Robert Skeels was a public education advocate in Los Angeles who decided to become a lawyer to fight the powerful corporate charter industry. After receiving his BA in classical civilizations at UCLA, Skeels spent years as an activist, inspired by Paulo Freire, then earned his law degree in 2019. This is the only instance to my knowledge where a charter critic decided that he had to get a law degree to fight the charter industry.
As a part-time associate at a law firm in Los Angeles, he has won two cases against the powerful and well-funded charter industry.
My first win against a corporate charter school was a year ago as third chair in a suit to overturn a wrongful expulsion of a student of color. The Partnerships to Uplift Communities (“PUC”) charter chain (of convicted felon Ref Rodriguez fame) violated that student’s due process rights. Violated isn’t a strong enough word for what they did. PUC unilaterally changed the charges at the appeals hearing and branded the child as a terrorist in his permanent record. Under the tutelage of the brilliant partners at the law firm I was a part-timer at the time (I am currently transitioning to full time there), plus sage advice from @DrPrestonGreen, we built a strong case.
Skeels’ second victory came just days ago, when he CONTINUE READING: Robert Skeels Beats Charter Industry in Court—Twice | Diane Ravitch's blog