Who Elected the California Charter School Association?
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 CONTINUE READING: Who Elected the California Charter School Association?
