The Real Carpetbaggers in LAUSD’s District 2
If the picture on the front of the latest Monica Garcia flyer to hit your mailbox looks familiar, it is because it was the same one that the California Charter School Association (CCSA) used in its unethical campaign against Bennett Kayser. However, this time instead of falsely accusing Kayser of trying to stop Latino children from attending schools in white neighborhoods, they are claiming that “every child deserves the same level of educational funding no matter who they are or where they live.” (emphasis mine) This is just the latest example of how the CCSA and their pawn Garcia really do not care about reducing the achievement gap for the students of District 2.
As much as the CCSA likes to blame poor results on tenured teachers, they ignore the “evident correlation” that exists “between high free and reduced lunch populations and lower scores on standardized tests”. Contrary to the CCSA’s assertion, students from these areas do not need “the same level of educational funding”; they need more! Instead of wasting scarce educational dollars on charters that enrich their administrators, students in District 2 need programs that specifically target the effects of poverty so that they have the same chance of upward mobility. Diverting money to failing charters further reduces opportunities for our students, but the CCSA still fights to keep them open. Do they care at all about the students in District 2?
In District 4, CCSA affiliated groups are using $1 million of Dick Riordan’s money to convince voters that Steve Zimmer is unfit for re-election, claiming that he orchestrated the $1.3 billion iPad scandal and protected child molesters. As a member of the Board when these events occurred, it is fair for them to question Zimmer’s involvement. However, to do so fairly, ALL Board members, including Monica Garcia, must The Real Carpetbaggers in LAUSD’s District 2: