Bill Raden of Capital & Main reports that the charter industry and its lobby are steaming mad at State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, who actually wants to increase charter accountability.
The California Charter Schools Association has consistently fought accountability and transparency. No matter how many scandals and outright embezzlement, the charter lobby wants no regulation or oversight.
The fact that charter law reform has dominated this summer’s Sacramento legislative session can be chalked up to Reclaim Our Schools Los Angeles (ROSLA), the undersung coalition that laid the foundation for the wide-ranging political victories scored by United Teachers Los Angeles in January’s L.A. teachers strike. The charter task force itself came out of a concession won by UTLA’s strategy of bargaining for the “common good” that went far beyond the scope of a typical labor agreement. Which makes Building the Power to Reclaim Our Schools, ROSLA’s just-released, blow-by-blow case study of its community-based organizing effort, this week’s must-read for activists across the progressive spectrum as they gird for coming battles over reforms necessary to turn back the ultimate threat to public education — California’s manufactured, post-Proposition 13 austerity.
The case study’s most important takeaway? That there’s strength in numbers. “Labor groups are very powerful,” said Cesar Castrejon, a lead parent organizer with coalition member Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment. “And they have a lot of resources. So when they use those resources to create spaces where they can amplify and lift up community voices, it creates this sense of unity that gives the community the ability to flex its power. That’s why we were so successful.”
As my favorite author says, “We are many, they are the (corrupt) few”.
The Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment may want to take a look at the education materials the Frameworks Institute pushes. They’ve self-appointed to “craft a reframing” and to “redirect thinking” on the topic of education reform so that the public’s more receptive to it. The tab, Education Budgets and Taxes (it’s recommended to call reform, remodel instead), informs that their messaging uses, “values and metaphors to further communication about teachers and teachers unions”. The materials show cartoon figures and the title employs the use of the word “swamp”.
Bill and Melinda are listed in the tab, “Partners….” The biggest Frameworks sponsor appears to be the MacArthur Foundation, promoters of digital learning.
Not sure whether it is the case here, but Democrats have been known to put on a good 🐕 and 🐎 show and I don’t think I’d rule it out just yet.
Mr. Thurmond has my complete support backed by my 55 years in public education. Anyone who can drive a stake through the heart of the charter “industry” gets a gold star from me.
Note that the earlier Capital & Main article about Ann O’Leary’s influence has been updated with new information from the California Teachers Association:
https://capitalandmain.com/why-a-charter-school-bill-lost-its-bite-0718