Schwinn resigns from Sacramento County Office of Education board
Published: Saturday, Jul. 6, 2013 - 12:00 am | Page 1B
Penny Schwinn has left after one year. XXXXX xxxxxA special election to fill her seat would cost $750,000, compared with $81,000 to appoint someone.
Penny Schwinn, a charter school advocate who won a hotly contested race for the Sacramento County Office of Education board, has stepped down after just one year.
She said she left the post because she took a new job as a Sacramento City Unified administrator, and state law prohibits school employees – except for those at charters – from sitting on the county board. Her resignation was effective Wednesday.
Schwinn won her seat last year in a fierce battle between teachers unions and charter school advocates for control of the SCOE board.
The county panel can approve independent charter schools and drew fire from labor groups after it gave the green light to a network of charter campuses that aims to serve African American students in the region.
The board will decide at its July 16 meeting whether to appoint a new board member to Schwinn's Area 5 seat or to order a special election, said SCOE spokesman Tim Herrera. Area 5 represents