Re-Elect Bennett Kayser for School Board 2015

ABOUT - Re-Elect Bennett Kayser for School Board 2015:



Re-Elect Bennett Kayser for School Board 2015

 

Bennett Kayser & Wife Peggy Kayser

Bennett Kayser is a prominent member of the community and has lived  in the Echo Park/Silver Lake area for over 40 years. He and his wife, Peggy Kayser, have raised two children, who attended local schools, and graduated from John Marshall High School.  Bennett completed various degrees in biology and zoology from California State Long Beach and later a degree in Biology from UCLA. He attained a Lifetime California Teaching Credential in which he worked in the field of education as both teacher and  administrator.  Bennett taught 7th Grade Science and Health at both Thomas Starr King and Washington Irving Middle Schools and was a Director of Information Technology for the Pasadena Unified School District.  In addition, he was both a middle school teacher and the Technology Coordinator for LAUSD’s Independent Studies program, City of Angels School.

Bennett was always active in the community.  From 1997 to 1999, he represented the 13th City Council District as a member of the Los Angeles Charter Reform Commission rewriting the City’s Charter. He was the driving force for the inclusion of Neighborhood Councils in the new City Charter, to give people more local control and resources in their neighborhoods as they see fit. Bennett was also responsible for including a section in the City Charter that provides equal benefits for domestic partners and married couples, as well as a Living Wage for city employees and contractors.

Being active in the community never limited Bennett, he was also a member of the Echo Park Historical Society, the Citizen’s Committee to Save Elysian Park, the Echo Park Improvement Association, the Echo Park Security Association and the Echo Park Chamber of Commerce.  Bennett cares greatly about historic preservation and conservation and is a passionate and tireless advocate for education, social justice and community participation.

Bennett was first elected to the LAUSD School Board in the fall of 2012 and is honored to serve the communities of Atwater Village, City Terrace, Eagle Rock, Echo Park, El Sereno Glassell Park, Highland Park, Los Feliz, Mt. Washington, Silver Lake, as well as the cities of Bell, Maywood, Vernon, Walnut Park, South Gate, Cudahy, Huntington Park and South Los Angeles.ABOUT - Re-Elect Bennett Kayser for School Board 2015:

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NPE and the Flying Fickle Finger of Fate | Reclaim Reform

NPE and the Flying Fickle Finger of Fate | Reclaim Reform:

NPE and the Flying Fickle Finger of Fate

Posted on April 24, 2015by Ken Previti

The Flying Fickle Finger of Fate has interfered with my being able to attend the Network for Public Education Conference in Chicago on April 25 & 26.

I paid my fee, had my panel accepted, and then…

“Curse you, Flying Fickle Finger of Fate!” said I. (You may not be terribly upset by this news, but I am mightily miffed.)

If Fate has not kept you away, please walk, run, swim, cycle, drive, scooter, bus, choo-choo, fly or materialize to THE education conference filled with those who know the power and the promise of public education in America. (Details HERE.)

If for whatever reason Fate has denied you the opportunity to attend the conference –

“You can STILL watch the event unfold LIVE online, thanks to Vincent Precht at SchoolhouseLive.org. Just head over to http://www.networkforpubliceducation.org on Saturday morning at 8:30 am Central time and tune in. Almost like being there!”

“Hah! Take THAT, you Flying Fickle Finger of Fate! I will watch the NPE Conference LIVE online, and my mind will soar.”
(Pass the message along to family and friends.)

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NPE and the Flying Fickle Finger of Fate | Reclaim Reform:

UPDATE: Randi Weingarten addresses the Pearson shareholder meeting - YouTube

Randi Weingarten addresses the Pearson shareholder meeting - YouTube:

UPDATE

Randi Weingarten addresses the Pearson shareholder meeting

On April 25, 2015, AFT President Randi Weingarten attended Pearson's annual shareholder meeting to deliver AFT's petition and demand that Pearson look out for more than just its bottom line.

Weingarten, UK Union Leaders, Parents Tell Pearson to Consider Social Impact of Products 30,000-Plus Sign Petition and Join Global Social Media Effort to Hold Company Accountable

LONDON—American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, joined by other union leaders, parents and education advocates from the United States and the United Kingdom, demanded today that Pearson measure the social, emotional and academic impact of its education practices in the United States, the United Kingdom and developing nations. Attending Pearson's annual shareholder meeting, Weingarten challenged Pearson to match its actions to its leadership’s rhetoric about being a socially responsible company: “While I recognize Pearson has a duty to its shareholders to be profitable, my question centers on another obligation: to conduct business in a way that befits the world’s largest education company—that is, in the words of its president, John Fallon, where every product must be measured by its ‘social impact.’ “First, a recent case in New Jersey showed that Pearson played a role in a chain of events that included monitoring student social media accounts. More than 30,000 people have signed a petition demanding that Pearson end this practice. We ask that Pearson listen to these parents and community members: Stop spying on our kids, and immediately release any contract language and processes related to ‘test security’ for full public review. “Second, the obsession with testing today isn’t informing teaching and learning—it’s undermining them. We ask that Pearson cease all lobbying and campaign contributions to politicians that are driving this obsession. “Third, children across the world should have access to free high-quality education. We ask that Pearson stop charging the poorest people in the world up to 30 percent of their income to send just one of their children to school. “Pearson, which holds itself out as a pro-education company, is at the same time associated in the United States with gag orders, spying and high-stakes testing, and outside the United States with so-called low-fee schools. How do you square that?” Because of those stakes, parents are taking matters into their own hands—not letting a company get between them and their kids. Christine McGoey, a parent who has children in New Jersey’s public schools, spoke at a press conference following the shareholder meeting, saying, “Testing is becoming the centerpiece of American education, and parents are not happy about it.” The AFT, the United Kingdom’s National Union of Teachers and other organizations also sent a letter to Pearson laying out their concerns. In addition, teachers, parents and activists from Australia to South Africa to the United States supported the petition and other actions in London through a social media campaign using the hashtag #TellPearson. ###

Follow AFT President Randi Weingarten: http://twitter.com/rweingarten

Thompson: Kristof Points the Way Toward Ending the Education Wars - This Week In Education:

This Week In Education: Thompson: Kristof Points the Way Toward Ending the Education Wars:

Thompson: Kristof Points the Way Toward Ending the Education Wars

The New York Times’ Nick Kristof, in Beyond Education Wars, does what Babe Ruth supposedly did, and more. He points to where he'll hit a home run and then delivers a grand slam. Kristof articulates the best single suggestion for improving schools, and he offers the wisest political message I’ve heard.

Although Kristof still identifies himself as a reformer, he wonders whether the reform movement has peaked. We’ve seen a dozen years of an idealistic movement where “armies of college graduates joined Teach for America. Zillionaires invested in charter schools. Liberals and conservatives, holding their noses and agreeing on nothing else, cooperated to proclaim education the civil rights issue of our time.”

But, now, the education reform “brawls have left everyone battered and bloodied, from reformers to teachers unions.” Kristof observes that “the zillionaires are bruised. The idealists are dispirited. … The Common Core curriculum is now an orphan, with politicians vigorously denying paternity." Those expensive campaigns have left K-12 education "an exhausted, bloodsoaked battlefield. It’s Agincourt, the day after.”

Kristof provides three reasons why we should, “Refocus some reformist passions on early childhood.” He starts with the scientific evidence that “early childhood is a crucial period when the brain is most malleable, when interventions are most cost-effective for at-risk kids.” He writes:

Growing evidence suggests what does work to break the poverty cycle: Start early in life, and coach parents to stimulate their children. Randomized controlled trials, the gold standard of evidence, have shown this with programs like Nurse-Family Partnership,Reach Out and Read, and high-quality preschool. These kinds of interventions typically produce cognitive gains that last a few years and then fade — but, more important, alsoproduce better life outcomes, such as less crime, fewer teenage pregnancies, higher high school graduation rates, and higher incomes.

Second, Kristof notes that reformers picked “the low-hanging fruit” of the K-12 world.

In other words, even charter proponents will have to tackle some of the challenges faced by traditional neighborhood schools if they hope to remain in the school improvement game. At the risk of contradicting Kristof’s conciliatory message, I find it shocking that charter operators are just now This Week In Education: Thompson: Kristof Points the Way Toward Ending the Education Wars:

Duncan Denies that Opt Outers are being held at Gitmo #NPEChicago

Duncan Denies that Opt Outers are being held at Gitmo

Can't Make it to the

NPE Conference In Chicago this Weekend?

You Can "Virtually" Be There!!!

THE NETWORK FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION NATIONAL CONFERENCE

I know not everyone can make it to Chicago this weekend -- but you can still be part of the action via the Livestream that will broadcast on as many as three channels. All the keynotes and many of the workshops will be available live, starting Saturday at 8:30 am central time at   www.schoolhouselive.org

 Please tweet with the hashtag ‪#‎NPEChicago‬ and help us trend #1 again like we did twice last year.

LIVE FROM CHICAGO, APRIL 25-26

THE NETWORK FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION NATIONAL CONFERENCE

CHECK OUT ALL THREE CHANNELS!

http://www.schoolhouselive.org/

Schooling in the Ownership Society: The real Common Core curriculum decision makers

Schooling in the Ownership Society: The real Common Core curriculum decision makers:

The real Common Core curriculum decision makers

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (NASDAQ:HMHC) is a global learning company dedicated to changing people’s lives by fostering passionate, curious learners. -- Business Wire

If you are wondering about how Common Core curriculum decisions are made and how agendas are set, this news might interest you.



From Edweek:

A major portion of Scholastic Corp.'s educational technology and services business will be purchased by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for $575 million in cash, in an agreement Scholastic announced today.

Scholastic's ed-tech business has been operating at a loss. In the last quarter reported, the company's ed-tech revenue declined 4 percent, to $34.3 million, while Scholastic's overall sales increased 2 percent in that quarter, according to results announced by the company on March 26. The ed-tech segment's operating loss increased by $1.7 million to a loss of $12.4 million, compared to an operating loss of $10.7 million in the prior year. 

The company attributed the decline mostly to lower math product sales and lower consulting revenues in its International Center for Leadership in Education unit. Sales of core literacy publishing product were essentially flat compared to the prior year; however, both new business and expansion sales of READ 180® stages, along with technology support services, were higher in the current quarter as compared to the prior year period, the company said.

Boston-based Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is buying up- everything in sight related to Common Core. They've already acquired Channel One and Curiosityville. HMH is Schooling in the Ownership Society: The real Common Core curriculum decision makers:

Multiple Choices: How are charter schools funded? | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Multiple Choices: How are charter schools funded? | Philadelphia Public School Notebook:

Multiple Choices: How are charter schools funded?

 

Photo: Charles Mostoller

What makes charter school funding a point of contention?

With education funds scarce in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the debate over how charter schools get their money has never been more polarized.

The stakes are huge: In the 2013-14 school year, 176 charter schools educated 129,000 students statewide, at a cost to Pennsylvania school districts of more than $1.2 billion.

About half those schools and students are located in Philadelphia; they account for 30 percent of the Philadelphia School District’s operating budget.

What are charter schools and how do they get resources?

Charter schools are independently run public schools paid for by tax dollars, authorized and primarily funded by the school districts from which their students come. Districts send charters a per-student payment, based on a state-established formula.

Pennsylvania’s charter school law passed in 1997. Many lawmakers agree that its funding formula is out of date and needs to be revamped, but consensus on how to do that has been hard to achieve.

Charters contend they do not get their fair share compared to districts, because they do not get the same per pupil payments as their home school system.

Districts question some of the payouts going to charters – particularly for special education and cyber charters (online schools where students get home-based instruction).

Mostly, they argue that the state’s system for paying for charters - subtracting from district resources without adding much new state aid to support this separate educational system – is wreaking havoc on their own finances.

How does the formula work?

The formula that allocates money to charters is based on each school district’s per-student expenses for the prior year. So payments vary widely depending on where a student lives.

Each district has a rate for regular education students and one for special education students.

Statewide, for non-special education students, payments range from $6,600 to more than $17,000 per student. Special education amounts are much greater, from $13,000 per child to more than $43,000.

In the state’s formula setting charter funding, certain district expenditures are left out, on the theory that charters don’t incur those costs. These include adult education, mandated district services for nonpublic schools, transportation (districts handle transportation for all students), and facilities construction, including debt service.

Federal aid, which accounts for 13 percent of Philadelphia’s budget, is also excluded, because charters can apply for it in most categories if their students qualify. However, some charter operators say this and some other exclusions are unfair.

The exclusions form the basis of charter school supporters’ contention that charters only get about 70 cents on the dollar compared to what traditional schools get front the state. As a result, this argument goes, they are underfunded while also saving taxpayer dollars.

What is the districts' complaint with the formula?

District supporters contend that the exclusions reflect the real difference between school district expenses and those for which charters are responsible.

Former Philadelphia District Chief Financial Officer Michael Masch has calculated, for example, that in Philadelphia, average charter per-student expenditures and district per-student expenditures are almost identical, if only operating costs are counted. Some charter supporters dispute his figures.

Masch said in a recent interview that the state charter funding formula is relatively accurate in reflecting district per-student operating expenses. The exceptions, he said, are payments to cyber charters and for special education students. The formula, he said, “is actually written pretty well” and “better than in a lot of other states.”

Charter schools are underfunded, Masch said, because state funding for both charters and school districts is inadequate – not because of the charter funding formula. He called it a “tragedy” that districts and charters are squabbling instead of joining forces to get more state dollars.

Even if charter funding, with some exceptions, accurately reflects charters’ expenditures, Masch said, it still presents districts with a huge financial drain. Each time a student leaves, the district cannot cut its expenses by the amount it must send to the charter; it takes longer to adjust building and personnel expenses to reflect the lower enrollment.

Think of it this way:  If two students leave a class with 30 students to transfer to a charter, the class still needs the same teacher paid the same way to serve the remaining 28 students. Any savings on supplies, say, don't equal the amount of money that needs to be sent.

Here's another pain point in Philadelphia: About 30 percent of students in charters in the city never attended district schools.  They were home-schooled or went to a non-public school. The district needs to pay the charter to educate them just the same way it does for a student who did attend a traditional district school.

Why do charters feel shortchanged?

Many charter supporters say the funding formula shortchanges them. They say that even when some parts of the formula, like special education, favor charters, it just makes up for their being underfunded elsewhere.

David Hardy, founder and head of Boys’ Latin of Philadelphia Charter School, asks, "Why is a charter school kid worth 30 percent less in the state of Pennsylvania? The district Multiple Choices: How are charter schools funded? | Philadelphia Public School Notebook:

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Deb Meier

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Deb Meier:

Deb Meier

Special thanks to my friend Deb Meier for spending time with our group of local educators Wednesday and my doc students last night. Discussion topics ranged from Habits of Mind, to misuse of testing, to early childhood play, to the small schools movement. Deb is in town for AERA and for the upcoming NPE Conference where she is participating in three panel discussions on Saturday. You can keep up with Deb at deborahmeier.com/

Jersey Jazzman: Tests Don't Fund Schools

Jersey Jazzman: Tests Don't Fund Schools:

Tests Don't Fund Schools

 So let me get this straight: rich white kids not taking enough tests is the civil rights issue of our time?


John White, as reformy a guy as you'll ever find, seems to think so (all emphases in this post are mine):

John White, state superintendent of Louisiana, took that argument further, calling state testing "an absolutely essential element of assuring the civil rights of children in America." 

White said broad testing is the only way to know which students are learning and which are not. Testing, he said, is the only way to know the truth of the "serious injustice" to low-income, minority or handicapped children that do not received a good education.  

"We should examine how and how much testing we do," White said last week. 

"But we should always be conscious that we still have a country and a society that is rife with inequity and injustices, and until the time when we can assure every family of an equal opportunity to achieve an excellent education, we must commit to an annual measurement of our delivery of an education so that we can lay bare the honest truth as to whether or not we succeeded in educating every child." 

He added: "The value of testing, at its essence, is that it tells the truth and that is a civil rights issue first and foremost and should not be forgotten by anyone," he said.

So does New York's reformiest testing maven, Merryl Tisch:

It used to be easy to ignore the most vulnerable students. Without assessments, it was easy to ignore the achievement gap for African-American and Latino students. Without an objective measure of their progress, it was easy to deny special education students and English Language Learners the extra resources they need. Obviously we still need to do more for those students, but now is not the time to put blinders back on.

And, of course, here in New Jersey, our reliably reformy education commission, David Hespe, thinks opting out of tests hurts our "struggling" schools the most:

Hespe said the tests are vital to efforts to deliver quality education statewide, including in currently struggling school districts, and that meddling by lawmakers risks creating a “social justice crisis in New Jersey’’ if the program is derailed.

Golly, if these three august champions of America's students believe that an expansive, intrusive, and expensive regime of noisy, biased testing is absolutely vital for making sure we provide a high-quality education for our most deserving students, who are any of us to disagree?

I mean, all three of these warriors for impoverished children and children of color know that tests are critical in their fight to ensure that kids born in disadvantage are getting adequate resources for their schools...

Aren't they?

Let's see how much person political capital White is willing to risk to get more funds to Louisiana's children:

Louisiana Education Superintendent John White is trying to split the difference between two camps in a rough budget year. He proposed an $80 million increase in public school funding Wednesday (March 4) -- less than what a task force of educators, analysts and lawmakers wanted but more than twice what Gov. Bobby Jindal proposed. 

The governor and superintendent already are at odds over the Common Core education standards, and White has accused Jindal of punishing his agency financially. 

White proposed a 1.4 percent increase in the amount the state will give local school systems for each elementary and secondary student in the fiscal year that starts July 1. On top of that, he would add $8 million for special education, vocational classes and college work undertaken by high schoolers. 

Yes, a group of actual educators and other stakeholders told White what Louisiana's schools needed... and he promptly proceeded to ignore them. He crows about a paltry 1.4%, as if he had a huge triumph and reversed Louisiana's chronic underfunding of education.

Keep in kind that Louisiana is already one of the worst school funding offenders in the nation: a large number of wealthy families send their children to private schools, and the state expends little effort to provide the necessary resources for those children who stay in the public system.

You'd think John White might spare a word or two about education underfunding in between telling poor people that more testing will save their kids' schools. 

What about Tisch? Well, she certainly talks a good game: in her famous letter responding to NY Governor Cuomo's staff, she called for another $2 billion in state education aid. The budget wound up increasing aid by $1.6 billion. Impressed?

You shouldn't be. From the Education Law Center:

The Maisto case made clear that the crucial question in this year’s budget was this: Did the State redress the failure to fulfill its constitutional obligation to fund New York schools adequately, so that all children can have the opportunity for a meaningful high school education? 

The answer, once again, is no. The FY16 budget provides a $428 million increase in Foundation Aid, against the backdrop of the cumulative $4.7 billion shortfall in Foundation Aid. The budget provides $603 million in GEA restoration, but that is still half a billion dollars short of the $1.1 billion owed the districts. Also absent was a commitment to put the Foundation Aid formula back on track to full funding. 

The overall aid increase of $1.3 billion exceeds last year’s figure, but it falls far short of what New York students are entitled to. It also fails to mitigate the severe resource cuts over the past six years. 

An analysis of the FY16 budget by noted school finance expert, Bruce Baker, a witness for the Maistostudents, shows that these eight Small City districts still face significant funding

- See more at: http://jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com/2015/04/tests-dont-fund-schools.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+JerseyJazzman+%28Jersey+Jazzman%29#sthash.U60YdFRR.dpuf

Why Aren't More School Leaders and Teachers Joining Forces to Get Rid of Destructive Policy? - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher

Why Aren't More School Leaders and Teachers Joining Forces to Get Rid of Destructive Policy? - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher:

Why Aren't More School Leaders and Teachers Joining Forces to Get Rid of Destructive Policy?

By Nancy Flanagan

I've recently been in a juicy conversation with a retired school superintendent, a popular and gifted principal who left his school, after feeling discouraged and pressured to do what he felt was wrong for students--and a teacher who has spent a great deal of her personal energy and spirit reminding parents that nobody can force their children to take standardized tests. All four of us agreed: testing children has become a national flashpoint, and what we're doing to our kids (and their teachers) is flat-out wrong.

The superintendent's grandchildren opted out of state tests in NY, along with 180,000 of their friends. The former principal now does the kind of instructional leadership that he didn't have time for when he was Tester-in-Chief. The four of us--a supe, a principal, and two teachers, parents and grandparents-- could not be more different, but all agree on this: we have royally fouled up education policy in this country, and it's getting worse.

So why aren't teachers, parents and school leaders everywhere joining forces to put a stop to the worst of it--the selling off of public resources to for-profit CMOs, teacher evaluation by test data and loss of local control over core work: curriculum, instruction, assessment?

Here's my theory--that school leaders and teachers were positioned as adversaries under the old union contract model. If there was a problem, and teachers needed somebody to blame, it was the principal or superintendent who was making them do something irrational or breathing down their neck. School leaders saw themselves as better informed and more concerned than the foremen teachers who were supposed to be carrying out their orders or vision.  If something went wrong, it happened down the line from the locus of power. There were clear lines of authority and direction.

Teachers felt unity with their colleagues, strength-in-numbers against (here comes a familiar phrase) arbitrary and capricious direction from administrators. If their principal was honest and supportive, they felt lucky--especially if they lived in a non-union state, where it was harder to organize pushback against a vindictive or incompetent leader. Hardly an ideal system.

Both administrators and teachers could make a good, substantiated case that they knew more--and even cared more--about what was right for kids. Teachers, because they spent their workdays in the company of children, with little respite. And administrators, because of their superior knowledge of policy and their decision-making experience and clout. When teachers become administrators, it's common for their colleagues to joke about "going to the dark side"--but there's nothing wrong with wanting a role where you can make a greater impact on a school and its community.

There's always been an element of power struggle between teachers and principals--even terrific examples of each. Easy-going, leadership-distributing principals get grief from teachers who want someone in the front office who will crack down on outlaw kids (and every building has a few of those). Strong, authoritative principals clash with creative, articulate teachers who challenge their rules. And--there are buildings where there is considerable respect on both sides, a sharing of values and responsibilities. If you've ever been in one of those, you'll know what a gift it is.

 In 2001, the federal government stepped in and started policy-managing things that used to be controlled in the classroom, or the district: curriculum, instruction, assessment, teacher evaluation, preparation/hiring of teaching staff, teacher retention, still more assessments--and eventually, the governance and purpose of public education. 

School leaders, who had enjoyed a certain amount of autonomy, found themselves in the same Why Aren't More School Leaders and Teachers Joining Forces to Get Rid of Destructive Policy? - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher:

Schools Matter: What are Ref Rodriguez's ties to the Gülen cult, and why is the Armenian community supporting Bennett Kayser?

Schools Matter: What are Ref Rodriguez's ties to the Gülen cult, and why is the Armenian community supporting Bennett Kayser?:

What are Ref Rodriguez's ties to the Gülen cult, and why is the Armenian community supporting Bennett Kayser?

“Review of the financial statements and accounting records noted: non-disclosure of related party transactions; failure to maintain required fund reserves; failure to appropriately apply accrual basis of accounting; lack of monitoring of cash receipts and deposits process; lack of documentation for disbursements; lack of control over journal entries, and lack of adequate training for the accounting staff.” — Los Angeles Unified School District, Office of the Inspector General

Refugio "Ref" Rodriguez is arguably as secretive as the Gülen religious cult. Secrecy isn't the only thing the two charter giants have in common. While there's no direct evidence of collaboration, there is plenty of circumstantial evidence connecting these charter conspirators.

Rodriguez's charter empire and Gülenist movement are both funded by Walmart fortune heirs. The LA School Report blog's Vanessa Romo wrote about Rodriguez's corporate charter network on January 20, 2015:

"All got their seed money from the biggest players in education reform — either the Walton Family Foundation or the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He [Ref Rodriguez] says all but a handful of PUC schools out-perform the surrounding public schools." [emphasis mine]

The same Walton Family Foundation funds the largest chain of privately managed charter schools in the United States, namely the Gülenist Movement:

"The Walton family, founder of Wal-mart, the worldwide retail giant, has donated millions of dollars to schools considered to be associated with the Gülen community." [emphasis mine]

The common thread is Walmart fortune heiress, Carrie Walton Penner. She is currently the California Charter Schools Association's (CCSA) Board Vice-Chair (term ending 6/30/2017). Her close friend Rodriguez was a CCSA Board member from 2005 to 2009. Her mutual funding of both Rodriguez's lucrative PUC corporate charter network, and the Gülen charter school network (including Magnolia charters) is undisputed.

Another strong piece of evidence is that Magnolia branches of the Gülen charter school network bloomed under Rodriguez's CCSA board tenure. No less than five Magnolia schools were opened during the Rodriguez era:

1. 2007 Magnolia Science Academy – 2 Valley (MSA-2)
2. 2008 Magnolia Science Academy – 3 Carson (MSA-3)
3. 2008 Magnolia Science Academy – 4 Venice (MSA-4)
4. 2008 Magnolia Science Academy – 5 (MSA-5)
5. 2009 Magnolia Science Academy – 6 Palms (MSA-6)

The proliferation of Gülen charter schools under Rodriguez's CCSA board term might explain why he has remained silent as to the serious charges of malfeasance against those schools. Rodriguez, who claims he wants to see "bad charters shut down," would do well to read Scott M. Folsom's sage words on the acts committed:

"Parental Choice does not give the right to parents to choose to send their kids to a bad school -- whether the school is bad because it does a crummy job of teaching students or managing the public's funds."

The fact that Rodriguez has been endorsed by long-time Gülenist supporters Monica Garcia and Caprice Young doesn't bode well for him offering any defenses. The latter is now a Gülen employee.

The unequivocal support of Los Angeles' Armenian community of Rodriguez's opponent, the Honorable Bennett Kayser, may be the most damning piece of evidence. Magnolia is tightly aligned with the Gülenist Pacifica Institute. In 2011 Armenian groups protested the organization's ties to Turkish groups denying the 1915-1918 Armenian genocide. That Ref Rodriguez andMonica Garcia are closely aligned to genocide deniers should concern voters to no end. Following is a press release announcing an Asbarez.com article discussing Kayser's broad support by Armenians.

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Vote. Give. Do. | Asbarez.com

Garen Yegparin, a journalist of Asbaraz Armeian news, wrote an excellent piece on the importance of voting, donating, and volunteering for your local candidates over the next few weeks.

Yegparin specifically writes about Bennett's race and what is at stake this Tuesday, May 19th:

"But perhaps the most subtly important LA election is for the school board’s District 5 seat. Bennett Kayser, the incumbent running for reelection placed second, and faces a very strong challenger in the runoff. Kayser’s opponent is supported with serious money from the charter school movement (specifically, the California Charter Schools Association Advocates and its various tentacles), the same people from whom the Turkish Gulen movement has benefitted as it successfully encroaches on LAUSD schools."

"Consider that when all the spending in this race is added up (by the candidates themselves and independent expenditure committees for and against the candidates) Kayser’s opponent comes out 43% ahead in dollar terms! This is very unusual. It is more commonly the incumbent that has the money edge. It speaks to how much Kayser is being targeted." 

"We should be assisting him as much as possible. Unfortunately, his district covers areas which are not home to very many Armenians, which speaks to the principled nature of his stance. So that leaves volunteering (making phone calls or walking neighborhoods) and campaign donations, both of which can be done through the Kayser’s website, www.bennett2015.com."
 

Bennett Kayser is endorsed by the Armenian National Committee of America Western Region and the Armenian Council of America.  Kayser will also carry a resolution at the next LAUSD Board Meeting recognizing the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

**Click here to read the rest of the article on Asbarez.com**

**Click here to donate to Bennett's campaign**

**Click here to volunteer for Bennett's campaign**  

Paid for by Re-Elect Bennett Kayser for School Board 2015 - General – 419 North Larchmont Blvd., #37, Los Angeles, CA 90004 – ID #1375891 – More information available at Ethics.lacity.org – Bennett2015.com – (323) 535-9930 Schools Matter: What are Ref Rodriguez's ties to the Gülen cult, and why is the Armenian community supporting Bennett Kayser?: