"Tell me who you walk with, and I'll tell you who you are."
-- Esmeralda Santiago
When Green Dot Public [SIC] Schools last sought a renewal of the charter for Locke High School in 2017, the overwhelming evidence showed that the chain had failed to achieve the promised results. Even the Charter School Industries' lobbying firm, the California Charter School Association (CCSA), recognized the failure, giving the school a Statewide Rank of one out of ten for the previous two years. The LAUSD Charter School Division graded its Student Achievement and Educational Performance a two on a four-point scale. When compared to Resident and Similar Schools Medians, "Locke reclassified [English Learners] at a lower rate", had "low graduation rates" during the past three years, and had "a high disproportionality suspension rate for African Americans and Students with Disabilities".
The school's trajectory did not provide any reason to believe the situation would improve. The Charter School Division's Student Achievement and Education Performance score for Locke was lowered from the one it achieved in 2015-16. In 2016-2017, the charter school's reclassification rate [of English learners] showed a 5.1% drop from the prior year. The graduation rate went from 61.6% in 2014-15 to 55.9% in 2015-16.
LAUSD Board Member Nick Melvoin was present for the meeting where these results were presented but the data did not affect his decision. Ignoring the proven failure to turn the school around by converting a public school into a charter, he joined the Board majority in approving the renewal allowing Green Dot to continue managing the former LAUSD school.
Given Melvoin's record, his failure to hold a charter school operator responsible for its failures is not surprising. In 2019 he defended the Charter School Division's failure to stop an executive from the Community Preparatory Academy (CPA) charter school from embezzling $3.1 million in school funds. In 2020 he joined Monica Garcia in voting to approve Prepa Tec charter school even after being told that only 3.26% of its students met state standards in math, it was $485,718 in debt, and had no cash reserves. While the Office of General Council defended the LAUSD against a lawsuit filed by the CCSA that attempted to stop the District from spending money to correct atrocious conditions that prevented disabled students, parents, and staff members from having full access to school campuses, Melvoin provided the charter school association with confidential information about lawsuits provided during closed-door LAUSD Board meetings.
LAUSD School Board candidate Dan Chang considers Melvoin's corrupt support of the Charter School Industry over the LAUSD students who he is supposed to represent to be leadership "with conviction and purpose". Showing disregard for students with moderate to severe disability, Chang "proudly" accepted Melvoin's endorsement even though he had attempted to move a Career Transition Center off of the Fairfax High School campus so he could proceed with plans to open up an exclusive new middle school. Does Chang aspire to be the type of "leader" who would displace children with disabilities to pursue a vanity project?
Showing how alike the two Charter Industry stooges are, Melvoin repeats a lie used frequently during the campaign. Despite the evidence of Green Dot's failure to improve results at Locke High School, Chang claims to have led the school's "turnaround". Even though Melvoin was made aware that the school's students were not being adequately served, he states that "Dan helped turn around Locke High School."
Worse than repeating the lie so often with the hope that the electorate will accept it as truth is the possibility that Chang (and Melvoin) actually believe it to be true. What if this false narrative is a "Mission Accomplished" moment for the candidate where he does not recognize that the students of Locke, 95.1% of whom are "socioeconomically disadvantaged", deserve better? An inability to know what success should look like should alarm all LAUSD parents.
Screenshot of coverage of George W. Bush's 'Mission Accomplished' speech
(Image by Headline News) Details DMCA
Carl Petersen is a parent advocate for public education, particularly for students with special education needs, who serves as the Education Chair for the Northridge East Neighborhood Council. As a Green Party candidate in LAUSD's District 2 School Board race, he was endorsed by Network for Public Education (NPE) Action. Dr. Diane Ravitch has called him "a valiant fighter for public schools in Los Angeles." For links to his blogs, please visit www.ChangeTheLAUSD.com. Opinions are his own.
