

"The tax refund season might be very good, but it's also being offset by this price in gasoline," said Michael Pearce, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics.

Bob Jones, a retiree in Birmingham, is satisfied with his refund. He benefited from an extra deduction of $6,000 for a lot of seniors 65 and up. But the war with Iran has him worried about what that means for the price of gas, so he's put it all in savings.

"You need the savings simply for gas," Jones said.

Copyright 2026 NPR

Updated April 15, 2026 at 11:21 AM ET

The U.S. military said it had "completely halted" all commercial trade moving in and out of Iran's ports, less than 36 hours after imposing a naval blockade.

The announcement comes after President Trump ordered the U.S. Navy to enforce a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz following U.S.-Iran peace talks in Islamabad over the weekend that ended without any agreement.

But on Tuesday, Trump told the New York Post a second round of direct talks could resume in Islamabad within two days.

In a Wednesday morning interview with Fox Business, Trump said the war with Iran was "very close" to ending.

"I view it as very close to being over," Trump told anchor Maria Bartiromo.

Trump has repeatedly suggested the war is nearing an end without offering a clear timeline.

The latest developments came as the International Monetary Fund warned Tuesday that the global economy could be heading toward a recession triggered by the war.

A girl plays with a bubble blower at an unofficial camp for displaced people in Beirut's waterfront area on Tuesday.

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Here are more updates from the region:

U.S. blockade | Peace talks | Recession fears | Israel-Hezbollah fighting

U.S. military says it has blocked Iranian ports

A top U.S. military commander said U.S. forces have imposed a blockade of Iranian ports and have established "maritime superiority" in the Middle East.

"In less than 36 hours since the blockade was implemented, U.S. forces have completely halted economic trade going into and out of Iran by sea," Adm. Bradley Cooper, the commander of U.S. Central Command, which oversees Middle East operations, said in a statement shared online early Wednesday local time. He suggested the U.S. blockade brought to a halt Iran's economy, which relies on international trade by sea.

The U.S. blockade of Iranian ports entered into force on Monday following face-to-face negotiations between U.S. and Iranian officials in Islamabad to end the war. According to Trump, the meeting failed to achieve a breakthrough over Iran's insistence to continue its nuclear program.

A ship is seen off the coast of Ras al-Khaimah, the day after the failure of US-Iran peace talks on Monday.

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The blockade is seen as a tactic to pressure Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, where nearly 20% of the global supply of oil and gas normally moves. It's also a key passageway for other goods such as fertilizer, aluminum and helium.

Iran closed the waterway in retaliation to U.S. and Israeli strikes on Feb. 28. It has let a small fraction of ships through from countries it considers friendly or neutral in the conflict. An Iranian lawmaker told state media recently that Iran collects $2 million fees from some vessels passing through the strait. Trump called the move "extortion."

The U.S. military said Tuesday 10,000 U.S. service members, more than 100 aircraft and over 12 warships were enforcing the blockade of vessels entering and leaving Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman.

The shipping information firm Lloyd's List said at least one ship, the Rich Starry, a combined chemical and oil tanker, transited the Strait of Hormuz early Tuesday morning local time and then made a U-turn in the Gulf of Oman.

The U.S. military said six merchant vessels "complied with direction from U.S. forces to turn around."

Trump says peace talks in Pakistan could resume this week

In an interview with The New York Post on Tuesday, Trump said additional peace talks between the U.S. and Iran "could be happening over the next two days" in Islamabad.

Peace talks in Pakistan's capital over the weekend ended after 21 hours without any agreement.

"You should stay there, really, because something could be happening over the next two days, and we're more inclined to go there," Trump said, referring to Islamabad.

He went on to praise Pakistan's army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, for doing a "great job" in mediating the talks.

"He's fantastic, and therefore it's more likely that we go back there," Trump said.

Pakistan, which holds strong diplomatic relations with both the U.S. and Iran, has emerged as a key mediator in negotiations between the two countries.

Vice President Vance, Washington's lead negotiator, said a major sticking point that led to the breakdown in Saturday's talks was Iran's refusal to commit to abandoning its nuclear ambitions.

"The simple fact is that we need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon, and they will not seek the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon," Vance said.

President Trump speaks to the press outside the Oval Office at the White House on Monday.

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However, he left open the possibility an agreement could still be reached, saying: "We leave here with a very simple proposal: a method of understanding that is our final and best offer," adding, "We'll see if the Iranians accept it."

Iran said the two sides had "reached an understanding on a number of issues, but ultimately the talks did not lead to an agreement." Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, a member of the Iranian negotiating team, accused the U.S. delegation of "maximalism, shifting goalposts, and blockade."

Iran, under its 10-point negotiation plan, demanded an end to Israel's attacks against the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah as part of any permanent agreement. Other demands from the Iranian delegation included the release of $6 billion in frozen assets, guarantees around its nuclear program and the right to charge ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

IMF warns global economy at risk of recession

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned Tuesday that the war with Iran could trigger a global recession that would hit the U.K. more than any other G7 country.

In its biannual update, the IMF cut its estimate for U.K. growth this year to 0.8%, down from the 1.3% prediction made in January.

The U.K. imports the majority of its oil and gas from abroad.

The Resolution Foundation, a British think tank, says U.K. households will already be about $500 (£480) worse off this year due to the war.

Britain's finance minister, Rachel Reeves, issued a sharp critique of the U.S.-Iran war on Tuesday, which she called a "folly" with no clear exit plan.

"I feel very frustrated and angry that the U.S. went into this war without a clear exit plan, without a clear idea of what they're trying to achieve," Reeves told the British newspaper The Mirror.

A man fixes the United Arab Emirates' national flag to the roof of his house in Dubai on Tuesday, after a call by the Emirati leaders urging people across the country to hoist the flag as a symbol of unity and pride.

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U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, meanwhile, told the BBC that U.S. ally countries were going to suffer a "small bit of economic pain," but said it would be worth it to eliminate the threat of Iranian nuclear strikes on Western capitals.

"I wonder what the hit to global GDP would be if a nuclear weapon hit London…I am saying that I am less concerned about short-term forecasts, for long-term security," he said.

Across Europe and beyond, governments have begun implementing emergency fuel tax cuts in response to surging prices.

In Ireland, the government announced more than $589 million (€500 million) in tax cuts on motor fuel over the weekend following a week of protests over high fuel prices, which brought many parts of the country to a standstill.

In Germany, lawmakers unveiled a $1.9 billion (€1.6 billion) fuel price relief plan to help people with the rising costs.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday said he was suspending the country's federal gas tax until early September.

Fighting between Hezbollah and Israel resumes  after historic Israel-Lebanon talks

Hezbollah and Israel continued to exchange fire on Wednesday, a day after Israel and Lebanon met for direct talks in Washington, the first in more than 30 years, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Hezbollah said it targeted Israeli troops several times with rockets, artillery strikes and drones and it fired at communities in Israel's north. Israel expanded its military occupation of southern Lebanon, where it said its forces engaged in fierce battle with Hezbollah fighters.

A relative of Hassan Ali Badawi, a paramedic with the Lebanese Red Cross who was killed the previous day in an Israeli airstrike, mourns as the family receives condolences at their home in the Bchamoun area south of Beirut, on Monday.

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The talks came after nearly seven weeks of fighting between the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah and Israel in Lebanon. Hezbollah, which is also a major political party that holds seats in the Lebanese parliament, does not support the talks and has called on the Lebanese government to cancel them.

More than 2,100 people have been killed by Israeli strikes, according to Lebanese health officials. Hezbollah has also fired at Israel, killing at least 12 soldiers and two civilians, according to Israeli authorities. Lebanese officials said Israel has demolished more than 40,000 homes in the south, seizing land for what Israel calls a "buffer zone" to keep Hezbollah from firing rockets into northern Israel.

The Lebanese government wants a ceasefire, but Israel said it would not agree to it until Hezbollah disarms, a longstanding Israeli demand, which the Lebanese government has been unable to enforce in the past.

Following the talks on Tuesday, Rubio said the talks were about "bringing a permanent end to 20 or 30 years of Hezbollah's influence in this part of the world."

Daniel Estrin in Tel Aviv, Kat Lonsdorf in Beirut, Aya Batrawy in Dubai, Fatima Al-Kassab in London and Rebecca Rosman in Paris contributed to this report.

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