The California Charter School Association is a super-rich, highly political power broker in politics. It wants to control every possible seat in the state legislature so it can pursue its goal of mass privatization of public schools across the Golden State.
Consider this dirty trick: It has created an organization called the “Parent Teacher Alliance,” which endorses candidates. Thus, the candidates can say that they were endorsed by the “PTA,” even though this Parent Teacher Alliance has no affiliation with the Parent Teacher Associations of the state.
The Los Angeles School Report, whose editorial content is directed by Campbell Brown, has a story about a crucial legislative race playing out in a district where the assemblyman vacated his seat. Voters will decide tomorrow. The go-to speaker quoted in the story is Marshall Tuck, who ran and lost as the pro-charter candidate against Tom Torlakson, the state superintendent. Tuck speaks from the “reform” point of view, labeling those whom he doesn’t like as union candidates.
Here is the bottom line on spending: A rift in the Democratic Party over education policy comes into sharp relief one day before California’s primary election as a record $28 million has been spent by outside groups on state races, one-third coming from groups supporting charter schools.
There you have it: with all the issues facing the state, one-third of the $28 million spent by outside groups on state races is coming from charter advocates.
The latest example in Southern California is playing out in an open state Assembly district seat in Glendale, Burbank, La Canada Flintridge and parts of Los Angeles where an independent expenditure committee supporting charter schools has spent more than $1.2 million to back a Democratic candidate, flooding voters’ mailboxes over the past eight weeks with attack ads on a fellow Democrat supported by teachers unions…..In the 43rd Assembly District seat, being vacated by Assemblyman Mike Gatto, D-Burbank, due to term limits, an independent expenditure committee called the Parent Teacher Alliance, sponsored by the California Charter School Association Advocates, has spent $1.2 million as of Friday, state campaign finance records show. Parent Teacher Alliance is not associated with the well-known Parent Teacher Association.
Records show that donors to the CCSA Advocates Independent Expenditure Committee include Michael Bloomberg, Doris Fisher, Jim Walton and Eli Broad.
Glendale City Clerk Ardy Kassakhian has been backed by the California Teachers Association, which is considered among the most powerful lobbyists in Sacramento. Glendale City Councilwoman Laura Friedman has been endorsed by the California Charter School Association Advocates, the political arm of the CCSA. The union and education reformers have clashed over education policies like teacher tenure and the expansion of charter schools.
How touching to see that billionaires like former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Doris Fisher (of the Gap business), Jim Walton (of Walmart), and Eli Broad are deeply engaged in financing the phony “Parent Teacher Alliance.”
Here is the spending:
State campaign finance records also show the California Teachers Association’s Independent Expenditure Committee has spent $47,721 on the race: $35,791 on mailers opposing Friedman and $11,930 supporting Kassakhian.
The CCSA committee has spent $910,791 supporting Friedman and $304,355 opposing Kassakhian as of Friday, records show.
This is the score: $1.2 million assembled by the California Charter Schools Association to beat Kassakhian; $47,721 spent by the California Teachers Association to support Kassakhian. Goliath vs. David.
The fight over charter schools in California is really a fight over the future of public education in the state. Will there be public education 20 years from now, or will community schools be run by entrepreneurs and charter chains whose corporate leaders are based in other states?
If you live in the 43rd Assembly District, please vote for Ardy Kassakhian. DON’T LET THE BILLIONAIRES BUY YOUR PUBLIC SCHOOL.
They did the exact same thing in our county in California last year, and their man got elected. The mailbox was inundated daily by flyers paid for by oligarchs and corporations. The lies were rampant, an avalanche of deceit, and almost impossible for the candidate who supported the public schools to deal with.
Same thing is happening in my district in Contra Costa County, in California which always votes Democratic. The two top spenders are on Bill Dodd for Senate and Tim Grayson for Assembly. Each is a former Republican running as a Democrat. Each has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the EdVoice PAC- the same outfit that sponsored the Vergara lawsuit to eliminate teacher tenure in CA. Apparently it will be hard to resist these zombie organizations and the horde of sellouts they sponsor, who are willing to pledge their loyalty to the hedge funders over the future of our kids.
I would not be surprised to see the real PTA step in to stop the faux-group from using that abbreviation. I think it’s trademarked or something, and IIRC schools can’t use it to identify their parent-teacher organizations as such unless they join the official PTA.
When my kids’ high school PTA decided to remove itself from the national PTA, they called it a “PTO” (paret teacher organization), so I think you’re right.
This can’t be true. According to what I read on reform sites labor unions are the most powerful political actors in the country, WAY more powerful than any group of billionaires.
People say that all the time, right? “US working people are running our government- someone must seize some of this clout and give it to billionaires who have no voice”.
There’s a word for this–what is it? Oh, yes: sleazy!
Today in the echo chamber, ed reformers are evaluating the new federal rules for public schools solely and exclusively from the perspective of how they affect charter schools.
It is like public schools don’t exist, and these folks own state and federal government.
Was this thing drafted with any input from someone outside this club? I’m sick of paying people who don’t represent public schools.
http://educationnext.org/should-the-charter-sector-focus-on-expanding-and-perfecting-the-no-excuses-model/
More on CCSA’s attacks on the Armenian candidate here:
Gulenist Caprice Young lies in a Magnolia Science Academy Press Release
http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2016/06/gulenist-caprice-young-lies-in-magnolia.html
In this San Diego Union (also a Broad influenced paper) article http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/may/22/charters-eye-county-ed-board/ it reports that the CCSA is spending $300,000 to support four candidates for the San Diego County Board of Education. The incumbents have turned down six of the seven charter school petitions to over-turn local district denials since 2011. In all seven cases, they followed the advice of county staff who reviewed the petitions. That is just not good enough for the profiteers in the charter industry.
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/may/22/charters-eye-county-ed-board/ In this San Diego Union (another Broad influenced news source) article, it reports that the CCSA is spending $300,000 to pack the San Diego County Board of Education. Since 2011, the present board has voted 6 of 7 times not to overturn a district charter school denial. In all seven cases, the board followed the recommendation of staff who investigated the petition, but that is not good enough for California’s greedy charter school industry.
Ah-ha. I’ve often wondered how our inner-city school board could not only rubber stamp and support every single reform petition, but, over the years, grow their Pro Choice/Pro Reform school board members until there is now a unanimity on the subject.
Ciedie aech, it’s all about “the Benjamins.” Money talks.
Preliminary results show Ardy in the lead. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.
Gayeneh,
Wonderful news! Please let us know the outcome ASAP
http://vote.sos.ca.gov/returns/state-assembly/district/43/ 26% of the precincts in, Ardy is in the lead with 31.5% and Freidman at 28.5% just about 1,000 vote lead. Its’ close anything can happen, keep your fingers crossed
Very close now Friedman has pulled slightly ahead, it looks like the two running off in November is Ardy and Friedman.
Friedman came in first and Ardy second. They’ll run off in November. Friedman’s attack ads were plentiful and hideous. I was getting lots of her flyers in the mail, making Ardy out to be some sort of incompetent, sexist slob. There were lots of negative ads on TV also. Ardy of course didn’t have the money to adequately respond.
What Ardy has in his favor is the support of various unions (not only teachers) and the support of the local Armenian community, where he is well liked. Let’s hope there is a good get-out-the-vote effort in November.
They’re now doing the same in the race between Scott Wiener and Jane Kim in San Francisco: https://www.facebook.com/twofacedjane/about/