Shoot the hostage.” – Speed The California Charter School Association (CCSA) paid millions to purchase the LAUSD School Board, but their narrow majority is in danger. Not only is Ref Rodriguez, one of their hand-selected Board members, facing criminal charges related to his campaign, but the charter school chain he founded has accused him of having […]
The Blackwhite World of LAUSD’s Charter Schools
BLACKWHITE…a loyal willingness to say that black is white when Party discipline demands this. But it means also the ability to BELIEVE that black is white, and more, to KNOW that black is white, and to forget that one has ever believed the contrary.” – George Orwell, 1984 Catherine Suitor, the Chief Development Officer of […]
The Politics of Retribution
“A plan for ensuring best and fair practices for charter operators, including results that indicate positive impacts on the achievement gap, inclusion of all students, fair labor practices, and parent engagement practices.” -Steve Zimmer, 11/13/12 Betsy Devos, Eli Broad, and Michael Bloomberg have spent millions of dollars pushing to privatize our public schools with disastrous […]
You Can’t Keep a Bad Charter Down
“No question about @MagnoliaSchools academic superiority – questioning your reading skills.” -Alex Johnson, VP LA County Board of Education “Specifically, the CAASPP results in ELA and Math indicate that in both 2014-15 and 2015-16, 0% of the school’s English Learner (EL) population met or exceeded proficiency.” – LA County Office of Education Staff As the […]
The Real Carpetbaggers in LAUSD’s District 2
Carpetbagger: A person from the northern states who went to the South after the Civil War to profit from the Reconstruction. If the photo on the front of the latest Monica Garcia flyer to hit your mailbox looks familiar, it is because it was the same one that the California Charter School Association (CCSA) used […]
A Failing Charter Gets a Pass
We cannot truly have the impact charters were intended to have – to reinvent public education – if we do not close those charters that have demonstrated an inability to meet the challenge of excellence and chronically underperform.” – California Charter School Association (CCSA) According to the statistics provided by the CCSA, View Park Middle […]
The Long Shadow of John Deasy
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” – George Santayana It has been more than two years since LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy was forced to resign in disgrace. Unfortunately, the legacy that he has left for the District’s students echoes into the present day. After spending at least $189 million on […]
The Fallacy of Charter School Oversight in L.A.
The October staff recommendations represent a fundamental and drastic departure from the Charter School Division’s expressed values of consistency and transparency, and the District’s historic focus on student outcomes as an authorizer.” -California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) Both El Camino Real Charter High School (ECRCHS) and Granada Hills Charter High School (GHCHS) were originally LAUSD […]
The 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 […]
Education for Sale: Lack of Oversight
This is the second section of my paper: Education for Sale: LAUSD Throws the Fight in Its Competition with Charters. The previous section can be found at: The Broad Way Towards Bankruptcy On the other side of the equation, the CCSA has proven that they are more than willing to compete with the LAUSD […]