Who Elected the California Charter School Association?

Summary

The content reveals the behind-the-scenes influence of the California Charter School Association (CCSA) on the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) through its close relationship with board member Nick Melvoin, who has been accused of favoring charter schools over public schools in policy decisions and facilities allocations.

Abstract

The article suggests that LAUSD District 4 Board Member Nick Melvoin has shown a preference for private meetings with charter school representatives over public engagement, as evidenced by a leaked agenda. It highlights a draft resolution, allegedly requested by Melvoin, that would make it easier for charter schools to obtain LAUSD facilities, which was crafted by the CCSA. The piece also criticizes Melvoin for outsourcing policy-making to the CCSA and for employing former CCSA staffers, indicating a conflict of interest. The CCSA's involvement in drafting a "school performance framework" is presented as a strategy to rank schools in a manner that could favor charter schools, potentially disadvantaging public schools with higher numbers of English learners or special education students. The article implies that the CCSA's influence over school board decisions could lead to public resources being diverted to charter schools, which are portrayed as competitors to public education. The author warns that the CCSA intends to spend heavily to influence the 2020 school board elections, which could shift control back to those who prioritize charter schools over public schools.

Opinions

The author believes that Nick Melvoin's actions and the CCSA's influence are detrimental to public education and favor charter schools.
There is a perceived lack of transparency and accountability in the way Melvoin and the CCSA interact and make decisions affecting public schools.
The article suggests that the CCSA, a private organization, has undue influence over public education policy through its financial backing and close ties with certain school board members.
The draft resolution crafted by the CCSA is seen as a way to allocate facilities based on performance and demand, which could disadvantage public schools with more diverse and challenging student populations.
The author is critical of the "school performance framework," viewing it as a manipulative tool that could lead to a biased ranking system for schools.
The author expresses concern that the CCSA's political spending could impact the outcome of the 2020 school board elections, potentially reversing gains made by pro-public education board members.
The article implies that the CCSA's actions are part of a broader agenda to privatize education at the expense of the majority of students who attend public schools.

Who Elected the California Charter School Association?

“We ask that you please do not forward or otherwise share this document.”

- CCSA Staffer Cassy Horton

While Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) District 4 Board Member Nick Melvoin has laughed off the idea of holding public meetings in the evening when more stakeholders can attend, an agenda secured by Michael Kohlhaas dot org shows that Melvoin is perfectly willing to reserve that time for members of the charter school industry. After a 9:00 AM “special” (i.e. no general public comment allowed) LAUSD Board meeting and a 1:00 PM session of the Committee of the Whole, Melvoin and his Senior Advisor and Director of Community Engagement Allison Holdorff Polhill met with three staffers from the California Charter School Association (CCSA) and representatives from three charter school chains. The subject of this meeting was an attempt to make it easier for charter schools to obtain LAUSD facilities, “framed as a draft resolution for Nick’s consideration” but actually “explicitly” requested by Melvoin.

The fact that Melvoin, who was elected to represent the 80% of students who attend LAUSD schools, outsourced the writing of a resolution to the CCSA should not be surprising. After all, this is the same board member who spearheaded the effort to allow charter schools to write the rules on how they would be overseen by the district. He also has at least two former CCSA staffers, Chief of Staff Sarah Angel and Director of Strategy and Community Engagement Clayton Rosa, on his payroll. However, the confidential emails exposed by Michael Kohlhaas dot org show just how deeply the lobbying group for the charter industry has integrated itself into the operations of the public schools they are supposed to be competing against.

These confidential emails also add some explanation as to why the charter industry-backed board members pushed through a “school performance framework” before losing their majority due to Ref Rodriguez’ felony conviction. While touted as a way to provide parents with data about schools within the district, a recent presentation of the beta version of the web site showed that this data is heavily editorialized and will be manipulated in order to create a yelp-style ranking of schools. True to form, the parents invited to participate in focus groups were not selected from the committees who advise the district but from Melvoin’s mailing lists.

Luckily for the 80% of students who attend district-run schools, it appears that Rodriguez’ conviction short-circuited the ability to turn this resolution into official policy. However, the disclosure of the efforts should serve as a red flag to voters in the 2020 elections.

Like the schools that they represent, the CCSA is a private organization with no accountability to the public. Their power comes from their ability to throw money at elected representatives through legalized bribery and they have made it clear that they intend to spend heavily to defeat Scott Schmerleson, George McKenna, and Jackie Goldberg next year. In fact, if the rumors are true, Melvoin’s Chief of Staff is poised to run against Schmerelson. A defeat for any of the pro-public education board members would give control of the school board back to the charter industry and, therefore, the ability to enrich their own schools at the expense of the majority who attend public schools.

Carl Petersen is a parent and special education advocate, elected member of the Northridge East Neighborhood Council and was a Green Party candidate in LAUSD’s District 2 School Board race. During the campaign, he was endorsed by Network for Public Education (NPE) Action and Dr. Diane Ravitch called him a “strong supporter of public schools.” His past blogs can be found at www.ChangeTheLAUSD.com. Opinions are his own.