Rejecting Education by Division
If we accept the notion that education is the great equalizer, then we must demand that all children have equal access to education. This does not mean that we should expect that every student will have the same results. However, we should expect as a society that all children are given the opportunity to reach their full potential. Unfortunately, all of my opponents do not share the view that every child is worthy of an education.
Read moreThe Fallacy of Charter School Oversight in L.A.
-California Charter Schools Association (CCSA)
Both El Camino Real Charter High School (ECRCHS) and Granada Hills Charter High School (GHCHS) were originally LAUSD public schools. While charters are marketed as a way to offer alternatives to poorly performing schools, both of these schools had excellent reputations before their conversions. El Camino has won seven Academic Decathlon National Championships, both as a charter and a public school. GHCHS “had one of the best academic records in the district [prior to its conversion], but it was bothered by cuts in district funding and hampered by rules that limited its own fund-raising abilities.” Like LAUSD schools, the teachers at both schools continue to be represented by UTLA. It should be no surprise that both of them continue to meet their academic benchmarks.
Read moreWhy the shine is off the charter school movement
The exposure of the secret plan by billionaire Eli Broad’s Foundation to expand charters so that half of Los Angeles students would attend them, drew outrage and national attention. It also energized a pushback movement that continues to grow.
Karen Wolfe and Carl Petersen, parent activists and bloggers, regularly report on the problems with charter schools in the area. Wolfe provides updates through her psconnectnow blog and Petersen regularly blogs for K-12 News. Petersen’s recent series on the financial scandals at El Camino High School asked hard questions about the lack of oversight provided by the Los Angeles School Board. Petersen is running for a seat on the board in part to ensure greater oversight of charters.
Carl Petersen: The Shocking Decision by the LAUSD Not to Renew Five Charter Schools
LAUSD Loses Over 6000 Students to Charters in One Vote - Some Charters Get Slapped, Too
Add your reaction ShareThe Absurdity of Charter School Oversight in L.A.
“This is about the fact that they want to kill our charters and nothing more.”
-Magnolia CEO Caprice Young
“The sky is falling.”
-Chicken Little
As usual, the LAUSD Board spent a significant portion of their time at Tuesday’s meeting ignoring the needs of students enrolled in District schools so they could focus on charter issues. At this meeting, held at a time set aside to ensure maximum convenience for the charters, one new charter “was approved, another was allowed to expand and three others were renewed.” However, most of the focus has been on Magnolia and Celerity for the rejection of their renewal petitions and El Camino Real Charter High School (ECRCHS) for narrowly avoiding advancement in the charter revocation process.
Read moreFollowing Monica's Money
“Dime con quien andas y te dire quien eres”
Tell me with whom you walk, and I’ll tell you who you are.
- Mexican Proverb as quoted by Antonio Villaraigosa
As headlined in the L.A. School Report, “L.A. Unified school board member Monica Garcia dominates fundraising in re-election bid”. She has raised “nearly 150 times more money than her opponent”, giving her plenty of room to maneuver and make sure that her donations are as clean as possible. However, a review of her $119,858.40 haul suggests that not much of a review was performed. After all, the bar must have been pretty low to accept these donations:
Read moreWhy Was El Camino's Charter Renewed?
- Steve Zimmer, LAUSD Board President
It is yet to be revealed just how long the “financial shenanigans” were going on at El Camino Charter High School (ECRCHS), but the records do show that a Notice to Cure (NTC) was issued to the charter’s Governing Board on October 28, 2015, that included the allegation that “there were charges on the credit card statement where it was indicated as ‘personal use’ which is inappropriate and does not align to the purpose for use of the public credit card.” In ECRCHS’ response dated November 3, 2015, they “request a December 17th deadline” to take corrective actions because of “the number of requests contained in the NTC”. However, just one week later, on a motion presented by Monica Garcia and seconded by Ref Rodriguez, the LAUSD Board ignored the existence of the uncorrected financial issues outlined in the NTC and unanimously voted to extend the charter by another five years.
Read moreResolution: LAUSD Election Reform
Whereas, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) School Board’s first priority should be to represent the more than 640,000 students enrolled within its boundaries;
Whereas, scarce education funds should be directly spent on students, not promoting the re-election of School Board Members;
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