Bill Raden of Capitol & Main has a sharp analysis of the recommendations from Superintendent Tony Thurmond’s Charter School Task Force.
Plus, public school advocate David Tokofsky explains why Measure EE—which was supposed to raise $500 million annually for the schoolsof Los Angeles—failed.
With allies like L.A.’s neoliberal supe Beutner running the Yes on EE campaign, who needs enemies? Beutner’s biggest blunder, according to Tokofsky, came last year when he and his pro-charter allies on the board torpedoed the efforts by board members Dr. George McKenna and Scott Schmerelson to get the tax on the November, 2018 midterms ballot, when polling suggested that a larger, more liberal turnout would have made it a shoo-in.
Beutner compounded that error by not only scheduling EE for June’s low-turnout, single-measure special election but by bunglinga last-minute language change that effectively translated as millions of dollars worth of free publicity for the measure’s opponents — anti-taxers like the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The general reaction to Beutner’s behavior regarding the parcel tax has lead to a rather obvious conclusion……he didn’t want it to pass!!!!! However, due to major public support for teachers as witnessed during the January strike, he had to “go along” with approving the parcel tax that just failed. But his move to change the language without the board’s knowledge all but killed any chance for passage. Now is the time for the LAUSD board to hold him accountable for this fiasco…..which cost LAUSD millions of dollars.
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Tokofsky knows what he’s talking about. The reason EE wasn’t on the November ballot was that Melvoin and Beutner didn’t want to raise any funds, so they tried to put it off for two years, long enough to take the wind out of any potential ballot measure’s sails. Then we went on strike. We went on strike because they hired Beutner as superintendent. We need Austin Beutner fired post haste.
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John Deasy made LAUSD look like a joke with the iPad scam and ongoing MiSiS student data system crises. The district is not trustworthy. Shady Board Member Nick Melvoin is still excluding the public from meetings to plan a portfolio district sneak attack. That doesn’t instill trust in the public. Nick needs to crawl out from under his rock or resign. And fire Beutner. We need a public school district that works for, not against, the public.
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yup yup to Educator and LeftCoast Teacher
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