From the fabulous LA School Report blog (and oh how I wish we had a benefactor that could create something similar in San Francisco!) The pertinent paragraph is this one:

Of particular importance for a district struggling with persistent declining enrollment, 18 percent of the applications were for students not currently enrolled in LA Unified. The district is losing about 12,000 students a year as rising rents force families out of the city, birth rates decline, and growing numbers choose charter schools. Expanding its magnet and dual language programs is a key district strategy to retain and attract families.

Los Angeles is not the only school district facing falling enrollment. Clearly language immersion programs help bring families to a district. So it’s instructive to see how well that’s working in LA, and what barriers there are to them succeeding.

More families are applying for LAUSD’s choice programs, but some are frustrated with new unified enrollment system

View this story in Spanish

Esmeralda Fabián Romero | February 12, 2018

A record number of parents this year are trying to get into LA Unified’s magnet and dual-language programs, and for the first time, they were able to use a new unified enrollment system that simplifies the application process. District officials said most parents who used the online system gave positive feedback. But some parents encountered errors while others needed outside support to navigate it.

The new enrollment system allows parents to fill out a single online application for the 260 magnet schools and programs and the 132 dual language and bilingual programs, the district’s popular “choice” programs that allow students to attend an LA Unified school other than their neighborhood school. Independent charter schools in LA Unified were not included in the unified enrollment system.

Please read more here.