Change The LAUSD

“Per GHCHS Board Policy, all students must participate fully in California CAASPP and Granada Testing in their 9th, 10th and 11th grade year to be eligible to participate in optional activities such as senior activities, school extracurricular activities and school athletics (GHCHS Parent-Student Handbook).”

-Granada Hills Charter High School

If you had your car stolen and then saw it being driven on the streets, your first call would probably be to the local police department. It would not be unreasonable for you to expect that these trained professionals would take care of the situation by confronting the driver and taking appropriate action. But what would you think if they instead told you that it was your responsibility to find out why the person was driving your car? This is essentially what the LAUSD’s Charter Schools Division (CSD) does in handling complaints.

“While working for two years as an accountant, Eli Broad saw his homebuilding clients making much more that he was, and he and Edythe’s cousin’s husband decided they, too, could build houses.”

-Broad Foundation

There are some who like to quietly give to charities, being careful not to draw too much attention to themselves. Eli Broad is not this type of person. In a dispute with MOCA, an organization where he had been named “Founding Chairman,” he told the trustees that he wanted his “name on the building...in big letters, which were to go on the front of the building.” He had to settle having the lobby named after him, at least until he built his very own museum. However, when he gives money, he does not just want public recognition; he wants control. Broad and his wife, Edythe, are self-described venture philanthropists who focus “their charitable giving in a new style of investing that was more akin to their business acumen.”

My name is Bilbo Billionaire and my family through three generations has continued to double our fortunes every year. No one in my family, no one in my peer group, and no one on my Board of Directors, and no one in any of their families has ever attended public schools. We have been at the top private schools all the way.

I am investing in charter schools and online schools because both are real moneymakers. I have spent millions on local school board and statewide elections on candidates who advocate charter school education. I am strongly opposed to advocates of public school education.

“At Granada Hills Charter High School, we are always looking to give our parents tools to advance their children’s education. That is why we are proud to partner with the California Charter Schools Association. CCSA is here to educate, engage, and empower parents of charter school students to stay informed on issues that affect their school and all charter schools in California. To help get that relationship started, we will be sharing our school directory with CCSA, so you can hear directly from them.”

-Granada Hills Charter High School (GHCHS)

The California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) likes to argue that “charters [sic] schools are public schools." While it is true that these schools do receive public tax dollars, there is little else that qualifies them as a public entity. By their own accord they are “free from most rules and regulations governing conventional public schools,” even when that “red tape” was designed to protect students. While their website promises that “if a charter school cannot perform up to the established standards, it will be closed,” the LAUSD, Los Angeles County Office of Education and the office of California State Superintendent of Public Instruction have all displayed an unwillingness to hold these schools accountable to the laws governing public schools. Worst of all, charters have not proven to be any more successful at providing children with the education that they need. Despite their ability to cherry pick the easiest to educate students, recently released test scores showed that independent charters within the LAUSD were “below the state average” and “almost even with [the District’s] traditional [schools] and affiliated charters.”

The large corporations have either purchased or forced the closure of the smaller competitors and have said goodbye to the mom and pop stores.

The banks have taken over the smaller banks and financial institutions so we just have colossal behemoths of finance.

The legislators, national and local, have been bought and paid for through campaign contributions and they listen to persuasive lobbyists.

The Brothers Rich are trying to buy a Republican Presidency through their selection process, influence, and contributions.

I’m a billionaire and I want your school!

A bunch of us were sitting around talking about the next unexploited, profitable industry and someone said education could bring us more wealth and power.

So we came up with a plan.

First we talked to the textbook and test publishers and asked them to create tests that make the public schools look bad through low test scores.

Then we pushed to have this Common Core stuff (which I don’t understand) promoted and used in every public school in the nation.

After that we spoke to the owners of charter schools and started some of our own, so that we became fully invested in both.

As parents saw the low test scores at their public schools they streamed to our charter schools. We petitioned the school districts to allow us to use empty classrooms on their campuses.

“A district may not require students to purchase a cap and gown as a condition of participating in the graduation ceremony. The CDE recommends that a district that requires students to wear a cap and gown at the ceremony inform students that: (1) the district will provide caps and gowns for graduating seniors for use during the ceremony, and (2) students also have the option to purchase an appropriate cap and gown from a vendor. No student should be required to self-identify as indigent in order to receive a cap and gown from the district.”

- California Department of Education, 2013

Seniors celebrate their final year of public school with a series of rituals that are sure to put a strain on the finances of many families. In fact, yearbooks, proms, grad night and senior portraits are not even accessible to some. However, the state of California has declared that the pomp and circumstance of the graduation ceremony should be open to all. It has declared that it “is an ‘educational activity’ [and] pursuant to EC Section 490109(a)...a pupil fee cannot be charged.”