Learn4Life Concept Charter Schools reviews

The learning packets are a joke. Students are basically teaching themselves, with teacher/tutor/paraprofessional support. Because teachers on average have 30 students or more on their caseloads, it isn't very realistic to sit down with every single student and help them on the learning packets if teachers are required to have 2-4 appointments per hour. Most of the teaching is half a**ed because teachers do not have the time. This is where the lack in quality education comes in. Truthfully, students actually learn in a traditional school setting because they actually sit in a class learning about a subject during their scheduled period. This actually prepares students for college. Even though L4L learning packets are college aligned, we have never had a student accepted to a university because of the lack of attention per student. I would not recommend a student to attend a university after graduating from L4L because I feel that at L4L we set students up with unrealistic expectations. A high school diploma from a traditional school setting does not hold the same value as a diploma from L4L. Students are supposed to turn in 5 or more learning packets. But on average, students turn in 1-2 learning packets. With that miniscule amount, L4L is still able to collect ADA (funding from state). L4L has been around for more than 15 years and the quality of education has never been fixed, yet they are always expanding. A lot of nepotism and favoritism by leaders and it shows. Conflicts of interests. I've been here for 5 years now and I feel that have paid my dues here at L4L. I need to move to the next chapter in my life.

You will split your time approximately 50% teaching , 50% paperwork (Sounds impossible, but true). This stems from management's obsession with not getting sued. Staff 'development' is often geared around avoiding legal problems for the organization or new paperwork procedures, and this happens EVERY Friday, ALL day (again, sounds impossible but true). There seems to be an ethos at L4L to keep your head down, don't rock the boat, and rubber stamp sub-par work so that the organization can claim "ADA" (i.e. get their money from the state). The is the big push of the organization, getting paid, NOT academics. This is reflected in the abysmal test scores and graduation rates. All of this becomes soul-sucking pretty quickly, and if you signed up to teach young minds and improve lives, you will sigh a lot. The reason why I've come to see L4L as a "Cancer on public schools" is because they are very adept at attracting students, and every student they attract costs the local public schools money. Kids talk tell their peers that L4L is a WAY easier path than their home school. Public schools with integrity and rigorous academics lose funds when these kids jump ship to "study" at L4L. Don't get me wrong, there is a place for independent study; at its best its is a great way to augment traditional public schools, but savvy business people at L4L have found a way to exploit the loopholes and turn this into a money making machine. :(