“Co-location” of charters inserts a charter school into the space of an existing public school, causing the public school to lose space for resource rooms, computer rooms, and other non-classroom uses. California has a law requiring public schools to make room for charters, no matter how crowded one or both schools may be.
Long plagued with bad feeling between public schools and charter schools, the elected board of the Los Angeles Unified School District will vote tomorrow on co-location policy.
MEDIA ADVISORY
For Immediate Release – September 25, 2023
Media Contact:
Alex McElvain, (630) 881-0545, cp-a.mcelvain@lausd.net
Christine Louise Mills, (213) 503-0883, christine.mills@lausd.net
Los Angeles Unified Board of Education to Vote on Creating a Charter Schools
Co-Location Policy to Mitigate Impacts Caused by Proposition 39
A long overdue resolution seeks to protect innovative programs and prevent the worst impacts of
co-locations on vulnerable students and schools.
What: The Board of Education will vote on whether to adopt Resolution 026-22/23 “Creating a Charter Schools Co-Location Policy to Mitigate Impacts Caused by Proposition 39”. The resolution authors, Board President Jackie Goldberg and Board Member Dr. Rocío Rivas, along with parents and educators, will be available for media following the event.
Who: Resolution co-authors Board President Jackie Goldberg (LAUSD District 5) and Board Member Dr. Rocío Rivas (LAUSD District 2)
When: Tuesday, September 26
· 1:00 pm Regular Board Meeting
· 3:15 pm Agenda Item will be heard
· 4:00 pm Press Availability
Approved in 2000, Proposition 39 imposed mandates on California schools based on its obligations to share space with charter schools. Co-locations—where district-led schools are required to share space with charter operated schools—have raised myriad educational, operational, safety, financial, and legal challenges. Parents, educators, and students have described how co-locations have syphoned away needed resources from neighborhood schools, such as parent centers, computer labs, and even space for electives. Many are concerned that co-locations undermine District-led initiatives to support students and schools, such as Priority Schools, Black Student Achievement Plan (BSAP) schools, and Community Schools. This resolution calls for improvements, transparency, and accountability in the charter co-location process. The lack of clear guidance from prior Boards has resulted in co-locations on numerous Priority, BSAP, and Community Schools, and “charter pipelines” that actively encourage students to leave the District for middle and high school charters on their campus. Today’s resolution will not undo any of the District’s current co-locations, but will provide guidance in the future for new co-locations, and those where a charter school moves due to growth or other material revisions.
Where: Los Angeles Unified – Boardroom, 333 S. Beaudry Ave., Los Angeles, 90017; or Live stream in English and Spanish, via lausd.org/BOE Board of Education / Board of Education Homepage (lausd.org)
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Former Gov Cuomo passed laws requiring the NYC Department of Education to either co-locate charter schools or pay rent for private space. attempts to undue the laws have not been successful, bills are submitted each year by the UFT, the teacher union. NYS has regional caps on the number of charter schools, attempts by the current governor to eliminate have not been successful.
Hello there! I am a Co-Founder of the nearly 30,000 member Parents Supporting Teacher organization in Los Angeles. I wanted to make certain that you saw this really terrible letter sent in opposition to this critical resolution.
When I read this letter sent to our School Board, I lost my mind. In it, the supporting “groups” basically claim that charter organizations are oppressed communities like our LGBTQ family and friends. They insist that holding charters accountable is the same thing as banning books like Anne Frank’s Diary. I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP. READ THE LETTER and check out the “grassroots groups” who support this unhinged line of logic. We will see these same names pouring gobs of money into our upcoming School Board Elections.
https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/August-2023-GPSN-Collective-Action-Group-Ltr-to-LAUSD-Board.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2BFSJR_8nvXXfhDAAfvHpV-7MPfZyfni8-2GVBI9wvV2J56CDCP_2Ka8o
From what I understand the charter people have booked all the board slots, so they’re the only ones who can speak.
Click to access August-2023-GPSN-Collective-Action-Group-Ltr-to-LAUSD-Board.pdf
!!!!!!!
Some of the board members in the subcommittee addressed the fact that the charter dupes sent in with their paid-for t-shirts are not going to affected by the vote and are not really the opposition, but that the CCSA and its wealthy investors are. Those board members did not listen to much of the scripted whining.
Click to access August-2023-GPSN-Collective-Action-Group-Ltr-to-LAUSD-Board.pdf
I am one of the co-founders of Parents Supporting Teachers, a nearly 30,000 public education group in LA. When I read this letter sent to our LAUSD School Board, I lost my mind. In it, the supporting “groups” basically claim that charter organizations are oppressed communities like our LGBTQ family and friends. They insist that holding charters accountable is the same thing as banning books like Anne Frank’s Diary. I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP. READ THE LETTER and check out the “grassroots groups” who support this unhinged line of logic. We will see these same names pouring gobs of money into our upcoming School Board Elections. https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/August-2023-GPSN-Collective-Action-Group-Ltr-to-LAUSD-Board.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2BFSJR_8nvXXfhDAAfvHpV-7MPfZyfni8-2GVBI9wvV2J56CDCP_2Ka8o
I wish I could find a video of Jackie Goldberg talking about Prop 39 and the well financed charter lobby on September 19. She spoke with the same reason and passion as she did against violent, extremist anti-LGBT protesters a couple months ago. I recorded it on my cable box, but that doesn’t help you. Hopefully, it will come out on youtube in a few days.
LCT, if you find the tape of Jackie discussing Prop 39, I’d love to see it.
And while we’re at it, it’s worth reprising this magnificent testimony:
Jackie Goldberg is a treasure!
She certainly is!!!!
She is a force, a skilled, experienced California legislator and school board president who cares about all students and their education.
If you join “Parents Supporting Teachers (Padres Apoyando a Maestros)” on Facebook you can see the comments LAUSD parents and teachers. The Admin of the group said “Need another reason to send an email to our School Board Members in support of protecting our public schools from charters squatting on their campuses? All of the slots to speak to the Board Resolution are taken for tomorrow and here is what is driving my rage.
When I read this letter sent to our School Board, I lost my mind. In it, the supporting “groups” basically claim that charter organizations are oppressed communities like our LGBTQ family and friends. They insist that holding charters accountable is the same thing as banning books like Anne Frank’s Diary. I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP. READ THE LETTER and check out the “grassroots groups” who support this unhinged line of logic. We will see these same names pouring gobs of money into our upcoming School Board Elections.
I feel like we are all owed an apology by these folks before the end of Yom Kippur for their attempt to equate holding charter organizations accountable to real struggles for human rights.”
❤
Keep in mind that the students in charter schools that are collocated are also being shortchanged. It’s a lose-lose.
How much are superintendents of just a handful of charter schools being paid with tax dollars? Where are the promised test score miracles? What is the point of having competing, parallel education systems limiting options and opportunities for every single one involved in the hostile, corporate takeover of the city?
The point of parallel schools was made by Paul Weyrich whose training manual is posted at Theocracy Watch.
He was White, Republican and conservative Catholic. His efforts were funded by the Koch’s. He’s the co-founder of ALEC, the religious right, Heritage Foundation (Ginni Thomas was a well paid employee) and the secretive, religious Council for National Policy.
For readers interested in levity, there’s the twitter feed of NYT Education pitchbot. A sampling of tweets, “What’s it like to be a teacher during Omicron. We don’t know any, so we asked Emily Oster,” “My children attend an elite private school. Here are my thoughts on how public schools should be run and what they should teach,” “Massive teacher shortage- new Florida law allows schools to hire manatees”
They can only hire manatees that have sworn fealty to DeDumbo.
Linda, thanks for alerting me to NYT Education pitchbot
I love this from NYT Ed. Pitchbot:
If Your Four Year Old Hasn’t Started Prepping for the SHSAT by Now, It’s Too Late
Columbia Journalism Review described the NYT Pitchbot writer as a math professor in Rochester who remains unnamed (his preference).
5-23-2022, “The Bot that Saw the Times”
Thank you, Linda! I didn’t realize there was a completely separate NYT Education pitchbot! So perfect. Love the constant references to Emily Oster, the NYT’s favorite expert on all things education-related.
In much better news:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/california-governor-signs-law-barring-schoolbook-bans-based-on-racial-gender-teachings/ar-AA1hfQcf?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=d9ef7e9e7caf42cabbedecee87b7ebe0&ei=13
Newsom for president.
We could use some new thinking.
Tony Thurmond for governor of California in 2026. Gavin Newsom for president of the United States in 2028.
I could endorse that.
The outcome of today’s vote will demonstrate what effect the tremendous effort made by local public school advocates has had on the LAUSD board. How will the three board members who were elected with charter money respond? This meeting could be historic in this respect alone. As we discovered with board member Scott Schmerelson’s last winning campaign along with Jackie Goldberg, charter money is no longer enough to assure a win.
Agree!