L.A. Teachers’ Union Challenges Charter School Lobby
In a full-page advertisement in the Sunday October 23, 2016 edition of the Los Angeles Times, the union representing Los Angeles teachers, challenged the California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) to a “public debate on key educational issues relating to equity, access and accountability.” United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) also posted the challenge in Spanish in Hoy and La Opinion.
The advertisement, written as an open letter to parents, attacks CCSA for “indefensible tactics, such as trying to shield charters from financial accountability and lobbying to defeat a bill protecting charter students from unfair expulsion.”
According to Alex Caputo-Pearl, UTLA President. “We believe it is time for the community and parents to hear CCSA explain why they oppose financial transparency, student equity and access, open meeting laws and a democratically elected oversight body in schools that are funded by taxpayers. While charter schools use taxpayer money, they are privately run. This has led to documented cases of financial malfeasance, self-dealing and profiteering.”
Groups associated with the California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) are pouring money into legislative campaigns trying to elect a pro-charter majority in California. According to California’s Secretary of State pro-charter forces spent more than $3 million on contested races. More than $1 million is being used to influence voters in just one state senatorial district. According to Colin Miller, acting Senior Vice President for Government Affairs at the CCSA, the group’s top legislative priority is to make it easier to open new charter schools and expand existing schools.
With support from private philanthropy, the number of charter schools in the L.A. Unified school district has exploded to 225, the most in any American school system, attracting about 16% of enrollment. Many educators in traditional schools worry that this expansion could force L.A. Unified into bankruptcy, hurting public school students.
CCSA is a lobbying organization for the charter industry. UTLA charges that it L.A. Teachers' Union Challenges Charter School Lobby | Huffington Post:
