The school board of Antioch Unified School District in California had an extended discussion about whether to approve two new charter schools. The discussion was often heated. The district made the decision knowing that the two charters will draw away $25 million from its own public schools. The board staff urged the board to reject the charters.
It makes for interesting reading.
The lead petitioner stressed the district’s low test scores and the urgency of change.
On Wednesday, the Antioch Unified School District approved charter petitions for East Bay Tech Middle School Academy and High School Academy on 3-2 votes in a meeting that lasted more than 5-hours.
As a result, District staff anticipate losing $25 million in revenue over the next several years.
In favor was Debra Vinson, Chrystal Sawyer-White and Walter Ruehlig. Opposed were Gary Hack and Diane Gibson-Gray.
The vote came after staff recommended the Board deny the petition based on an analysis by legal council in which numerous deficiencies were identified in the petition along with concerns related to the petition and the proposed Charter School’s operations. HE also stated that that more than one of the legal grounds for denial were met. Specifically, the petition does not provide a reasonably comprehensive description of several essential charter elements and the petitioners are demonstrably unlikely to successfully implement the proposed education program.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I wonder how much Eli Broad and his gang of extremist billionaires and millionaires spent to elect that board.
Reed Hastings is mentioned as being a supporter of the charter.
When I read this, I was struck at how politicized education has become. Before the monetization of education, school boards were charged with addressing issues in the local schools. They had to work together to solve problems. They couldn’t just throw up their hands and pass the buck to some private company. If they are expecting miracles from their decision, there will not be any. Any charter that will get results will have to cherry pick students while the remaining students in public schools will suffer the consequences of disinventment. A wiser option would have been to create additional supports or programs for students within the public system to address identified problems. This would be a far more efficient and effective use of public funds instead of creating a private entity that will compete with their community schools. This board is disinvesting in its own community.
And where will the public’s tax money meant for children really go? There is no meaningful accounting required of charter schools. The GREAT CHARTER SCHOOL SCAM is so bad that the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Education has issued a report which warns that, because of their lack of financial accountability to the public “CHARTER SCHOOLS AND THEIR MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATIONS POSE A POTENTIAL RISK TO FEDERAL FUNDS, EVEN AS THEY FALL SHORT OF MEETING GOALS” because of financial fraud and the artful skimming of tax money into private pockets.
If nothing else is required of charter schools, there is one thing that must be required so that charter schools are accountable to taxpayers and inform taxpayers as to where taxpayer money is actually going when it’s given to charter schools; that one key thing is this: Charter schools must be required to file the SAME detailed, public domain financial reports under penalty of perjury that public schools file.
Charter schools will cry that this is “too burdensome” — yet public schools file such reports. What would the outcry be if public schools were “freed” of this “burden”? Why, the outcry would rattle the very heavens! So, why is it that private charter schools are allowed to get away with taking public tax money and not have to tell the public on an annual basis how those public tax dollars are spent?
Charter schools bill themselves as “public schools”, but Supreme Courts in states like New York, Washington and elsewhere are catching on to the scam and have ruled that charter schools are really private schools because they aren’t accountable to the public because they are run by private boards that aren’t elected by voters and don’t even have to file detailed reports to the public about what they’re doing with the public’s tax money…especially since genuine, unbiased data that’s not paid for by the charter school industry shows that they perform no better than less expensive truly public schools.
The California Teachers Association, the ACLU, MALDEF, and the California Taxpayers Association should immediately join together in a public information/action campaign to require charter schools to file the same, exact public domain financial reports that genuine public schools file. Compelling charter schools to file comprehensive public domain financial reports will end THE GREAT CHARTER SCHOOL SCAM.
The false bar of “proficiency” on SBAC tests is used again in Antioch as subterfuge for dividing and conquering the public good of public schools. By claiming test scores are low, the greedy rightwinger demonizes the poor and claims the funds are wasted by public institutions and services. It’s the same thing as blaming “welfare moms” to sack welfare. Note the racial makeup of the people being blamed as wastes of money.
More of the same garbage. Cut bono? This reminds me of the slavery in America. Have we learned? Do some still want slavery? Are we a slave-free country?
Are we a democracy?
How far has this country sank?
Yes.
Not fully.
Yes.
No
No, a democratic republic.
Well let’s just say we haven’t come up far enough.
Thanks, Duane.
Still think Charters = Jim Crow Laws.
VOTE!
I’m familiar with this district. Antioch public schools are seen as chaotic by many residents. Many people blame the influx of blacks from Oakland and Richmond over the last decade or so. I get the impression that Debra Vinson, a thoughtful and conscientious trustee who happens to be black, is mortified and very upset by the situation. She voted for the charters. I think she is hoping the charters will be a deus ex machina. If I could talk to her, I’d say, “Adopt a core knowledge curriculum and performance, and behavior, will improve.” But why should she listen to a single teacher? We need more education authorities to start making the case for teaching core knowledge. I really do believe it’s the best medicine for the achievement gap.
The charter lobby is strong in CA and they are organized. They campaign, write letters and meet with individual board members. They are bright and shiney. We need to educate the public !
The CA charter lobby is strong because it is supported by billionaires and all politicians are always eager for cash
and mimic their very tactics: public school advocates must become just as bright and shiney.