Torlakson’s California Charter Law ‘Action Team’ Has a Troubling Tilt
Thomas Ultican / Tultican
California’s lame-duck Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Torlakson, has formed an Action Team to review laws governing charter schools. Six of the thirteen Action Team members work for the destroy public education (DPE) movement. Ninety percent of the state’s students attend public schools yet 23% of the Action Team are charter school management executives. Also, 23% of the team are graduates of Eli Broad’s unaccredited school administrators’ academy.
Torlakson is quoted in the announcement,
“In the past few years, we have updated virtually our entire K–12 education system. Now it’s time to look at the key laws governing charter schools, which have not been significantly changed in 26 years, to see how they can be modernized to better meet the needs of all public school students, including those who attend charter schools.”
This statement is malarkey. The original 1992 law capped charters growth at 100 schools statewide with no more than 10 in any one district. In 1998, Assembly Bill (AB) 544 expanded the statewide cap to 250 and allowed for an additional 100 charters each year thereafter. In 2000, Proposition 39, which was advertised as a means to pass school bonds, had a little-noticed provision that mandated charter school co-location with public schools. Legislation enacted in 2002 created the Charter Schools Facilities Program, which authorizes bond financing for new charter school buildings. A 2004 EdSource paper stated, “Since the passage of Senate Bill 1448—the Charter Schools Act of 1992—more than 30 other laws have addressed the operation, oversight, or funding of charter schools.”
“Aren’t charter schools better quality than public schools?”
I have often heard this question from many otherwise well-informed people. It indicates a victory for marketing when this destructive myth persists.
The Executive Director of Network for Public Education (NPE), Carol Burris, spent a year studying California’s charter schools. In her 50-page finalized report called “CHARTERS AND CONSEQUENCES: An Investigative Series,” she wrote,
“The majority of charter vs public studies indicate that overall achievement of charter schools is the same Continue reading: Torlakson’s California Charter Law ‘Action Team’ Has a Troubling Tilt
