Students are called learners, teachers are called facilitators, but regardless of what form of new math is used, money is still called money.

That, in a nutshell, is essentially what faces officials weighing the establishment of a new independent charter elementary school to be operated under the umbrella of the Alameda Community Learning Center. The new school would be called Nea Community Learning Center.

The school's innovative program, based in part on self-directed education, has won wide praise from charter school supporters who are quick to say you can't argue with results. The school has earned the coveted 10 rating on the state Academic Performance Index for the past five years, according to school officials, and recently was feted by Jack O'Connell, the state superintendent of public instruction, and named a California Distinguished School. "We'd like to replicate the successful A.C.L.C. model for more families," said Maafi Gueye, the school's lead facilitator. "As you know, we have a waiting list of 150," she said.

Despite the accolades, Alameda Unified School District trustees also heard concerns Tuesday night that approving a new charter school would drain hundreds of thousands of dollars in state money from the public schools. Under public school funding guidelines, schools are awarded funding based on how many students attend classes each day. Fewer students means less money for the rest of the district.

The district receives roughly $5,777 per student annually from the state. Assuming a starting class of 150 students, all transferring in from AUSD schools, the district would lose $866,550. "Whatever we lose in revenue, we would have to make up in expenses," said Donna Fletcher the district's spokeswoman.

Rob Siltanen, a critic of the new charter, said the school intends to open with more then 300 students, according to figures he culled from its charter application. The figure could not be verified by press time.

While regular schools would have fewer students to educate, the accounting complexities involved in operating an entire district mean the schools wouldn't necessarily be relived of an equal financial burden. "It just doesn't work that way," Fletcher said.

A.C.L.C. began life as the Arthur Andersen Community Learning Center, an experimental school under the aegis of the disgraced accounting firm that imploded during the Enron accounting fiasco.

The school preaches, "project management" in the classroom, has student-led "judicial commissions" to police behavior and a "democratic model" of education.

District Trustees Mike Mahon and David Forbes wondered aloud if the academic freedoms bestowed upon high-schoolers would work as well in elementary school or for kindergarteners who tend to need more structure. A.C.L.C. officials, after listing a team of highly qualified and experienced teachers they hope will form the core of the staff offered, "It's a bit of a faith walk."

Trustees and critics appeared to either accuse the school of cherry-picking high performing students or saying the school's self-directed learning program attracts and retains students who do well without the structured assignments and rule-bound environment of ordinary public schools.

Trustee Bill Schaff pressed Gueye about A.C.L.C.'s enrollment, which has a lower percentage of non-white students than the district as a whole. While Gueye said just four students have been "disenrolled over eight years," Schaff countered that 21 students left A.C.L.C. in the 2005-06 school year, 20 the following year and 16 so far this year. The school currently has roughly 200 students, according to its Web site. "A significant number of the students who are leaving are students of color ... looking at these types of statistics suggest that something is going on underneath," Schaff said.

Gueye quickly retorted, saying that ordinary public elementary schools were not adequately preparing students for A.C.L.C.'s style. "Students are not trained in self-directed learning ... [they are] overwhelmed by aspects of the program ... therein lies the reason we wish to start a K-12," Gueye told trustees.

She said the A.C.L.C model works best for students that have "not been tainted, whose energy has not been squashed [by public school]." Gueye added that some students might drop out of the school after becoming aware of the program's rigors. The school requires all students to take two years of algebra, two years of language instruction and physics.

One former A.C.L.C. student, who did not wish to reveal her name, said the program "works if you are mature enough," but noted, "it was too disorganized for me. I liked it because I didn't have that many responsibilities, but my mom didn't like it because if I didn't do something, there weren't any consequences. Some of the kids are in sixth grade; they can't take on so much responsibilities at age 11," she said.

A.C.L.C. has plenty of boosters. At a public hearing before the school board Tuesday, a score of parents of the school's students and students themselves extolled the program and urged the board to approve the new charter school. "It is an educational model that has been working for 12 years, said Judy Blank. "After [my son's] middle school experience ... we came to the conclusion that this was the place he should be," she said.

Michelle Connolly, a parent of a student at Washington Elementary, said a new charter elementary school would grant parents who can't afford private or parochial school "access to an education model that works."

Connolly said Washington draws 40 percent of its student body from outside Alameda and it is often difficult to organize parents to take an active role in making extra-curricular programs happen.

Critic Rob Siltanen unveiled a doomsday scenario set in motion by the new school in an e-mail. "It is highly likely that programs and services for children will have to be cut; class sizes will increase, at least in grades 4-12; health, counseling and other services for students will continue to decline; arts, music and athletic programs will be reduced further; teacher and staff compensation will continue to fall relative to nearby districts so that AUSD's ability to attract and retain great teachers and staff will continue to weaken; the chances of teacher and staff layoffs will rise; and the probability of more school closures/consolidations will increase," he said.

One of the criticisms of charter schools nationally has been the claim that they siphon off top-performing students and the most actively involved parents. Barbara Mooney, one of a handful of speakers opposed to the granting of a new charter school, said that "AUSD could have super scores," if it could choose who to enroll, and accused proponents of trying to "open a private school on my dime."

The school board is expected to vote on the charter approval at its Jan. 8 meeting.

Contact Marc Albert at