Jackie Goldberg was sworn in to her new office as representative for District 5 on the Los Angeles school board, and she hit the ground running.
She criticized co-locations, when charters take space in an existing public school, especially when charters are given preferential treatment.
Goldberg’s concerns arose minutes after the board began moving through its agenda. The item was $16 million to prepare space for charters operating on up to 79 district campuses. In all, about 11% of campuses host charters, according to the California Charter Schools Assn. Charters enroll nearly one in five district students.
Goldberg noticed that some of the money would pay for computers and wanted to know if the host school would have comparable technology.
“I have a school that lost its computer lab and the charter school went in there and put in a computer lab,” which it used to recruit students, Goldberg said during the meeting. “That’s crazy.”
Goldberg declined to name the school.
Another board member, George McKenna, raised similar points. And board member Richard Vladovic asserted that this sharing of campuses is “real bad for kids.”
More surprising were comments from two board members elected with substantial support from charter backers.
Nick Melvoin said it was difficult for staff and families at a district-run school to see a charter move in with fresh paint and new furniture on only the charter portion of the campus. He suggested that both parts of the campus should get upgrades…
Goldberg also raised questions about district bond funds being used to help build new facilities for charter schools when declining enrollment was already resulting in empty seats at both traditional and charter schools…
Even before Goldberg could get to it, staff withdrew a third charter school grant from consideration — at least for Tuesday.
Her supporters were thrilled.
“OMG,” texted parent activist Sara Roos. “It’s electric in here.”
The public schools, which enroll 80% of the district’s children, have a forceful advocate on the board.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Please tell Ms. Goldberg to clone herself and send a copy to infiltrate Oakland’s billionaire-bought school board. ASAP. One of our proposed co-locations is pushing district support staff into a closet, literally. It’s like something out of Animal Farm. All schools are equal, but some (charters) are more equal than others.
the parasite killing the host
Jackie is going where no board member ever dared to go. The threat of attacks by CCSA(CA Charter School Association) resulting in millions poured into campaigns to oust any board member who wasn’t a charter champion was enough to keep critics at bay. Now, the political landscape has changed with a new governor and state superintendent of public education. Add the Los Angeles teacher strike and now Jackie on the board, and the scene is now set for a complete change of direction. Even board members Melvoin and Garcia had to present a more nuanced stance.
I’ve always wondered about the legality of using bond funds for charter schools. That’s not what I voted for.
It sounds like taxation without representation.
It is – try going to a charter school board meeting.
In reading the school board minutes and the newspapers during the controversy over the building of the school I teach, I often had to consider adjectives to describe the feeling of the meeting. Parent Sara Roos gave me the best one: “electric.” When people are heard, their feelings about their neighborhood schools comes across loud and clear.
People really care about schools as an extension of their community. This is how it should be.
“Goldberg declined to name the school.”
Why would she decline?
I see way too much not naming names in these sorts of things. Hey if you gonna bitch about something everyone should know exactly what you are bitching about. Cojonesless?
Not cajonesless; smart.
Why wouldn’t she name the school”
To highlight the fact that collocation itself is the problem instead of making one example of collocation the problem, to avoid getting bogged down in details and fight the big fight, to avoid giving her opponents a chance to fix a small problem in order to make it seem like they want to fix big problems… Just spitballing. I don’t know for sure. She’s really smart, I know that.
Cajones = Boxes
Cojones = balls as in testicles
The administration of the named school would suffer immensely once Beutner discovered who had snitched. It’s career suicide to buck the system.
“The mass of men [and women] serves the state [education powers that be] thus, not as men mainly, but as machines, with their bodies. They are the standing army, and the militia, jailors, constables, posse comitatus, [administrators and teachers], etc. In most cases there is no free exercise whatever of the judgment or of the moral sense; but they put themselves on a level with wood and earth and stones; and wooden men can perhaps be manufactured that will serve the purpose as well. Such command no more respect than men of straw or a lump of dirt.”- Henry David Thoreau [1817-1862], American author and philosopher [my additions]
I can’t wait to watch the board meeting replay on Sunday morning! Go Jackie! She’s so knowledgeable and insightful. Always, with good reason, skeptical of LA Times education coverage, I have a feeling Jackie was even more incisive than was reported. For example, (and Howard Blume is a great reporter but he has bosses who love charters) the article failed to note that “a classroom with unused space” might be a lab or serve serve another useful purpose even though it’s not a “class”. Also, a lot of the article’s attention was focused on charter apologists’ excuses for allowing collocation instead of the problems associated with competing schools located together. Fresh paint and new furniture are not solutions to those problems. …Finally, a big shoutout to Sara Roos.
News flash: Mayor Lightfoot making good on campaign promises; entire Chicago Public School Board resigned today at her direction. She will have to make appointments, however (hopefully great ones–e.g., Troy LaRaviere), until the State G.A. moves on elected school board bill (& I think it wouldn’t go into effect until at least 2021). Correct me if I’ve gotten any of this wrong.
Chicago needs a Goldberg clone, as well.