The LA School Report has long been a partisan supporter of charters, Deasy, Broad, and all other parts of the privatization agenda. Under a new editor, the LA School Report became a neutral source. Now that editor has announced he is leaving because the LA School Report has merged with Campbell Brown’s “The 74.” The publication was founded by Jamie Alter Lynton, sister of major ed reformer Jonathan Alter and wife of Sony executive Michael Lynton. With the Broad Foundation funding education coverage at the Los Angeles Times and “The 74” controlling the editorial views of the LA School Report, there will be a dearth of unbiased reporting in the city. This happens at the same time that Eli Broad proposes to take control of half the children in the city’s public schools. When we lose the free press, our democracy is in trouble.
From a long string of messages, beginning with an email written by Steve Zimmer, President of the LAUSD school board:
On 2/1/16 12:14 AM, Zimmer, Steven wrote:
Michael,
I am deeply saddened, angered and concerned.
As you know, we have often disagreed and sometimes vigorously. But through it all, you have maintained a commitment to the integrity of your profession and of the School Report. Under your leadership, the blog regained credibility and became an important element of the public’s understanding of public education in Los Angeles. It is no small thing that you gained my trust and confidence even though I knew Ms. Linton still wrote the checks that funded the publication. Our interpersonal trust, which you never once betrayed, is a testimony to your skills but more so to your person.
Much more important, you approach this work with the dignity and weight our kids, their families and their dreams demand. You always were careful to respect the teaching profession and the 80,000 public employees who put kids first every day in this district. This is not a game to you and the serious lens you applied to every story strengthened confidence in a publication that was, under Mr. Russo, little more than an amplifier for the orthodox corporate reform movement.
I thank you for your service and your efforts to bring a measure of objectivity to a press corps that now seems more intent on making news in public education than on reporting it. You do not deserve to be treated this way. Our students, their families, their teachers and their school communities deserve better.
Lastly, I ask you to consider not walking away. We cannot give up on objective coverage and analysis of public education in Los Angeles and across the country. It is no accident that Campbell Brown is coming to join Eli Broad in the effort to dismantle LAUSD and eviscerate democratically elected school boards and public sector unions across the nation. Now that the Los Angeles Times education coverage is funded by Broad, Wasserman, and Baxter and that the School Report will now be controlled by Brown and her funders, truth itself as it relates to public education in Los Angeles will be filtered through an orthodox reform lens at every turn. After the Times editorial leadership essentially told me that agenda was as important as accuracy in their coverage of the Board and of the district, I knew we were in a different place. Tonight, I understand that even more.
But being in a place and accepting that place are two different things. I hope you will engage with me and others who care about the future of public education and the future of journalism as we try to figure out what to do next. You and I both know this is way too important to do nothing.
Thank you again, my friend.
Steve
From: Michael Janofsky [mailto:michael218@gmail.com]
Sent: Sunday, January 31, 2016 11:01 PM
To: Zimmer, Steven; Haber, Shannon; Jones, Barbara A.; Holmquist, David (OGC); Ref Rodriguez; Aman, Aixle; Alex Caputo Pearl; Jason Mandell; Vladovic, Richard; Ratliff, Monica; Vizcarra, Claudia; Pollard-Terry, Gayle; Blanca Gallegos; Wells, Frank; Alberto Retana; Sara Mooney; baustin@parentsunion.org; Ama Nyamekye; Dan Chang; Vanessa Romo; Naush Boghossian; John Deasy; Mckenna, George; Garcia, Monica (Board Member); Schmerelson, Scott M.; Crain, Jefferson; Manny Rivera; Catherine Suitor; Maria Brenes; Glenn Gritzner; Jenny Hontz
Subject: A change at LA School Report
I apologize for the mass email, but it’s the best way to inform all of you a bit of news.
After 2 1/2 years as managing editor, I am no longer working for LA School Report. Its founder has merged it with reform-minded Campbell Brown’s The 74, a change that was related to me only a few days ago. As part of the new arrangement, I learned I was removed as editor, with LA School Report and The 74 installing a replacement.
In my time as editor, I’ve worked closely with many of you, and I want to say how much I’ve appreciated your professionalism, your collegiality and your willingness to help us understand contentious, controversial and complicated issues affecting LA Unified. As an editor and occasional writer who has worked only for news organizations that favor neither one side of an issue or the other, I always tried my best to steer LA School Report down the middle, keeping it as fair and neutral as possible. I know some of you might disagree, but I am proud of the work we did.
I’m especially indebted to those who were always eager to respond to our questions in a timely manner and to help us understand the issues more deeply. Thank you.
I’ve learned a great deal from all of you, and I thank you for that, as well.
I wish all of you the best.
Michael Janofsky
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I am in shock. This shows how much power Eli Broad and his deform hawks have in LA. We need a counter news source to emerge…but I don’t know who in this community on the side of public education can afford to spend the amount of cash that Lynton and her deformers can toss away.
If Karen and I, and some of our local team, can get a new LAUSD blog up rapidly, who will pledge a few bucks to help us?
There’s the root of the problem, money. The big short in public education so privateers can make money, our tax dollars. Politicians, demos and Repubs alike support it because their campaign coffers are full and heck, they might start some charters themselves, it pays well. As usual, the public gets the big shaft. You’d think we learned before with the financial bailout, but the beat goes on
Would love to talk with Michael Janovsky. Please contact me Michael at
joiningforces4ed@aol.com
I have some interested potential investors who might be able to fund us in a new venture, it you are part of it.
Actions speak louder than words.
The movers and shakers of self-styled “education reform” have no confidence in the power of their ideas.
So they are buying their way to ideological supremacy because $tudent $ucce$$ is best nurtured in a cocoon of [bought-and-paid-for] happy thoughts.
As for any dissenting views, pair this posting with the one today on the rheephorm-minded university president that wants to “drown the bunnies.”
Funny thing, though, the voices of the bunnies are proving very hard to drown out…
😎
It’s hard to get used to the idea that there will be NO substantive debate on whether Eli Broad should buy a public school system.
All they’re “debating” are the terms of the sale. The basic premise of the thing goes unquestioned.
It’s remarkable to me. I guess I just wasn’t aware that everything was for sale, that that had been decided.
I wondered how the powers that be were reconciling their own agenda with an outlet that was beginning to look legitimate. I guess we know who won–and that tidbit in Zimmer’s email is mighty interesting. The LA Times editorial board told him that their agenda to privatize LAUSD was more important than journalistic accuracy?! Wowzer.
Karen Wolfe: that caught my eye too.
😎
It’s been crystal clear to many of us for a long time what the L.A. Times’ agenda re education has been. What’s surprising is that they said it out loud to Steve Zimmer.
“Journalistic accuracy”? What’s that?
Apparently, something to be kicked to the curb in the interest of furthering a specific agenda.
That’s not “journalism” in any way, shape, or form. It’s propaganda.
“War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength.”
1984
“Now that editor has announced he is leaving because the LA School Report has merged with Campbell Brown’s “The 74.” The publication was founded by Jamie Alter Lynton, sister of major ed reformer Jonathan Alter and wife of Sony executive Michael Lynton.”
I can already tell this privatization effort will be very “grass roots” and “locally-driven” because who better to run public schools than multi-millionaire media celebrities?
The billionaires put their shill front and center. If you control the medium, you control the message. Los Angeles needs to figure out a way for people to hear a counter narrative.
Everyone in LA who has followed the education battles here is extremely aware of the significance of the change over at Jamie Alter-Lynton’s LA School Report to the auspices of Campbell Brown’s publication The Seventy-Four.
Four Alarm Fire significance.
In “Democrat” LA, it seems that the forces of the ultra wealthy are hell-bent on strangling public education. While the neo-liberal supporters of Alter-Lynton’s politics see Donald Trump as beneath their contempt, they see the plutocracy of Eli Broad or Michael Bloomberg as what the life preserver our country needs.
I won’t even get into the appalling Republican-ways that these crazy wealthy have become the crazy wealthy and how their positions of power have come at the expense of the public welfare. I know I know…Go Democracy! Go Free Market!
Alter-Lynton, from her pearch among LA’s powerful Brentwood elites, writes: “I founded LA School Report more than three years ago on the belief that there is an urgent need for quality journalism in the education arena; that without vigorous scrutiny, decisions made by elected officials, special interests and district bureaucrats go unchecked. Why the urgency? Because the Los Angeles public school system – which ranks among the worst in the country – is profoundly failing the vast majority of students, especially those who are not white and middle class.”
Alter-Lynton is not a Progressive revolutionary. Her politics in education is similar to her fellow comrades in the GOP: Scott Walker, John Kasich, Jeb Bush, Bobby Jindal, Rick Scott and, yes, Donald Trump. Except (perhaps) for vouchers, her education viewpoints would be embraced by all these candidates and Alter-Lynton would stump for their education positions if not their views on Women’s Choice..
Just a quick check of the 74 website ( https://www.the74million.org/) had me gag with their heart-racing excitement and quasi-endorsement of a Michael Bloomberg Presidential bid. Yes, THIS is what Progressives in LA have to look forward to:
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, THE EDUCATION CANDIDATE
https://www.the74million.org/article/bloomberg-may-have-a-shot-as-a-third-party-presidential-candidate-but-ed-reform-as-a-platform-sadly-does-not
Those of us in LA who have sounded the alarm in LA for the last few years received scant help from our elected school board over the years. It is only recently when what has happened to the very notion of “public education” under the brutal hand of John Deasy and his national backers, caused shame and ridicule upon LA that some have finally found the courage to actually vocalize their dismay.
We appreciate their conversion. Better late than never.
But the limousined folks who don’t send their kids to LA’USD’s system are intent on running it like a 19th Century colony with their own racist and classist pedagogies in charge. These include the vile editorial board of the LA TIMES and a host of other well-financed Reform Ed groups that all wrap themselves up in the Democratic Party pedigrees. Couple this with their bankrolling of the tsunami that is the California Charter School Association and their influence over LA’s children and community is profound.
And now The 74 merger with the LA SCHOOL REPORT is yet another doubling down on the war. After some huge recent defeats in their control over LA, this is their version of W’s and Cheney’s “Surge” in Iraq.
The change in editors and pointed mission statement is their affirmation to their cause.
I actually felt that former LASR editor Michael Janofsky did see the problems with Lynton’s one-sided ideology and sought out opposing viewpoints. He published and highlighted my commentary, not once, but TWICE–each one strongly countering Alter-Lynton’s disturbing narrative on public education. I’m deeply appreciative of the opportunity and platform Janofsky provided me.
What we in LA need to do is aggressively go on the offensive, knowing the implications of Campbell Brown and Jamie Alter-Lynton’s alliance. We need our own publication that is not for the 1% agenda, but for the very kids that Alter-Lynton’s own children never see in their daily lives at school.
My very dear Geronimo…every one of the billionaires who is deforming public education, those you mention, is a Democrat…see Broad, Bloomberg, Milken, etc. You can’t pin this on only Repubs. They all stink.
Yes. Not to mention Bill Gates, as well as (not billionaires yet, but still, prominent Democrats) Arne Duncan, Michelle Rhee, Rahm Emanuel, Barack Obama……..
Both parties are fully participating in the dismantling of public education. It seems to be a bi-partisan issue. {{Sigh}}
Ellen, I think that’s his point. In LA, these guys do all this while calling themselves Democrats. But their agenda is remarkably similar to Republicans like Jeb Bush, Chris Christie and others. As Diane has pointed out on here before, Democrats for Education Reform is the name in California; in Texas, it’s Texans for Education Reform.
Karen, in a red state like Texas, Democrats for Education Reform wouldn’t have much appeal. DFER is a trick played in blue states. In red states, they are called Republicans.
It should also be noted that education reporting slowly but surely faded away in the Los Angeles Daily News while Laura Greanias was the city editor. When she arrived, Thomas Himes was already writing excellent pieces. He left in August of 2015 and has not been replaced.
So, chalk one up for Eli Broad and the reformsters. They own education coverage in the city of Los Angeles. They control the LA Times, the LASR and eliminated the bulk of education reporting in the LA Daily News.
The blackout of pro public Ed continues in Los Angeles. We have no neutral, educated way to air pro public Ed views. The union has a newspaper but it’s as useless as its collective bargaining contract. Calling out all you dissidents, maybe it’s time to form our own voice in favor of public education.
BREAKING – in what amounts to a stinging criticism of Bill de Blasio’s unchecked control of the New York City Department of Education, Public Advocate Letitia James filed suit this afternoon against the NYC DOE on behalf of children whose IEPs are not being met: http://www.bkreader.com/2016/02/pa-tish-james-sues-doe-failing-meet-needs-disabled-students/
The suit contends that IEPs are being unsatisfactorily service or ignored entirely. 16,000 (!) children are said to have had their IEPs partially or wholly unmet.
In addition, the suit alleges that under de Blasio’s watch the DOE has failed to institute controls to track children whose education costs may be recoupable under Medicaid, costing the city hundreds of millions of dollars.
This is a crushing blow to de Blasio as the state legislature considers whether to renew mayoral control, and if so, for how long.
What a challenging 72 hours for Tweed’s lawyers: first finishing up a formal response to the US attorney, saying his concerns about accessibility in NYC DOE schools is unfounded because it is preposterous to assume that every single school building should educate every single child, now this.
after ten years of frustration in St. louis, especially the media……I can think of no advice….but media coverage is a huge deal….both in what is reported, and in what is glossed over with mimimal reporting and lack of followup.
also…..there is the constant general nagging from the right about ultra liberal (evil) the source of minimal information is. There are two sides……teachers and their unions are devils from hell ruining public education versus there are ways to work around that problem—some teachers are ok.
Sharpen your rapiers (pens), educators. Get set to bombard LASR daily with acerbic comments that call out the backers and their attempts to silence anyone who disagrees with them. They’ll probably delete our comments, but we can just repost until they block up totally, then call them out on FB, Twitter, Instagram, etc. for being the anti-democratic fat cats that they truly are.
I’d also be more than willing to do informational picketing at any event sponsored by these people. Let’s embarrass them in front of their rich friends.
Finally, go Bernie! He’s their worst nightmare. Like you always say Diane, “We are many. They are few.”
Alas, they disabled comments long ago – too many pro public educators responded to their slim and they couldn’t take the heat.
Silly goose. Campbell Brown is in charge. There are no comments on The 74, only the archaic “submit a letter to the editor” so she can continue to control what information is mentioned.
Wow. Just got back from teachin’ the kiddies, and just read the news.
It’s funny the stuff that’s written here:
JAMIE ALTER LYNTON: ” .. a fractious, erratic school board that has hired three superintendents in five years … ”
Yeah, what she fails to mention is that the second of those two — whom she and L.A. School Report backed to the hilt — turned out to be a total crook, and also whose incompetence with the MISIS data system left the district in chaos for months.
She never mentioned that.
” … and, in a recent clumsy move, put charter schools in its crosshairs instead of targeting its failing schools for improvement.”
Really? That’s how she characterizes that motion. The anti-privatization folks — both UTLA and parents groups — are the bad guy / villains, while the billionaires out to wipe out public education and democratic governance of schools are the good guys / victims.
It’s Jamie Lynton’s “Bizarro World”.
It’s not charter schools that are the focus of the Board motion, it’s Broad’s plan. This point of view is eloquently articulated by Peter “Curmudgucation” Greene:
http://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/2015/09/la-plan-to-crush-public-education.html
————
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
LA Plan To Crush Public Education
The LA Time published further confirmation of the story they broke in August– Eli Broad and friends would like to replace public education in Los Angeles, taking over half of the district’s “business.”
The confirmation comes by way of an extraordinary document– the Great Public Schools Now Initiative. It’s nothing short of amazing– a plan to do away with democratically controlled, publicly accountable education in LA.
Granted, LA schools have never been short of people willing to just go ahead and impose their will on the school district. It was just last week the Times ran the news that a group of “concerned citizens” had gotten a meeting with LAUSD school board president Steven Zimmer to tell him what they think he should do about filling the superintendent spot. How cool is that?! I think I will call the mayor of my town and tell him I want to meet to discuss my recommendations for how to make a budget. In fact, speaking of budgets, maybe I’ll just summon my state’s governor and some key legislators to a meeting where I’ll tell them what they should do about the budget impasse. Because, you know, representative democracy is for suckers and little people– People Who Matter just pick up the phone and tell elected officials what’s what.
But the Great Public Schools Now Initiative puts the “aud” in “audacious” and the “balls” in “holy schneikes but you have a big brass pair on you!” It’s forty-four pages of How To Completely Circumvent the Public School System For Fun and Profit.
The Times coverage hits some special highlights, so I am going to skate across this pond of barely frozen pig poo as quickly as possible. But just in case you think some of what you’re seeing about this plan involves scrutinous depalabration (my new term for close reading– patent pending), here are the goals of the plan in the plain executive summary English:
This effort will be structured over an eight-year period from 2016 to 2023 with the following objectives: (1) to create 260 new high-quality charter schools, (2) to generate 130,000 high-quality charter seats, and (3) to reach 50 percent charter market share.
That is, not incidentally, almost doubling the current charter capacity in LA. But the creators of this plan say that “the opportunity is ripe for a significant expansion” of charter baloney in LA.
Big Ripe LA Dreams
GPSN thinks that LA is redolent with potential, positively fecund with charter possibilities, because reasons. [Insert Chamber of Commerce boilerplate here.]
But the dream is not just to tap into the huge market of students trapped in failing blah blah blah waiting for their chance for high-quality seats (and, man, I would love to see one of these seats, sit in one of these seats, visit the High Quality Seat Factory and see how these seats are made) blah blah blah.
No, the dream is to “create a national proof point for other states and cities seeking to dramatically improve K-12 education.” GPSN wants LA to be the new New Orleans, the exemplar for charter champions everywhere, as they head out to double down, buckle up, and cash in. Gosh, let’s see what kind of program they have in mind, because I’m sure it won’t turn out to be a hollow, costly, unscaleable, irreproduceable, unsustainable plan at all.
But first…
Background: LA Schools Suck
Urban minority students trapped in zip codes blah blah blah no change in last years blah blah blah. Poor minority students have potential for success, and that potential goes untapped because of schools and not at all because of systemic racism and poverty. Nuh-uh. Just bad schools. Which, incidentally we keep throwing money at, but they don’t get any better. Also, achievement gap.
Charter Schools Fix Everything While Riding Unicorns Across Rainbows
LA is filled with parent demand for charters, plus the suckiness of LAUSD. Oddly enough, the Deasy-loving tablet-pushing reformsters behind GPSN are not going to pause to consider their own role in the LAUSD suckness. But it doesn’t matter because they have the biggest charter sector in the world, and it’s awesome.
Charters “have maintained impressive growth” and now show a “total market share” of almost twenty-five percent. This is because of “the success of charters to push past environmental and political factors and achieve sustainable growth over time.” So success = more of them, It’s almost as if we’re discussing an investment business, and not a school. And indeed, we go on to discuss charter unit growth and enrollment trends.
We will also discuss student achievement, relying on API (Academic Performance Index) scores, and we don’t have time right now to discuss how much baloney is stuffed into this mostly-standardized-test-scores measure. But GPSN wants you to know that the charters do better at the API stuff, mostly, pretty much. The state also has a special sauce for setting predictions of outcomes, and while I’m not super-familiar, it sounds like one more variation on “We’re going to compare your students to other imaginary students over here that are more or less the same even if they are imaginary.”
At any rate, charters are awesome. This report does not address the possibility that charters are creaming and skimming, nor does it discuss the value in regular, intense test prep. Charter are awesome. Awesome! And CREDO, a group that exists primarily to promote charters, says so, too, so it must be true. So many days of learning (whatever the hell that is) are added.
Waitlists
If you believe that waitlists actually provide meaningful data, we have some charts for you. Everyone else can just move on. Unless you want to look at the map that highlights some great market opportunities.
Things We’ll Need Our Friendly Elected Officials To Do
The California Charter School Association has helpfully dragged the LAUSD into court so that judges can ‘splain to them that they have to give us whatever we want. Kewl, because we’re going to need space for all those super seats.
We made some headway on the last school board elections. We just need to get more people involved in the elected school board who will roll over and let us stomp them in the head.
The public support is growing. As proof, they offer a picture of a rally. You know, the kind where charter operators get all their parents to come, or else. The data point GPSN likes? There are now more charter parents than unionized teachers.
Any Obstacles?
GPSN spots a few.
Real estate and builders are needed to get enough snazzy charters built and filled. But the state’s tax-exempt bond market is opening up to charter operators, so that’s a plus.
Human capital. Yes, that’s what they call it. They are going to need many, many teachers, even as the teacher pipeline in California is choking and sputtering (teacher ed program enrollment down 53%). The charters will have to compete with LAUSD for both quantity and quality (And–update– as commenter Jack Covey notes below, the LAUSD actually got back in the game by actually giving teachers a range, and free marketeers never want to apply the free market to teacher salaries). Charters look to “high quality providers,” by which they mean TFA and Relay Academy, so it’s possible they have some different definition of “high-quality”– anyway, TFA is tanking and Relay hasn’t arrived in LA yet, so charters are stuck trying to hire actual teachers with actual training. Of course, some charter outfits like Aspire are creating their own fake teaching credentials, but those don’t serve the larger cause.
Also, finding principals will be a real bear.
GPSN wants to double the charter market in eight years, but by gum, they just won’t sacrifice quality to do it. So funding. And closing down crappy charters that don’t belong to the Right People.
Let’s Talk Money
Speaking of sustainability.
Remember when a charter’s selling point was that it could do more with less. That was apparently not in LA, where, if I’m reading these charts correctly, GPSN will need almost a half a billion-with-a-b dollars of outside money over the next eight years to pull this off (excluding any potential overruns, which I’m sure won’t be an issue when building a few hundred new schools). In fact, late in this report, it starts to become clear that this is, in part, an investors prospectus.
That half-a-billion includes funds for building schools, “scaling” schools, getting teachers (this includes pumping up TFA and Relay), recruiting principals, organizing and advocacfy, and fund management (because you don’t just stick $500 million in a desk drawer somewhere).
I am now really curious about what outside investors are spending on LA charters right now, but clearly, LA will be one more place where the effect charter schools will be to raise the total cost of the complete school system a whole hell of a lot. I’ll say it again– only charter school operators believe you can live in two homes for the cost of one.
They have many hopes, including parent groups, CCSA, and Emma Bloomberg’s new Big Data group, Murmuration– plus the United Way and other community groups who will, apparently, contribute to replacing a public school system with private profiteering.
Okay, “replace” is too strong a word. Fifty percent of LA students will be allowed to stay in the public schools, or whatever is left of them after the charters have sucked them dry. But don’t worry– I’m sure that the charters will call first dibs on the most challenging, difficult, expensive students in the system, taking on the challenges of students with special needs, English language learners, and the most vulnerable students, leaving the public school with the strongest, most capable, most resilient students in the city.
Bottom Line
I am absolutely bowled over at the magnitude of this power grab. Imagine if Broad and his friends said, “We’re not happy with the LAPD, so we’re going to hire and train our own police force, answerable to nobody but us, to cover some parts of the city. Also, the taxpayers have to foot the bill.” Or if they decided to get their own army? Or their own mayor?
Who does this? Who says, “We can’t get enough control over the elected officials in this branch of government, so we will just shove them out of the way and replace them with our own guys, who won’t bug us by answering to Those People.”
This is not just about educational quality (or lack thereof), or just about how to turn education into a cash cow for a few high rollers– this is about a hamhanded effort to circumvent democracy in a major American city. There’s nothing in this plan about listening to the parents or community- only about what is going to be done to them by men with power and money. This just sucks a lot.
Here’s the opening article of THE 74, where Campbell Brown states its mission:
“I have learned that not every story has two sides. And I will not allow for false equivalency when a child’s future is being compromised, regardless of the vitriol it provokes.”
How caan someone purporting to be a journalist say something so transparently idiotic as that?
Here’s that quote in context:
https://www.the74million.org/article/campbell-brown-journalism-advocacy-and-why-not-every-story-has-two-sides
Okay. That’s just great.
In Campbell’s mind, there’s only one side that’s right — Campbell Brown’s, and the school privatization billionaires that are funding her … they’re “for the children”.
The other side — teacher unions, parents who want to keep democratic governance of schools — well they’re just wrong, wrong, wrong … “they’re not for the children.”
Remember EDUSHYSTER’s expose just before THE 74 just went on-line?
A prominent (unnamed) reporter interviewed for a job with Campbell’s THE 74, then reported back to Edushyster the astonishing conversation she had while interviewing. One of Campbell’s functionaries told the reporter applying to work there that THE 74’s reporters —including her, should she get hired — would be barred from doing any reporting that was critical of charter schools, or of school privatization, and that any charter school scandals — even those that that hit the mainstream media and became national stories — must be ignored as well.
Here’s that story:
http://edushyster.com/will-the-74-investigate-charter-scandals/
Well, that’s basically what’s happened. Regarding the recent scandals with Eva Moskowitz & Success Academy, scandals that got national coverage on PBS and elsewhere … as far as Campbell Brown, THE 74and — in Ms. Lyuton’s words — “the 74’s roster of smart, veteran journalists” are concerned, it’s like the Success Academy scandals never even happened. They wrote not one word about all of that.
This is like back with the old Soviet news outlet TASS.
Well, we can now expect the same thing with LA School Report.
Another thing you notice is that in Edushyster’s article is that the operation that’s running THE 74 is the “Mercury” P.R. group, the same group that Walmart uses in its suppression of any budding unionism in its stores. Mercury operatives even pretended to be journalists at an anti-Walmart rally in Los Angeles’ Chinatown.
Mercury is also in charge of PR for … wait for it … Eli Broad’s “Great Public Schools Now” plan to convert half of LAUSD school to privately managed charter schools.
So Mercury is running L.A. School Report — controlling 100% of its content — where it will report on Eli Broad’s “Great Public Schools Now” privatization plan, which Mercury is also doing P.R. for.
WTF???!!!!
The L.A. Times just weighed in, and, believe it or not, actually made some sense:
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-seventy-four-takes-over-school-report-20160201-story.html
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L.A. TIMES: “(THE 74)’s entry into Los Angeles has alarmed union leaders and some supporters of traditional public education. They say it could undermine trust in the reporting of education controversies.”
———————
Ya think???!!!
What’s great is that they give the roll call of “THE 74’s backers:
———————
L.A. TIMES: “The group’s funders include a roster of charter school supporters, such as the Walton Family Foundation, the Doris & Donald Fisher Fund and Bloomberg Philanthropies.
“Critics call the Seventy Four an advocacy effort on behalf of a pro-charter school, anti-union agenda. The organization, critics say, uses opinion pieces and reported stories to promote charter schools and to find fault with traditional campuses and teachers unions.”
———————
THE 74 denies this, of course:
———————
L.A. TIMES: “Not so, said co-founder and Chief Executive Romy Drucker.
“ ‘We try to highlight what’s working,’ Drucker said. ‘Part of the mission also is highlighting what’s broken and needs to be fixed and highlighting the solutions.;
“No type of effective school is favored; no type of ineffective school is spared, said Drucker, who had been a top New York City schools official under former Chancellor Joel Klein.”
———————
Really?
Then how come “THE 74” HASN’T SAID A G**-D**N WORD ABOUT THE SCANDALS THAT HAVE EMBROILED EVA MOSKOWITZ’ SUCCESS ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOLS SINCE LAST OCTOBER?
Could that be because… oh I don’t know … Campbell Brown sits on the Board of Directors for the Success Academy charter school chain?
No, perish the thought.
I mean, here’s Campbell Brown, the top dog at THE 74, speaking at SUCCESS ACADEMY’s SPRING BENEFIT:
Does anyone with any sense think that the woman giving this speech could possibly cover the SUCCESS ACADEMY schools fairly, or with an open mind to covering any of SUCCESS ACADEMY’s failings?
( 01:36 – )
( 01:36 – )
CAMPBELL BROWN: ” … I’m a soldier in Eva’s Army. … the accomplishments of Eva and the team that makes (the SUCCESS ACADEMY schools) possible. It amazes me that anyone would dare try to put a chokehold on the most exciting, innovative things happening in public education right now. … there is no compromise possible. …
” .. ”
“I’m sorry. Both sides do not have merit, and when the lives of children are literally hanging in the balance, you can’t play referee. If we want to do what he know is right, what we know is truly right, then we have not choice, and there is no compromise possible. Even if we try to assume the best motives all around (for everyone, on both sides) … if we believe that our charter schools are what’s best for kids, then any attempt to stop them, or put limits on them, is a limit on that good influence, and why would we ever accept a compromise like that?”
“… ”
“It’s not a complicated problem. There’s no middle ground. … Mayor DiBlasio have to choose between making a comfortable interest group (CODE for “teachers unions”) more comfortable, or being a true force for good in the lives of New York City’s children … he can protect ‘the status quo’, or he can protect the public interest, but he can’t do both.”
——————
I can’t transcribe any more of specious tripe. I’m about to vomit on my keyboard.
Really Campbell? That’s the black-and-white truth as you see it? Any attempt to criticize or call into question the privatization of public schools is a failure “to protect the public interest.
And her lackey Romy Drucker can tell the L.A. TIMES with a straight face that THE 74 is fair and balanced, and is equally open to stories critical of all groups of schools, including charters?
Campbell Brown claims to care about children?
What about the children of the kids on the Got-to-Go List?
What about Faida Geidi’s child? What about Shanice Givens’ child?
Don’t they matter?
OMG! I found the video of the Geidi and Givens confronting Eva at the forum on January 22, 2016, and it’s more intense than I thought.
Indeed, this is an instant classic in the whole corporate reform movement, and the fight against it..
It’s either HERE:
http://nyls.mediasite.com/mediasite/Play/a383f1d9713a49c49cddb999e631de8d1d?playFrom=3383&autoStart=true
OR HERE:
http://www.citylandnyc.org/complete-video-the-131st-citylaw-breakfast-with-eva-moskowitz/
“COMPLETE VIDEO: The 131st NYC City Law Breakfast with Eva Moskowitz.
“On Friday January 22, 2016, the Center for New York City Law at New York Law School hosted the 131st City Law Breakfast. The event speaker was SUCCESS Academy’s Eva Moskowitz.”
The “Perry Mason Moment” of the forum starts here at about 41:58.
Watch how the moderator Ross Sandler, a New York City Law School professor moderating this event, goes to bat for Eva when Eva is criticized. Earlier, at the beginning of this video, his introduction to Eva was so fawning and gushing you may think that he was describing Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
Later, Eva faces the heat from an angry Success Academy parent, who asks if Eva had ever apologized to parents whose children were harmed by being placed on the infamous “Got-to-Go List,
After Eva says she has indeed apologized, this parent, Shanice Givens, points out to everyone in the room that Eva just lied. She’s one of those parents, and Eva never apologized to her.
Hell is then unleashed … from Givens toward Eva… and then from moderator Ross Sandler towards Givens.
This is some truly riveting footage — an instant classic in the whole corporate education reform controversy.
http://nyls.mediasite.com/mediasite/Play/a383f1d9713a49c49cddb999e631de8d1d?playFrom=3383&autoStart=true
OR HERE:
http://www.citylandnyc.org/complete-video-the-131st-citylaw-breakfast-with-eva-moskowitz/
TRANSCRIPT —
( 41:58 – 43:03 )
———————–
PARENT SHANICE EVANS: “Good morning, Eva. How are you?”
EVA: “Good morning.”
PARENT SHANICE EVANS: “Hi. You didn’t shed any light on the ‘Got-to-Go List.’ Uhmm… I just want to know. Did you privately or publicly apologize to the any of parents that were affected by it.”
EVA: “There’s been an enormous amount of coverage. I see Kate Taylor (the NY Times writer who penned the Got-to-Go List article) in the audience. There were two stories on it, and yes, I … I did (apologize). The (Got-to-Got) list existed for three days. As soon as it came to our attention — which was within about 24 hours of it being produced — the principal was brought into the school and severely reprimanded for his actions. I have personally have done many parent meetings at Fort Greene (Success Academy School) … uhh … because of that mistake.”
PARENT SHANICE EVANS: “Hello. Sorry. I just wanted to say. My name is Shanice Givens- ”
MODERATOR ROSS SANDLER: “Wait, wait.”
PARENT SHANICE EVANS: ” And my son was Number Three on the list.”
MODERATOR ROSS SANDLER: “May I- ?”
PARENT SHANICE EVANS: “My son was Number Three (on the Got-to-Go List) and I NEVER got an apology from Ms. Eva.”
MODERATOR ROSS SANDLER: “May I ask you to be courteous?”
PARENT SHANICE EVANS: “I just want to say that she just said that she – ”
MODERATOR ROSS SANDLER: (turning away from Given to the other mic)
“We’re on this side now.”
PARENT SHANICE EVANS: ” – publicly said something, and she NEVER said ANYTHING to me. My son was Number Three.’ ”
MODERATOR ROSS SANDLER: “Madame -”
PARENT SHANICE EVANS: (to Eva) “And you said that you ‘loved children so much’ ?
Yet you STILL allow Mr. (Candido) Brown to teach?”
MODERATOR ROSS SANDLER: (to some technician) “Turn her microphone off!”
PARENT SHANICE EVANS: “He has wronged sixteen children and -”
(Given’s MIC CUTS OFF)
MODERATOR ROSS SANDLER: “This is not the place. This is an academic institution. We’re having a conversation. We’re going to this side (the other microphone) now.”
—————–
There’s a whole mess o’ wrong goin’ on here.
I don’t get the rationale of “This is an academic institution.” as justification for silencing this woman, and killing her mic. Shouldn’t an academic institution be a place for vigorous debate where all sides are allowed to offer their opinions.
To be accurate, Sandler should have said, “This is an academic institution in which only those who, like me, heap unqualified praise Ms. upon Moskowitz, will be allowed to speak.”
Immediately following this, a well-dressed pro-Success Academy parent — Thomas Lopez Pierre (sp?) mentioning in his remarks that he’s a candidate for NYC City Council — starts off with gushing praise for Eva and what Success Academy has done for his son. He even spouts the “My son was trapped in a failing school” line.
In contrast to the parent criticizing Eva, Ross Sandler lets Pierre (sp?) run at the mouth while Pierre effusively praises Eva & Success Academy.
Standing beside Eva, Sandler nods and smiles as if to say, “Now, that’s more like it.”
However, that same parent, in mid-speech, then surprises everyone, and does a total 180. He goes on the same attack as Givens for Eva’s exclusive admission and expulsion policies. The moderator Ross Sandler again intervenes.
( 43:57 – 44:04 )
———————–
THOMAS LOPEZ PIERRE: (polite tone) “With that said, I’m a critic of you, Ms. Moskowitz. And here’s the reason why. You have failed to provide every public school student who wants to attend Success the opportunity, and until you are able to serve ALL of the kids who want to get into your wonderful charter school, Success will not be a ‘success.’ Thank you. ” (walks away from the mic)
EVA (clearly frazzled): “Thank you. I do have a lot of critics, and it comes from a variety of places … and that’s … uhh … part of the … wonderfulness … of New York- ”
The douchey moderator Sandler swings into action again, saying,
MODERATOR ROSS SANDLER: (visibly irritated)
“Let me just step in a second. This is an academic institution, and decorum is required of everybody, and I have no doubt that everyone n this room will honor that.”
————-
The angry parents are not yet through with Eva.
Remember Fatima Gehdi, the parent who’s upset at Eva who, as part of Eva’s retaliation against Gehdi, illegally released Gehdi’s son’s private discipline records to the press?
Well, she got in her licks, too … at 49:05
http://nyls.mediasite.com/mediasite/Play/a383f1d9713a49c49cddb999e631de8d1d?playFrom=3383&autoStart=true
or
http://www.citylandnyc.org/complete-video-the-131st-citylaw-breakfast-with-eva-moskowitz/
I don’t have time to transcribe this, so just watch Gehdi yourself at: (this is what provoked Eva’s “customer service” comment)
Watch how, again, the moderator Sandler tries but fails to silence this parent.
Here’s moderator Ross Sandler in a nutshell …
“When praising Eva, you can talk all you want.
“When criticizing Eva, you are showing bad “decorum” and must be shut up, or have your mic turned off.”
COUNTDOWN to the moment when, per Eva’s request, Sandler and New York City Law School takes down this video:
“One, two, three .. “
Sorry if this is turning into a Campbell Brown retrospective, but here’s some more:
Peter Greene pointed out how, during NY State Senator’s Dean Skelos’ corruption trial, a recording of Skelos came to light that included Campbell Brown. Skelos talked about going to a meeting with “Campbell Brown and a bunch of billionaires.”
Not trading on her celebrity? I’m not faulting her for it– she is who she is– but pretending that her celebrity isn’t a thing that factors into her new line of work is just silly. In fact, let’s ask someone else to chime in on Campbell Brown’s celebrity:
DEAN SKELOS: “I’m going into the city, meeting with some billionaires … on school tax credit stuff – ”
ADAM SKELOS: “Who are you meeting with?
DEAN SKELOS: ” Campbell Brown.”
ADAM SKELOS: “Ohhh… ”
DEAN SKELOS: “Okay.”
ADAM SKELOS: “Any financial … people?”
DEAN SKELOS: “Yeah, you know the … uhh …the reporter, former reporter …a whole bunch of them(i.e. billionaire charter promoters) and I’m having lunch with a bunch of them. Then I’m going to – ”
ADAM SKELOS: “Dad, you’ve gotta …you’ve gotta take these names down for me.”
DEAN SKELOS: “I got ’em all. I got ’em.”
ADAM SKELOS: “All right.”
That’s a transcript from some of the government wiretaps collected for the corruption trial of Dean Skelos who, at the time of this conversation, was hunting for a job for his son (you can listen to the recordings at the link). And so he set up a meeting with Campbell Brown and some billionaire charter backers.
So Campbell Brown doesn’t need any more friends. She has friends who give her $4 million a year to run a charter advocacy website and very rich friends who help her meet with influential New York politicians and friends with deep pockets and even friends who write hugely complimentary profiles for conservative magazines.
———————–
Rupert Murdoch’s WEEKLY STANDARD put out a puff piece, written by glorifying ‘Campbell Brown, and even mentioned that her opponents were afraid to debate her.
A total lie
http://www.weeklystandard.com/whos-afraid-of-campbell-brown/article/1070546
Peter said this about her eagerness to debate:
PETER GREENE:
“She wants someone from the opposition to debate her thoughtfully, and Hemingway neener-neeners that they’re all afraid (she should take a page from the former failed chancellor of DC schools, who became a household ed reform name while steadfastly refusing to debate anybody). I believe there are many public education advocates who fit the bill of knowledgeable and interested in progress; I’m just not sure why they should feel the need to debate a self-appointed charter advocate, any more than I can think of a reason that the Secretary of Education should give me a call just because I’m a self-appointed education blogger.”
The article goes further, stating that her opponents are too “afraid” of her to dare even attempt debate her.
WEEKLY STANDARD: “Ultimately, the problem for union spokesmen such as Weingarten and Ravitch is not that they have to contend with refuting some telegenic idiot every time the Washington Post calls them for the union point of view. Brown is eager to publicly debate education reform, but they’re afraid of engaging her. Given the opportunity, she’s going to clean their clocks. And, yes, she’s going to look good doing it.”
Talk about alternate universe.
With one notable and disastrous exception — the Stephen Colbert show (the old one before he moved to CBS — Brown has steadfastly refused to appear in any forum where she is not surrounded by corporate reformers and politicians who support and agree 100% with everything she says, and who she knows beforehand will not challenge or refute anything she says.
The Colbert show was most likely the last time she’ll venture into an environment where she will face anyone who’ll counter what she says. The Mexican stand-off moment between Colbert and her over whether she’ll reveal her funders, and if not, why not … was truly a “Perry Mason” moment. She justified this on the grounds that if she did, those funders will be targeted by… well … by the protestors outside Colbert’s studio. It was a bunch of parents holding handmade, magic markered signs. Scary!
If you’ve got nothing to hide, you hide nothing.
Ms. Brown claims that both she and her anonymous funders should be immune from suspicion, criticism, or concern, as to
— what their true motives and intentions are;
— what their past actions towards unions are;
— how they may benefit financially should Ms. Brown achieve their goals, etc.
CAMPBELL BROWN: “Oh, hey, American people… you don’t need to know the individuals and groups funding our efforts to ‘reform’ education… Just trust on this—they’re all really super, wonderful noble, well-intentioned folks and organizations who really care about the educations of poor and middle class children. Again, just trust us. They’re donating millions to our gropu with no ulterior motive at all, and won’t stand to benefit from any of our reform efforts. That’s all you need to know, and that’s all we’re going to tell you. You don’t really need to know any of their actual names. Really… you don’t.”
That’s patently absurd.
If you want to listen to the Skelos tapes, go here
( 00:21 – 00:51 )
http://wxxinews.org/post/revealing-recorded-conversations-form-part-prosecutions-case-skelos-trial
( 00:21 – 00:51 )
—————————————–
DEAN SKELOS: “I’m going into the city, meeting
with some billionaires … on school tax credit stuff – ”
ADAM SKELOS: “Who are you meeting with?
DEAN SKELOS: ” Campbell Brown.”
ADAM SKELOS: “Ohhh… ”
DEAN SKELOS: “Okay.”
ADAM SKELOS: “Any financial … people?”
DEAN SKELOS: “Yeah, you know the … uhh …
the reporter, former reporter (Campbell Brown)
… a whole bunch of them (i.e. billionaire charter promoters)
and I’m having lunch with a bunch of them.
Then I’m going to – ”
ADAM SKELOS: “Dad, you’ve gotta …
you’ve gotta take these names down for me.”
DEAN SKELOS: (laughin) “I got ’em all. I got ’em.”
ADAM SKELOS: “All right.”
———————————————–
Go here for the article and to listen to
above tape excerpt:
http://wxxinews.org/post/revealing-recorded-conversations-form-part-prosecutions-case-skelos-trial
There were more Perry Mason moments during the Colbert show.
In the middle of the interview, Brown makes a quite damning contradiction. I call attention to her use of the pronouns “we” and “our”.
Watch the interview again at, paying attention to the following:
http://jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com/2014/08/campbell-brown-lame.html
Pay attention to these two snippets:
(NOTE: CAPITALS for “WE” in the first, and for “OUR” in the second clip, … are mine, JACK)
—————————————————————————————-
00:55 – 01:05
CAMPBELL BROWN: “First, let me just correct something you said. WE (Campbell & the other behind-the-scenes leaders of “Parents for Educational Justice”) are not filing this lawsuit. Seven parents who have kids in public schools in New York state are bringing this lawsuit.”
—————————————————————————————-
Now, here come Brown’s slip-up
—————————————————————————————-
03:47 – 03:52
CAMPBELL BROWN: “Can I just mention that some of OUR plaintiffs are out here tonight, too (she gestures to the audience). They’re very happy to be here.”
—————————————————————————————-
Whoa, whoa, whoa… hold on here, Campbell. Three minutes ago, you said that “we”— your group “Parents for Educational Justice”— were not filing the lawsuit, as in that it’s not “our” lawsuit; it’s the plaintiff parents’ lawsuit, and that you’re just giving them a little help. Suddenly, you’re referring to those same plaintiff parents as “our plaintiffs.”
Woopsie-daisy!
Again, notice Brown doesn’t say “the” plaintiffs, as in “the plaintiffs to whom our group is lending support.” She says, “our.” If only Colbert had been quick enough to catch her on that.
Campbell Brown was hoping for a heart-warming, Oprah-show-like cut-away to those minority children plaintiffs sitting in the audience.
No such luck.
However, her attempt to effect that cut-away backfired on Brown as she let loose with the slip-up just described.
SOUTHBRONX TEACHER was also questioning why the parents are not allowed to speak to journalists:
http://www.southbronxschool.com/2014/08/campbell-brown-exposed-by-stephen.html
He offers the follow-up questions that Colbert could have asked Brown when she said it was the parents’ lawsuit, not her group’s lawsuit:
——————————————-
“Are the parents being paid or reimbursed any expenses incurred while in the midst of this lawsuit?
“Are food and hotels and travel being reimbursed by the law firm, Campbell Brown, or PEJ? These questions are important.
“Did these parents seek out PEJ on their own, or were they sought out?
“If they were sought out how many have volunteered and/or have been employed by Students First? We do know that the lead plaintiff, Keoni Wright was employed by Michelle Rhee’s group STUDENTS FIRST at one time.
“Campbell even shares that the law firm, Kirkland Ellis, is representing the parents pro bono, but how did these parents know to seek out this particular law firm?
“But as I am watching this I am wondering to myself, why is Campbell the one being interviewed?
“Why not the parents from Rochester who ‘handled’ themselves so well with Glen Beck? (NOTE: they didn’t come off very well… you can watch this here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJZDrpwi8TQ )
“In fact how did two families from Rochester know to seek out the above NYC law firm?
“(Union agitators) are trying to silence debate? How many people has Campbell blocked (#blockedbycampbellbrown )on Twitter? Blocked from multiple Facebook pages?
“But if the parents should have a role in this debate, and no one is denying that, then why then is Campbell the face and voice of the parents?
“Why not let the parents speak freely?”
————————
Again, here’s the link to South Bronx Teacher’s blog:
http://www.southbronxschool.com/2014/08/campbell-brown-exposed-by-stephen.html
—————–
They’re all big babies there. Several years ago, one of the editors emailed me to ask why I was always leaving such negative comments! They were hammered by opposition so badly in the public comment section that they purposefully discontinued the practice. It’s always been a joke, but much more fun when we could leave comments to refute their wild and ridiculous claims. In doing a search on their site using my full name, all the articles come up that I’ve commented on in the past, yet the comments are not there….
Michael needs to start a competing newsletter asap. Los Angeles used to have 3 newspapers, and today 1. With the demise of the LA Report aligning with L.A. Times there is only bad news ahead.
CA needs help! And we need Michael to bond with other journalists to make this happen!
How can we all band together to create a Los Angeles newsletter and help Michael move forward on this? Diane, can you help but together a web site so people can donate to support this? Thanks