Eli Broad already announced his intention to privatize the schools of half the children in the Los Angeles public schools. He will gather $490 million from his billionaire friends to open 260 new charters. Some of these will presumably be housed in empty public schools.
The Broad coalition of Broad-funded organizations has already demanded a role in vetting the new superintendent.
The elected school board has made clear that it wants to hear from many communities, not just the Broad coalition.
But who do you think is in charge of community outreach for the school board? A certified insider in the corporate reform movement!
As Karen Wolfe, a parent activist, details here, Beth Doctor Gibbons has a sparkling “reformster” resume. She was a lobbyist for Michelle Rhee’s anti-teacher, anti-union StudentsFirst for three years; she is an alumna of TFA; she taught in Eva Moskowitz’s Success Academy chain; she worked for Educators for Excellence (E4E), the Gates-funded group that opposes due process rights for teachers. What a resume!
Wolfe notes:
“Now at LAUSD
Since January, 2015, Gibbons has been an external affairs and legislative liaison in LAUSD’s Office of Government Relations, according to her LinkedIn profile. That’s before the new board convened; certainly before new board member Scott Schmerelson vowed not to let Eli Broad bully the school board, before Steve Zimmer was board president, and before he said that Broad’s plan was a “gross perversion” of charters in an NBC television interview.”
This is the person who will lead community discussions of Eli Broad’s hostile takeover and privatization of LA schools. What a clever man he is!
Will the board go along with Eli’s silent coup or will they choose someone to represent the public interest?
Steve Zimmer? Time to stand up and be counted.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Still waiting to see a difference, Zimmer.
Surprise me.
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This is very long and extemley important….
We who are fighting Eli Broad and his takeover plans for LAUSD, have a new enemy which is promoting an unethical and illegal way to register voters. It is called Voteria and now that it worked so well in the recent LAUSD BoE election in LA, and got a prime charter owner elected who is already being investigated for mismanagement of his 16 PUD charter schools, they are rushing to use it again in November elections, and they are promoting this ‘pay to play’, ‘cash for votes’, system in all other areas of the state and of the nation.
I am appending the long notice that came to me yesterday, and I urge you all go to the link and listen to the professor talk with the leader of the SouthWest voter registration group, and listen carefully at the end of the rationale, when the professor says this system “is illegal and cannot be used in Presidential nor Governor elections, but only in off year local elections.” He is very clear that this is ILLEGAL.
In California, Gov Brown signed the notorious and dangerous Motor/Voter Bill earlier in the week. Today the LA Times described how it works. Any undocumented, or other, person who applies for a driver’s license at the DMV is ‘automatically signed up’ as a California voter. It is up to the applicant to say they are not a legitimate citizen of the US.
What a giant invitation for illegal voters…and massive voter fraud. Coupled with ‘cash for votes’, described well by the appended notice. California is now open for endless manipulated elections, not only by Eli Broad, but by anyone who wants to practice Voteria…this is coming to your state soon if you all don’t shout out loudly. Only California and Oregon have motor/voter right now, so add this fraudlent election practice of Voteria to the process…and we have lost America to the charlatans.
Ellen Lubic
——————————————————————————————–
Here is the latest Voteria information, as of yesterday…..
—–Original Message—–
From: Latino Vote 2015
To: elubic
Sent: Tue, Oct 13, 2015 3:12 pm
Subject: Message CA Latino Elected Officials -Much Higher Local Election Turnout Guaranteed! READ ON…
http://app.streamsend.com/c/25105585/44015/qn88Y4r/4vlc?redirect_to=https://soundcloud.com/svrep/voteria-mp3-64rate
Dear California Local Elected Officials:
Hear it for yourself! Dr. Fernando Guerra of Loyola Marymount University reveals the details of his study of the effectiveness of Voteria in LAUSD’s May 19th election: 46% to 80%! Yes let me repeat that ….46% to 80%! The Voteria Voter Participation Sweepstakes increased the participation of those who knew about the $25,000 prize for simply voting -if your name was chosen- by 46% to 80%!!!
If you’re interested in bringing the Voteria Sweepstakes to your Nov. 2015 Election
(or 2017 Election) than listen to the interview above, read the letter below, and then contact me at agonzalez@svrep.org…today! Looking forward to hearing from you.
Antonio Gonzalez, SVREP President
——————————————————————————————————— October 6, 2015
Dear Honorable California Local Elected Official:
On behalf of Southwest Voter Registration Education Project (SVREP) I write to alert you to an important change in local elections. Recently enacted SB 415 can consolidate your local elections with “even-year” state and federal elections.
SB415 was made necessary because California’s odd-year local elections have unacceptably low voter participation. SB415 says that if your local election’s turnout is 25% lower than the average turnout in “even year” general elections your local jurisdiction can be legally challenged by a resident and obligated to consolidate your election date with those held in “even-year” general elections.
If that’s something you agree with than you need not read the rest of this letter. But if you are concerned that moving your election date will overwhelm local issues with state and federal issues, SVREP can help substantially increase local voting in order to keep your local election date.
SVREP, founded in 1974, is an expert in voter turnout.
Voteria Can Raise Your Low Turnout
SVREP introduced the “Voter Participation Sweepstakes” or “Voteria” in May 2015 in the LAUSD District Five Election.Voteria is a sweepstakes in which voters are automatically entered-in by casting their vote. That’s it.
Two months after the LAUSD election Voteria’s winner Ivan Rojas received a $25,000 prize. Ivan Rojas was a voter in the district who cast a valid vote. He was selected by random computer review of the official statement of the vote. He was very happy!
SVREP plans to sponsor Voteria across California this November 3, 2015 (and in 2017 as well).
You can bring Voteria to your community’s election, by doing so your voters will be eligible for the sweepstakes’ prize.
SVREP will promote the contest in all participating jurisdictions
In the May LAUSD election Voteria, according to the Center for the Study of Los Angeles, those who knew about Voteria voted 46%-80% more than the District average.
Voteria works to raise turnout in LAUSD. Check out our website to learn more http://www.svrep.org.
If you interested in signing up for Voteria send me an email at agonzalez@svrep.org and we can go over the requirements to add your community to the contest.
Drop me a line. SVREP wants to help. Sincerely,
Antonio Gonzalez
President
PS SB415 is attached for your information
Appendix: SB 415 by Senator Ben Hueso, Signed by Gov. Brown Sept. 1, 2015
Senate Bill No. 415
CHAPTER 235
An act to add Chapter 1.7 (commencing with Section 14050) to Division 14 of the Elections Code, relating to elections.
[Approved by Governor September 1, 2015. Filed with Secretary of State September 1, 2015.]
legislative counsel’s digest
SB 415, Hueso. Voter participation.
Existing law generally requires all state, county, municipal, district, and
school district elections be held on an established election date. Existing
law also establishes certain dates for statewide elections. Existing law
requires any state, county, municipal, district, and school district election
held on a statewide election date to be consolidated with a statewide election,
except as provided.
This bill, commencing January 1, 2018, would prohibit a political
subdivision, as defined, from holding an election other than on a statewide
election date if holding an election on a nonconcurrent date has previously
resulted in voter turnout for a regularly scheduled election in that political
subdivision being at least 25% less than the average voter turnout within
the political subdivision for the previous 4 statewide general elections,
except as specified.
This bill would require a court to implement appropriate remedies upon
a violation of this prohibition. The bill would authorize a voter who resides
in a political subdivision where a violation is alleged to file an action in
superior court to enforce this prohibition, and it would allow a prevailing
plaintiff other than the state or political subdivision to collect a reasonable
attorney’s fee and litigation expenses, as provided.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1. Chapter 1.7 (commencing with Section 14050) is added
to Division 14 of the Elections Code, to read:
Chapter 1.7. Voter Participation
14050. This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the California
Voter Participation Rights Act.
14051. As used in this chapter:
(a) “Political subdivision” means a geographic area of representation
created for the provision of government services, including, but not limited
93
to, a city, a school district, a community college district, or other district
organized pursuant to state law.
(b) “Significant decrease in voter turnout” means the voter turnout for a
regularly scheduled election in a political subdivision is at least 25 percent
less than the average voter turnout within that political subdivision for the
previous four statewide general elections.
(c) “Voter turnout” means the percentage of voters who are eligible to
cast ballots within a given political subdivision who voted.
14052. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), a political subdivision
shall not hold an election other than on a statewide election date if holding
an election on a nonconcurrent date has previously resulted in a significant
decrease in voter turnout.
(b) A political subdivision may hold an election other than on a statewide
election date if, by January 1, 2018, the political subdivision has adopted a
plan to consolidate a future election with a statewide election not later than
the November 8, 2022, statewide general election.
14053. Upon a finding of a violation of subdivision (a) of Section 14052,
the court shall implement appropriate remedies, including the imposition
of concurrent election dates for future elections and the upgrade of voting
equipment or systems to do so. In imposing remedies pursuant to this section,
a court may also require a county board of supervisors to approve
consolidation pursuant to Section 10402.5.
14054. In an action to enforce subdivision (a) of Section 14052, the
court shall allow the prevailing plaintiff other than the state or political
subdivision of the state, a reasonable attorney’s fee consistent with the
standards established in Serrano v. Priest (1977) 20 Cal.3d 25, 48-49, and
litigation expenses including, but not limited to, expert witness fees and
expenses as part of the costs. A prevailing defendant shall not recover any
costs, unless the court finds the action to be frivolous, unreasonable, or
without foundation.
14055. A voter who resides in a political subdivision where a violation
of subdivision (a) of Section 14052 is alleged may file an action pursuant
to that section in the superior court of the county in which the political
subdivision is located.
14056. This chapter does not apply to special elections.
14057. This chapter shall become operative on January 1, 2018.
National Office*1426 El Paso Suite B* San Antonio, TX 78207 (210) 922-0225* Fax (210) 932-4055
California Office* 2914 N. Main St., 1st. Floor* Los Angeles, CA 90031 (323) 205-2190 Fax (323) 205-1419
Founded in 1974, SVREP is America’s largest and oldest non-partisan Latino civic/voter participation organization. A national 501 (C)(3) non-profit organization SVREP conducts non-partisan voter registration, voter education, and get-out-the-vote (GOTV) campaigns. Since its inception SVREP has conducted over 2,200 civic/voter participation campaigns resulting in over 2,200,000 new voters. Along the way SVREP has trained over 100,000 volunteers in over fourteen states.
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The humongous strength of the corporate entities that are ruining our nation. In the schools, as here and in their taking over our Congress ad nauseum.
Go Bernie.
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Broad’s bold plan ranks among the worst moves by billionaire zealots and investors to change the course of how a large number of urban children get educated in a major city. Is he proposing any choice in this decision, or is this a complete usurping of democracy? Where do the citizens rate in this plan, or has he been anointed from on high to do this on his own? It seems like another ego driven billionaire move against government by the people. Is this another example of a hostile takeover of a poor mostly minority community?
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How are the existing public schools in that city doing under ed reform leadership?
Any of the promised improvements yet, or does “improve” really mean “close”? If so, they should probably say so.
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L.A. Has been under Ed reform for years
How many?
Readers in L.A. please respond
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I should familiarize myself with this history better than I have. Almost 20 years!
1997 – Richard Riordan, one of Eli Broad’s close friends and huge reformer, backed a reform measure
2000 – Riordan elected Mayor & Steve Barr, now of California DFER, started Green Dot charters.
2001 – charter champion (and “Assertive Discipline” creator) Marlene Canter was elected to the school board and Eli Broad went after independent board member David Tokofsky.
2005 – Villaraigosa elected Mayor, backed by Eli Broad. Tried to get Mayoral control, but got slapped down by the courts.
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Karen,
The elected board is a fly in Broad’s ointment. Thus far, he has not been able to dominate it completely. In the last election, he got Ref Rodriguez, charter operator on the board, but he lost Tamar Galatzan. Steve Zimmer won despite Eli’s money, as did Monica Ratliff and Scott Schmerelson. For Eli, democracy is an expensive nuisance.
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It certainly is. Can you imagine how desperate Eli must be to be taking his plan public? (even though it was leaked at first, he’s continuing the discussion in the public realm. Very unlike him, or anyone at his level, really). He has run out of options because his guys keep losing elections. State Superintendent, School Board, Mayor, and I think he might have only pretended to support Governor Jerry Brown.
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Some charters like Palisades (Pali Hi) HS in Pacific Palisades, a wealthy enclave in WLA overlooking the Pacific Ocean, and minutes from Malibu, has a good reputation…but then it is run by the highly educated, very vocal, and professional parents Board in cooperation with the charter administrators, and with the oversight of LAUSD. Even with this optimum situation, parents lately have been arguing bitterly amongst themselves as reported by the local newpaper, the Palisades Post.
There are a few LA charters that are similar. But overall, the LAUSD magnet schools get far higher plaudits from parents and students.
However, many of the inner city charters are run by ‘fly by nigh’t non-educators (some have been indicted for fraud etc.) who manipulate uninformed, often non-English speaking parents. The Parent Revolution takeover mavens (Ben Austin and his new hardcore replacement) did not have major success in taking over most of the public schools in these areas and now have invaded Orange County.
Broad’s key hatchet man, former Supt. John Deasy, is now focused on what the state identified as the neediest public schools in LA County. The Broad document is telling in Eli’s determination to bring LAUSD to their knees by having infamous and disgraced Deasy in the lead, as his employee, to expedite this plan which actually has been in the works for years.
It is worth reading LA Times, KPCC, LASR, and Ravitch archives from the last few years to understand how long range this Broad plan has been. Former LA mayor, Villaraigosa, who is now running for Governor of California and benefiting from Broad’s generous donations to his campaign, was instrumental in supporting it for his last few years in office, and with Deasy in tow, made many public appearances saying he wanted this to be done rapidly. If he wins his election, with his open de facto partnership with Eli Broad, California public education is doomed.
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Diane
I am not fond of the “it’s political.” All human events are. Driven by ego. Yes, we all think we know better, or at least I do. However, Broad really believes he is helping children. I do not know if he has even thought about it all that much. There are all these hired people to do the thinking. I just know that in 1988, he and Riordan thought they could reach poor children for less money and at least Riordan had in mind that if Catholic schools could do so why couldn’t Public schools, unless the system was preventing the public schools from being like Catholic schools. Which in a way is true. Public schools could not discipline or throw out students the way parochial schools do.
My take on the whole thing is that they had done no serious thinking or analysis on the subject. They both have had to been seriously influenced by “A Nation at Risk” and President Reagan’s National Commission on Excellence and never saw or heard about the Sandia Report.
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And that, West Coast, is political.
Billiionaire Riordan’s Foundation donated mainly to Catholic schools in the 1980’s and later (I wrote many grant proposals to his Foundation, then found out that they directed their funds to parochial education)..and Mayor Eric Garcetti’s wife worked with him on promoting charters some years ago. Riordan is a prominent Catholic in LA, and is a close friend and supporter of Broad.
But Broad started his Foundation, and the Broad Education Academy, in 1999. His mission statement explained his goals then, which he has carried out in the intervening years…and his persona does appear to be ruled by both ego and greed which does not preclude his high intelligence. Read his many public statements, and his self aggrandizeing biography Unreasonable Man to gain insight into his megalomania.
Ken Derstine has written an excellent, well researched, paper on Broad that everyone who is interested in this King-maker who supports Hillary Clinton, would be advised to study carefully.
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Who made the decision it should be “50%” charter schools? What is that based on? Why not 35% or 100%? Or does it have nothing to do with “data” or “evidence” at all and is instead considered a politically feasible number?
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Chiara,
The Broad takeover is political, driven by ego, not the best interests of children.
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This is the state auditor in Massachusetts. She reviews the actual data from charter schools. She says they don’t have the data to justify a huge expansion of charter schools in that state, and this is instead being driven by “philosophy”, which has nothing whatever to do with “evidence” or “data”.
Maybe there should be 37.9% of charter schools in California, or 73%, or 3%. If it’s “philosophy” we can just pull a number out of a hat.
” We especially wanted to know whether the student bodies of charters shared the demographic characteristics of the sending districts, as the law requires, and whether there were measurable differences in the academic outcomes of the competing systems. These concerns have been part of the charter school debate for over twenty years, and we hoped that an examination of the data, using government auditing standards, might lead to conclusions that could be accepted and used by all sides in the debate. As the audit indicates, however, we could not answer those questions because we found the data collected and published by DESE to be unreliable.”
“After two decades and the transfer of millions of public dollars into the hands of private charter schools, there is still little more than anecdotal evidence of outcomes to support the contention that charter schools are better suited to meet the needs of our students and charter schools are still experiments.”
http://www.mass.gov/auditor/news-and-updates/press-releases-2015/remarks-of-state-auditor-suzanne-bump-before-the-joint-.html?utm_content=bufferdbdb3&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
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The auditor of MA may say. “Philosophy” but the better word is “ideology,” which is evidence-free
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I rarely differ with you, Diane, but I will here: would that it were only Eli Broad’s admittedly gargantuan ego we had to contend with.
No, Broad is but the most toxic local Southern California inflammation point of so-called education reform, which is national (indeed, global) and based on a bipartisan, Overclass consensus of greed, opportunism, the will-to-power and deception/self-deception. Broad is merely the local standard-bearer in Los Angeles, his traditional base of operations, and where he possesses a lot of political juice.
Unfortunately, when Broad falls off the perch (which can’t happen soon enough, given what a nasty piece of work he is) the attempted hostile takeover of the public schools in LA and elsewhere will continue, since so-called education reform is a self-perpetuating, metastasizing institutional complex of class antagonism, predation parasitism and colonialist mentality.
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Michael, true enough. Eli is but one of the enablers of toxic reform that hurts children and communities. But he has used his billions strategically, often in coalition with Walton and Gates, to undercut democracy and privatize public schools while defaming the teaching profession. His influence is not just local. He has sent Broadies to many urban districts, bringing his top-down, take no prisoners style. He is currently working with Walton to open more charters in DC.
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Michael: Your “falls off the perch” imagery gave me the best laugh of the day. Thanks.
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Michael, I hope you’re not underestimating Broad’s influence nor his intentions. Los Angeles is the western front on the war on public education. So, yes, Eli leads the charge here. But his Broad Academy has infiltrated every state, hasn’t it? He’s working on big things and Los Angeles is very important to him.
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Let’s not forget his age and his legacy. There is the museum. And there could be all these charters.
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And there are over 2,000 graduates of the Broad CEO Academy who are destroying public schools all over the US.
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Diane…it almost midnight in LA and it has just been reported that the LAUSD BoE led by Steve Zimmer decided to fire the outstanding teacher, Rafe Esquith.
They gave no reason, no evidence, just this edict.
Please Diane, see if you can find out from Zimmer what Esquith did that could cause this Board to fire him. So far, it has all been an exercise based on innuendo.
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Karen and Diane,
I don’t mean to understate Broad’s nefarious influence – he even claims the President of my national union as one of his “assets” – or the significance of his plan to privatize the Los Angeles schools; he operates on the local and national level, and in very strategic ways.
My only point was that the hostile takeover of public education is not based on the egos of a handful of billionaires (though pathological ego is part of the toxic mix these characters bring), but is in fact based on Overclass consensus and (perceived) interest, testified to by its bi-partisan political support that is impervious to facts, outcomes or input from parents and teachers, and that it will continue, even after Broad enters that great art auction in the sky and Gates disappears into the Motherboard.
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Good one, Michael. I hope not to be in the same space with them.
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Banish the thought, Diane.
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Again I call on the FBI for a full RICO investigation of charter conversions around the country led by money men like Broad, Gates, Bloomberg. Why are they too rich to investigate?Defrauding public schools and enriching private interests sounds like organized illegal. To it to me.
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Thanks, Diane. Ideology is INDEED different from philosophy.
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The community already had a hand in the selection of a new superintendent. It is an elected board. It is their job. No one else needs to be consulted.
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West Coast…as I recall you are not in California. I disagree with your statement above. LAUSD BoE members have not been consistent in representing their constituents. In the past they have been influenced by the power brokers, led by United Way and California Endowment, which are ruled behind the scenes by big donor Eli Broad and his lawyers. They are once again demanding they partner with this new BoE to search for, vet, and hire a new Supt.
Many in the LA community, both parents and community activists have long been fighting for a seat at this vital taxpayer funded table. As I have shown repeatedly, and above today, elections do mean that there is a viable elected group who can be trusted. When Cortines was Supt, before becoming interim, he and his BoE folded to the directive from Eli Broad and former mayor Villaraigosa to anoint John Deasy to be the Supt. And it was a done deal.
You do not seem to understand the vagaries and deceptions of LA politics. We do not need any more Blue Ribbon Eli Broad groups making education decisions.
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Yes, I am in California and pretty well acquainted with the politics and influence of money, particularly of developers. I was being sarcastic.
I was originally from a small town in the Midwest where everything was local. The board made decisions because they had to meet community around the pot belly stove at the local gas station.
In an ideal world, L. A. had an election. That should be the end of it. And of course it is not. Two words: Playa Vista. Now why is that not a giant Central Park for the West Side?
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Sorry I missed your sarcasm…was kinda horrified that it seemed you meant it. Having lived in this community for seven decades…ouch…and as a professional public policy educator/nerd for over 45 years, I can be quite boringly tunnel visioned. Shall be more careful in the future.
Yes, if you meet fellow townspeople in the gas station in a small town, I guess you are more circumspect than in the relative anonymity of this huge city…but in some ways, when you have lived here for a lifetime, it seems too often that we do all know each other and some of us have had run-ins with Broad, Riordan, Milken, etc. which can be traumatizing.
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