2 arts-themed high schools open in Los Angeles

From The Los Angeles Times: Two new high schools for the arts debuted this week in Los Angeles. One school occupies $232 million worth of serious architecture on a promontory overlooking downtown Los Angeles. The other rents cramped space in a South L.A. church. Despite the vast differences in their circumstances, it may be too early to say which of the two has the most potential to succeed. The Los Angeles Unified school, known as Central High School #9 for the Visual and Performing Arts, is housed on one of the most expensive and widely praised campuses in the nation. The Fernando Pullum Performing Arts High School, a charter school, may have the feel of something hastily thrown together out of spare parts, but it is led by one of the city's most respected music educators and has the support of such big-name artists as Kenny Burrell, Jackson Browne, Bill Cosby and Don Cheadle. Adding a twist to the story is this: Fernando Pullum doesn't plan to stay in its rented quarters for long. It has its sights on an eventual takeover of the other school.