A reader called “Artsmart” called on Californians to contact Governor Newsom.
Artsmart wrote:
Very important charter accountability bill is on Gavin Newsom’s desk. “Right now sitting on Gov. Newsom’s desk is AB1604 (Bonta). This bill will tighten loopholes on the selling of charter school properties. AB1604 is important as it will capture public dollars that should be returned to the state but instead end up in the pockets of charter school operators. Wanna read more about this scam? Check this out- https://medium.com/…/the-charter-school-real-estate…
Public school families in Los Angeles need to call the Governor and tell him to sign this bill by October 14!!!
Just a heads up, we should be aware that billionaire political donors like Reed Hastings (he owns Netflix and LOVES charters) will be putting their thumbs on the scale. Of course, the usual suspect, the California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) wants this bill to die. Let’s fix it by pushing the Governor to sign the AB1604.
Phone number and email below. I am going to put a script/template as the first comment. Do this today!
CALL Governor Newsom
916-445-2841
EMAIL
https://www.gov.ca.gov/contact/
Choose “education” in the drop-down menu.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I sent that email yesterday and added a few comments of my own about the fact that publicly funded private schools (charters/vouchers) should not be allowed to ignore democratically legislated laws that govern the public schools, laws that came about over decades to hold those public schools accountable with no secrets allowed, to protect children from abuse, and to protect teachers from being taken advantage of and bullied.
Letting publicly funded charters and vouchers to operate under a veil of secrecy only encourages the wrong kind of greedy individuals, charter owners and managers and voucher crooks, to commit fraud, cheat, lie, abuse children, take advantage of teachers, all under a cloak of secrecy that real public schools are not allowed to get away with.
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Thanks for sharing Diane, I copied this info from the Parents Supporting Teachers (Padres Apoyando a Maestros) Facebook group. They are great source of info regarding public education.
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It appears, unfortunately, that Governor Newsom vetoed CA AB1604 yesterday. https://legiscan.com/CA/bill/AB1604/2023
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Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. I assume he’s running for President in 2028 and he doesn’t want to alienate any of the billionaires who support charters.
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That is my assessment too. The Tech Bros are powerful here.
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Yes, it does show that he vetoed the bill yesterday, Sat. Oct 7. It’s interesting that he did it the day after the PST post was published as mentioned by ArtsMart. He probably wanted to shut down the negative publicity he was getting due to Reed Hasting’s donations. This will not be forgotten as the move to expose charters as profit making industries is moving ahead full speed in the LAUSD community. The outcome of the March LAUSD board elections will be crucial in establishing that money does not automatically buy you a free ticket. Newsom took a calculated risk in siding with Hastings. It might be his biggest mistake.
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We will keep the CCSA on the run and keep the LAUSD Board next year with hard work and solidarity among unions. The Labor Movement is clear and bright eyed after a long night’s sleep. Democrats in office must open their eyes to that fact.
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I just looked at the vote on this Bill. This is an absolute outrage. 46 Democrats vote yea and 18 Repubs voted nay. 16 Dems were absent. Not one Dem voted against it, so Newsom voted with the Republicans. I’m calling my reps today and demanding an explanation. https://legiscan.com/CA/rollcall/AB1604/id/1354648
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Here’s Newsom’s justification for the veto: “I am returning bill 1604 without my signature.
The bill would make changes to the Charter School Facility Grant program (CSFGP) administered by the California School Finance Authority (CSFA) with regard to required admissions preferences, requirements for related parties, declaring nonprofit status, and how charter school properties are sold and leased.
The California State Auditor’s report from earlier this year showed that the CSFGP program was being administered in a manner consistent with the law. It also showed that charter schools that receive the CSFGP grant funds closed less often and were located in areas that needed additional classroom space. Unfortunately, provisions of this bill could have unintended consequences, including increasing facility costs or limiting financing options for charter schools. Furthermore, the potential benefits of the bill are limited and do not outweigh the potential risks to charter school facilities.
Finally, while the report did find areas for improved transparency, those areas can and should be addressed administratively by the CSFA through the regulatory process rather than by legislations.
For those reasons, I cannot sign this bill.”
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Very disappointing, but not surprising. What possible justification could Newsom have for this veto? I just sent an email to Newsom, letting him know how disappointed I am.
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Perhaps this is an aside, but perhaps not…. I live in a tiny rural community in the mountains of Southern California. Our local monthly paper, “Mountain Lifestyle”, usually is all about our trees changing colors and community Halloween celebrations at this time of year. However, on page 9 in this October 2023 edition of the paper ( https://online.fliphtml5.com/dkgst/krmr/?fbclid=IwAR3zkdKGSxeLpvQEs9xodPX442lo9zqQv0t_Kl4Q3rdldKjD6H6xVZutV-0#p=9 ), I was surprised to find a copy of Senator Mike Morrell’s September 8 (updated 9/11/23), 2023, opinion article from the Epoch Times entitled “Defending Freedom” (https://www.theepochtimes.com/opinion/defending-freedom-5486797). Prior to this article’s re-publication in my very local press, I had not read Morrell’s brief defense of privatizing education in the United States for the sake of reinstating a, “federalist approach to education [which] nourished hearts and minds, formed habits and principles, and created good citizens” that existed (according to Morrell) prior to widespread public education in this country. It is chilling to me how subtle is Morrell’s mentioning of education tucked as it is among lofty, historic quotes about how, “in the Constitution, […] certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people” and “Our most precious rights—life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness—are endowed by the Creator, not by the government.” Equally chilling is the fact that this article – so brief in length yet long in need for real reading comprehension – should appear so innocuously tucked into my tiny local press. Any thoughts?
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Mountain maiden made:
Here is what you should know about the “federalist approach” to education. In the early days of the Republic, there were no free schools except charity schools and church schools. There were few schools that admitted black pupils. Girls education stopped early because they did not “need one.” The education a child received depended on what their parents could pay. Many children got none at all. The public school was a brilliant invention.
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Thank you!
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Hi Diane – thanks for all you do! Note that the medium link in this post is broken – is it possible for you to republish? Thank you
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Connie,
Governor Newsom vetoed the bill so it’s too late to do anything. The bill would have clarified that the property and material of charter schools purchased with public funds belong to the public, not the charter operator.
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