A story by Annie Gilbertson of public radio station KPCC reviews the dramatic increase in national spending on local school board races by the charter industry.
Billionaires like Reed Hastings (Netflix), Eli Broad of Los Angeles, and Michael Bloomberg, former mayor of New York City have spent millions to help candidates take control of the city’s public school system and to expand privatization. L.A. already has more students in charter schools than any other city.
Political action committees are spending 15 times the cash they did six years ago ahead of the Los Angeles Unified school board election on Tuesday.
Just this spring, more than $4.5 million flowed to PACs for glossy mail fliers, robocalls and ads on Spanish language radio in support or against school board candidates.
With runoffs set in west San Fernando Valley, east Los Angeles and South Bay board districts, PAC organizers hope to swing the ideological composition of the seven-member school board to their side, potentially altering the direction of the 650,00-student district and its $7.3 billion budget.
The stakes in this year’s election are especially high because the new board will select the district’s next superintendent. His or her leadership of the country’s second largest school district will be closely watched both statewide and nationally.
Donors looking to influence education policy may be migrating from national to local elections where their dollars can have a greater impact, said Raphael Sonenshein, director of the Pat Brown Institute of Public Affairs at Cal State L.A.
On one side are the billionaires who want privatization. On the other are the teachers who want reduced class sizes, ,the arts, and full services for students.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Billionaires are trying to buy Tuesday’s LAUSD Board Election!! They want the candidates who will support the establishment of more charter schools, who will overlook the needed scrutiny of the existing charter schools, and who will vote the way their masters (the big donors to their candidates) tell them to. http://www.examiner.com/article/what-is-still-made-america-after-centuries-students-education-and-futures?cid=db_articles
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As elected school boards are bought and sold and even eliminated, as Reed Hastings is planning on doing, the next thing to worry about is the Common Core and how it will be used as a vehicle to control what is taught and who it is taught to. With computers tracking every child’s move with each key stroke, the future of our democracy looks more and more bleak.
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What is happening in LA with $$ flowing into local school board elections is a great example of why the devolution of federal authority to the local level is dangerous. Opposition to current education policy regarding over-testing has led many seeming friends of equity to decry federal overreach. But, charter-school are the opt-out campaign for the ideological and economically driven enemies of public education. If enough families opt-out of public schools they will crumple from depopulation, subsequent defunding and the undermining effects of intensified segregation. Local control and states rights have long been the stalking horse for maintaining inequality. So, it is again. I am not arguing for a federalized education system. Democratically elected school boards are essential. But, ensuring equity– and therefore pushing back against the charter schools that undermine equity– must be a national issue.
http://www.arthurcamins.com
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This Op-Ed, which appeared in the Sacramento Bee yesterday, states that one of the reasons the shift to influence elections has gone from federal to state is because of Washington gridlock. ow.ly/N3iwF . It was written by Jessica Levinson, law professor and Vice President of the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission. Bigger bang for the buck in local races. Thankfully, this is where our strengths lie as advocates for public education.
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Here is the link: “Campaign Finance Reformers Should Remain Depressed” – http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/soapbox/article20878305.html
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The other reason is because DC is lockstep on ed reform. Why invest there? They’re all already signing from the same hymnal.
They’re quibbling over details at this point- how often to test, how many charter schools to build and how fast, how they can gracefully switch to supporting vouchers without anyone noticing.
The only real ed reform debate is at the state and local level. It’s a done deal in DC. Top down has no where to go BUT down once you’ve got the President and Congress and they do. Now they need state races and school boards.
There wasn’t any “gridlock” in DC on the charter funding bill. It flew thru Congress, ditto for the coordinated campaign on the teacher tenure lawsuits.
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Do billionaires lose their minds before or after they become billionaires?
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One of those dark money SuperPACs operating alongside those established by the California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) is Great Public Schools: Los Angeles (GPS:LA). GPS:LA is headed by Dan Chang, a “graduate” of Eli Broad’s Urban Residency. Chang, a MBA with no education background whatsoever, was the Green Dot executive who fought to keep the infamous Locke HS students must “pledge to capitalism” wording in their charter. After months of intransigence and disparaging the esteemed Professor Ralph E. Shaffer (who fought to have it removed), Chang was forced to remove the language by LAUSD. Now he manages his masters’ money directly, to build market share for their lucrative charter industry. So glad to see KPCC cover these vile SuperPACs.
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And in Chicago, Rahm is still against an elected, representative school board. In a city that’s involved enough to elect a decent one. Last thing any mayor in control of the school board wants is a bunch of outsiders running things in his town, whether elected popularly by parents and residents or bought and paid for outsiders courtesy of the reformers deep pockets.
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This is a new low: Faced with a union election,. this charter school lobbying organization argued TFA teachers are not “real teachers” :
“While there were 19 more no votes from those who did not want the union, Detroit 90/90 challenged the voting rights of Teachers for America teachers and long-term substitutes, claiming the teachers they hired to stand in front of students are not actually professionals,” said Nate Walker, K-12 organizer and policy analyst with AFT Michigan.
TFA are real teachers unless they want to vote in a union election. Then they’re not.
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2015/05/15/charter-school-union-election-dispute-detroit/27390283/?utm_content=buffer38606&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
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The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is only one on many foundations that are not bothering with local school board elections. They by-pass that step and just function as banks. Here are some examples from the Gates Foundation.
1. KIPP HOUSTON
CHALLENGE High-performing Charter Management Organizations (CMOs) needed to access bond markets after the market collapse of 2008. Bonds issued on behalf of charter schools are perceived as a higher risk than those issued on behalf of traditional public schools, but usually receive less funding for facilities. General market challenges after 2008 further restricted financing options for CMOs
PROGRAM STRATEGY
CMOs are critical partners in developing and demonstrating new approaches to achieve better outcomes for all students in the broader education system. We aim to eliminate financing disparities between traditional public schools and charter public schools to ensure the long-term stability of CMOs as well as signal charter sector soundness and support to capital markets.
PARTNER KIPP Houston Top-ranked school system serving low-income students as part of a larger, national network Foundation Focus: provide affordable facility financing to high performing CMOs
INVESTMENT Partial backstop guaranty on partners’ bonds Date: October 2009 Co-Guarantors: Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Associated funding: grant to LISC to serve as financial intermediary Source http://www.gatesfoundation.org/How-We-Work/Quick-Links/Program-Related-Investments/KIPP-Houston The following programs are also at this website.
2. CHARTER SCHOOL GROWTH FUND
CHALLENGE Academically strong charter schools face substantial obstacles in obtaining affordable commercial financing. Charter schools receive on average 80% of student funding that traditional schools in the same district receive. They also typically have to finance their own facilities.
PROGRAM STRATEGY The foundation seeks to increase the number of academically strong seats in charter networks that serve students of color and low-income populations. We seek to build capacity by leveraging other funding sources, both public and private and increase the number of students graduating from high school college-ready.
PARTNER Charter School Growth Fund Non-profit organization focused on supporting high performing charter management organizations. Foundation focus: provide high performing charter schools with facility financing
INVESTMENT Low Interest Loan Date: February 2012 Co-investors: Broad Foundation, Walton Foundation, and the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation Associated funding: None
3. ASPIRE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
CHALLENGE High-performing Charter Management Organizations (CMOs) needed to access bond markets after the market collapse of 2008. Bonds issued on behalf of charter schools are perceived as a higher risk than those issued on behalf of traditional public schools, although charter schools usually receive much less funding for facilities. General market challenges after 2008 further restricted financing options for CMOs
PROGRAM STRATEGY CMOs are critical partners in developing and demonstrating new approaches to achieve better outcomes for all students in the broader education system. Our goal is to eliminate financing disparities between traditional public schools and charter public schools to ensure the long-term stability of CMOs. We also want to signal charter sector soundness and support to capital markets.
PARTNER Aspire Public Schools Top-ranked large charter school system in California serving predominantly low-income students Foundation Focus: provide affordable facility financing to high performing CMOs
INVESTMENT Partial backstop guaranty on partners’ bonds Date: April 2010 Co-Guarantors: Schwab Foundation and NCB Capital Impact Associated funding: grant to NCB Capital Impact to serve as financial intermediary
4. BLOOMBOARD, INC.
CHALLENGE Teachers serving low income and minority students lack professional development tools to increase instructional effectiveness. Upgrading enterprise and school level technology platforms to provide appropriate performance data, analysis and delivery of professional development content will require significant resources
PROGRAM STRATEGY Support teachers to improve their instructional practice through redesign of systems for teacher evaluation, feedback and professional growth and development. Use PRIs selectively to strengthen the market for technology enabled content and tools that support improving instruction and catalyze other private capital to fund innovation that meet teacher and student needs.
PARTNER BloomBoard, Inc. Software-as-a-service education technology company providing states, districts and schools with innovative tools to improve teacher effectiveness Foundation focus: Teacher assessment dashboard for teachers and administrators as well as professional development content marketplace
INVESTMENT Series A-2 Preferred Equity Date: September 2013 Co-Investors: Birchmere Ventures, Learn Capital and individual investors Associated funding: None
4. CIVIC BUILDERS
CHALLENGE Central Falls was unable to fund maintenance or expansion of high quality school seats. The economically poorest and most densely-populated city in Rhode Island had limited space for new schools. The bankrupt city had limited funds to repair current structural problems.
PROGRAM STRATEGY Extending affordable facilities financing to charter schools located in districts attempting to increase district-charter collaboration. As part of the district-charter collaboration program, cities with under-utilization provide district-owned facilities to charter schools. This win-win solution allows for the expansion of high-performing charter seats to fill voids in a city’s educational inventory.
PARTNER Civic Builders, Inc. Non-profit charter school facilities developer focused on urban neighborhoods Foundation focus: Renovating unused district-owned assets to expand high-performing seats
INVESTMENT Loan fund: providing low-interest, subordinated debt Date: February 2013 Co-Investors: Equity from Civic Builders and senior debt from other financial institutions Associated funding: None
These programs are different from the Gates foundation grants, but their grants are often working in tandem with these investments. These bond-backing and loan programs are building the infrastructure for a dual system of education, with the covering narrative of helping low-income and minority students.
The financial aims are pretty clear: enlarge the ” professional development content marketplace,” “ensure the long-term stability of CMOs (charter management organizations) as well as signal charter sector soundness and support to capital markets.” These investments seek to “catalyze other private capital to fund innovation.” They are intended to forward real estate deals enabling the “expansion of high-performing charter seats to fill voids in a city’s educational inventory.”
This post should be linked with the recent Valerie Strauss piece (Washington Post) on how investors think about the education of this generation. Our nation’s children and youth are not regarded as individuals, not even humans. They are strictly instruments for making profits, another commodity, Any cover story will do as a marketing ploy.
I live in a metro area where charters have occupied buildings, loaded them with computers, fattened the pockets of the operators, failed to account for tax dollars, and just like that…closed, vanished. This same community has abundant choices in the existing and legitimate public school system with an elected school board. Some with new buildings are true community centers with social services including after school and weekend access to these. There are language immersion schools,a K-12 Montessori option, and several selective admissions PUBLIC schools, one for students who are academically gifted and want to learn supposed dead languages like Latin, another students with an early passion for the arts.
People who say that charters are the only “choice” option in metro areas with a high proportion of low income and minority students are often very wrong. They are working that market with no real desire to learn about the quality or character of the existing system—one that is not always as bad as portrayed yet increasingly placed at risk from huge outflows of money to charter operators, many of these investors who live else where and only seek profits.
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So here in Seattle we have four spots (the majority of the 7-person School Board) open. Only one incumbent is running. There was at least one ed reform candidate but she dropped out today. Hard to understand that ed reformers (and the powers that be in Seattle) couldn’t front candidates in all four races.
Or, as we saw from the state legislative session where they tried to give Seattle’s mayor the power to appoint some of the Board, maybe they are going to try another route.
Either way, Seattle is being watched over and we expect to elect more great Board members like current members, Sue Peters and Betty Patu
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