Part 4: Californians stand up to charter abuse and the challenges ahead
The shine is off the charter school movement. Freedom from regulation, the sine qua non of the charter world, has resulted too often in troubled schools, taxpayer fleecing and outright fraud. Charters have become material for late-night comedians. That is never a good sign—just ask the proponents of the Common Core.
The greatest blow to charter momentum, however, was delivered by the NAACP. When delegates’ voted for a moratorium on new charters, it unleashed the fury of the charterphiles. Peter Cunningham’s Education Post blogged, “The NAACP Was Founded by White People and It Still Isn’t Looking Out for Black Families”, accusing the premier Civil Rights organization of being “morally anemic.” And yet, despite the vitriol and critique, the NAACP Board of Directors stood fast, supported its delegates, and issued a strong statement calling for charter reform.
The passage of Question 2 in Massachusetts, which would lift the cap on charters, once seemed a sure thing. Now support has plummeted. The ballot measure is down by 11 points, having lost support among Democrats, especially from the progressive wing.
The problems with loosely regulated charters can no longer be brushed aside.
In the past three posts of our NPE series on California charters, I highlighted some of the serious problems that exist in a state with weak governing laws, a powerful lobby propped up by billionaires, and a Governor who consistently vetoes bills aimed at charter reform.
Governor Brown, who is usually progressive, has a blind spot when it comes to charters. The Governor’s enthusiastic fundraising efforts on behalf of the two charters he started in Oakland came under scrutiny in the Los Angeles Times . It is also well known that his sister, Kathleen Lynn Brown, is a partner at Manatt, Phelps, and Phillips, which has several clients tied to charter schools, including the Charter School GrowthFund.
As a result, the problems with charters in the state bear an eerie resemblance to the those found in far more conservative states. As I spoke Part 4: Californians stand up to charter abuse and the challenges ahead - Network For Public Education:
