It was perhaps the most enthusiastic charter school launch the city had seen.

On a sunny autumn day four years ago, national and local labor leaders joined university academics and school district officials to promote an innovative teacher-run campus that would be steeped in professional development and guarantee all graduates college admission.

Today, the Kwachiiyoa Charter School motto – "Everyone a learner, everyone a teacher" – is prominently displayed on the same banner that hung for the ribbon-cutting ceremony in 1999.

Despite good intentions and high-profile sponsors, the school will close next month as the poorest-performing elementary school in the San Diego Unified School District.

"This school was a failure in that we were not permitted, supported or allowed to carry out the original intent of the school," said Kwachiiyoa teacher Rhonda Schwartz. "Somebody birthed this school and then they left us in the cold."

One of six charter schools nationwide to get support and funding from the National Education Association, Kwachiiyoa was to be run with help from the state and local teachers unions. San Diego State University pledged to develop a teacher-training laboratory at the school, offer intensive tutoring and admit all graduates.

By their own accounts, both the San Diego Education Association and SDSU failed to fulfill their responsibilities to Kwachiiyoa. Without any assistance, teachers say they were overwhelmed with budget problems and management woes, leaving them little time to properly develop or implement curriculum.

"When I came to this school, I expected training, I expected (the San Diego Education Association) to be here for us, I expected pro-active sponsors," said teacher Joseph Grzenia. "We needed help and we didn't get it, but we didn't think to ask for it. Everyone dropped the ball."

The National Education Association gave the school $150,000 in startup funds, but delegated its involvement with the school to the local union.

"We can't take all the blame, but we have to take part of it," said Terry Pesta, San Diego Education Association president. "We weren't able to spend as much time helping them as we should have. Of course we regret it."

Still, some say Kwachiiyoa's problems can't help but raise questions about its premise: A school without a principal can succeed if driven by teacher expertise and professional judgment.

Organizers insist Kwachiiyoa's struggles are no indictment of its philosophy. They say Kwachiiyoa fell because of a lack of communication between the school and its partners.

The school targeted children from City Heights but received some students from its San Carlos neighborhood and a few others. The school never had more than 10 teachers and 250 students, most of whom arrived on campus reading and writing well below grade level.

Kwachiiyoa has the lowest ratings on the state's Academic Performance Index, a ranking system based on standardized test scores. The California Department of Education intervened this year to help the school get back on track or face a state takeover.

Even with the low test scores, many parents remain loyal to the school. Some are angry, though, that the charter never came to fruition.

"I have no idea what went wrong here," said Laila DeSantiago, whose son and grandson attend Kwachiiyoa. "But I know my kids got a good education."

Plans to find a permanent home for Kwachiiyoa in City Heights failed. Although SDSU sent the school some tutors, it never developed the teaching laboratory it envisioned nor did it make the project a priority.

"One of the unfortunate things in education is that there is this mind-set that everything has to be a success," said Lionel Menos, the dean of the SDSU School of Education. "When you are going to try different things, they don't always work despite the best intentions of everyone."

Charter schools are publicly funded but are free of most state and local education codes, allowing for a variety of innovative teaching methods and academic themes. Since Kwachiiyoa began, the San Diego school district has established a charter school policy that more closely monitors district charter schools.

"Our goal is not to hold charters to higher standards than district schools," said Jed Wallace, charter school liaison for San Diego Unified. "But if we have evidence that a school is not adhering to its charter or applicable charter laws, we would insist that that happen or that would be grounds for possible revocation."

The Kwachiiyoa charter officially expired in January. The San Diego Education Association and SDSU withdrew their support of the charter just as the school was developing a charter renewal application. When the San Diego school district recommended that the board of trustees reject the charter renewal, Kwachiiyoa organizers threw in the towel.

"The district has not worked with us effectively or given us suggestions on how we could meet their concerns," teacher Grzenia told the school board last week.

District administrators recommended against the charter renewal because of the school's poor academic performance, lack of sponsors and inadequate leadership.

Even with its poor track record, some Kwachiiyoa teachers and parents said they deserve another shot at a charter.

Linda Duncan-Raab, who has five children enrolled at Kwachiiyoa, says the students are being punished by the school's absentee sponsors.

"Part of the reason I sent my kids here was that I believed that (the San Diego Education Association) and San Diego State meant what they said about backing the teachers up," Duncan-Raab said. "They should have kept their promises to Kwachiiyoa. But actually, the school has done wonderfully well this past year without them."

The Academic Performance Index gives every school two separate 1-to-10 rankings, one comparing each school score to schools statewide, the other comparing each to schools with similar socioeconomics. A rank of 1 is the lowest mark; a rank of 10 is the highest. Kwachiiyoa has the lowest API rank in both categories.

Parents and teachers are confident the school will see better test scores this year due to the state's intervention. Many of them say they wouldn't trade their experience at Kwachiiyoa for anything.

"Our kids have something that test scores cannot measure: a sense of who they are and a sense of community," said teacher Shanna Thomas. "I don't regret this experience."