School Choice Creates Duplication of Services - which results in money being spent twice for the same thing (Part 2 of 2)

Let's be real: If RVC is successful, they will take their children from our school district, reducing the overall budget. While there will be fewer children to educate, our tax dollars will be paying for RVC to duplicate services already done in house in our District (by contracting with for-profit entities such as EdTec). Think about the people at the District office who manage payroll, and the janitors and librarians who work the school sites. If the budget is reduced by 5-10%, will we ask those folks to reduce their work hours and pay by 5-10%? 

In nearby Sebastopol, where there are a ton of charters competing with the public schools, according to the Press Democrat, "Since 2000, district enrollment has fallen from 1,262 to 508 students this school year — a 60 percent decline. In 2013, there were 650 students. Educational options have grown in Sebastopol and elsewhere in Sonoma County in recent years, leaving school districts facing competition for students and the state funding that comes with them." That district has had to make many tough choices, including closing school sites.

Kids leaving their neighborhood public school and enrolling in charters has a huge impact on District finances.

The parents in one charter in Sebastopol tout their incredible rate of parental giving (read: parents who can afford to give $), resulting in a $3 million foundation and the purchase of an 18 acre piece of land for their new campus (link here). Let us all pause and grasp that those parents are supporting their children's school of choice, and not the public schools, which are tasked with teaching each and every child which come in the door. This could result in a "charter bubble" according to this article by noted academic, Bruce D. Baker.

It is delusional to believe, and a falsehood to state, that taking their children out of RVSD will have no negative impact on our District's finances. 

It's simple math, people. 

The obligation to provide an education to all young Americans is written in most state's constitutions, including California's. 

As Jeff Bryant says in this article, "In the run up to School Choice Week, Jeb Bush declared choice to be 'one of our most cherished principles.'

Unfortunately for Bush, the nation’s foundational documents don’t say a whole lot about “choice.” What they do say a lot about is equality and justice."

Can't we do better than to fall under the spell of these conservative privatizers?

Let's unite and work for the good of all children in our community!

After 19 years of unilaterally pushing their agenda, Manor and all of RVSD are more divided than ever

As the Department of Education is one step away from approving the Ross Valley Charter petition, and as they plan their $60 per person fundraiser/celebration, let us all pause and reflect upon the cost thus far to our community.

At the hearing on December 2, many MAP parents stood up and spoke about the superiority of MAP to K5, and indeed, TO EVERY OTHER TEACHER AND SCHOOL IN THE DISTRICT. 

This comes as no surprise, as one MAP teacher has notoriously stood up at Board meetings for years and asserted how much she and her MAP colleagues "deserve," because they "work harder than any other teacher in the district." This is in a public meeting, people.

After 19 years of documented discrimination (against many FSACC families), they are now touting their "flourishing partnership," while several FSACC parents spoke negatively about the Manor K5 teachers and program at the State Hearing.

In retrospect, this appears to have been part of a long-term strategy which MAP/RVC leaders have been executing for years: 

Andrea Sumits (Yahoo! in 2011)—"In my humble opinion, [a charter school] would be a far smarter longterm investment of our Measure A money to invest in an RVSD-owned asset."

Jason Morrison in 2014—"My perspective is that as much of our collective bandwidth as possible should be spend trying to understand the viability of MAP becoming a charter school."

Conn Hickey (petition's appendix in 2015)—"He was a district Trustee for almost seven years between 2003 and 2011, during which time he became the board expert on school finance, renewed a parcel tax, and helped shape and pass the Measure A bond measure in 2010. He is currently a member the District’s Measure A Citizen Oversight Committee."*

Your disregard for others in this community has not gone unnoticed, and it will not be easily forgotten, RVC. Your drive to"win" has come with considerable losses to all of us and all of our children. 

We will be watching you, RVC. 

*Sounds like we have a fox guarding the henhouse!

ACLU Voices "Grave Reservations" About RVCS & MAP Discrimination

Click here to read the letter from the ACLU in which they express "grave reservations" about the proposed Ross Valley Charter School. The ACLU based its opinion on "publicly available documents," not on promises, rumors and assurances. Why was the ACLU concerned?

The MAP program has a "troubling history of ... discrimination." Click here to read about the history of this group, here to read their own statements about their plan not to help negotiate a peace at Manor, but to organize and become a charter to avoid district regulation, and here to read the discrimination report. 

As the ACLU says, "Rather than staying with Manor Elementary to make the MAP program more welcoming and responsive to the needs of English Language Learner students and students with disabilities, through the admission and enrollment procedures instituted by the District Superintendent, it appears that the leaders of MAP wish to export the exact program (and its students and teachers) that an independent investigator found was operating in a discriminatory manner into a Charter School which will necessarily have greater autonomy from District oversight (their emphasis)."

Note how MAP/RVC leaders are now discounting the ACLU with statements such as, "I normally like the ACLU, but they're wrong on this one." In other words, it's great for the ACLU to step in and help end discrimination and work for our constitutional rights in other places, but NOT IN MY BACKYARD! We're fine here - these aren't the droids you're looking for. 

Discrimination is real, it is happening here, and we need to work on fixing it and healing our own community.

It makes no sense to continue to rely on promises and assurances from the MAP/RVC community, for as the ACLU says, "many of the leaders of the MAP program are now apparently proponents of the charter school."

Can't we just have ONE GREAT FAIRFAX SCHOOL FOR FAIRFAX KIDS?

Charter Schools are Hugely Controversial Nationally

It is surprising that MAP/RVC believed that their charter petition would be unopposed by our community. It shows a lack of understanding of the national conversation about charters, which are highly controversial and divisive. The turning over of taxpayer dollars to self-appointed charter boards and/or for-profit companies represents a huge policy shift. The influence of titans of industry (Koch Brothers, Charles Schwab, Fisher Family (the Gap), Bush Family, Bill Gates, Eli Broad & the Waltons) on our educational system and their financial support of charters is unprecedented. The assumption that a business model can successfully be applied to the education of our children is a gamble taking place across our nation.

For example, the US Secretary of Ed, and charter school champion, Arne Duncan, former "CEO" of Chicago Public Schools (click here to read his bio) has no experience as a teacher or educator. His recently announced resignation has caused reflection on his controversial tenure. 

According to Education Opportunity Network, the day he announced his stepping down,  "Duncan rattled the education policy world with news of a controversial grant of $249 million ($157 the first year) to the charter school industry. This announcement was controversial because, as The Washington Post reports, an audit by his department’s own inspector general found 'that the agency has done a poor job of overseeing federal dollars sent to charter schools.'"

Click here to read the article in its entirety. 

Charter schools divide communities - whether in Fairfax, Chicago or New Orleans, and it is incumbent upon us to follow the money to  try to understand why these business leaders are investing so much in privatizing our public system. Click here to read more about privatization on former U.S. Secretary of Education, teacher, and noted education historian, Dr. Diane Ravitch's blog, and here to read more about how the billionaire class is trying to rule our schools. Is nothing sacred??

MAP's Status as an 'Alternative Program of Choice' has been Fraught for over 10 years

When current Superintendent Rick Bagley came aboard 18 months ago, he realized that RVSD, and/or MAP Leadership had not submitted their paperwork to the state since their inception 19+ years ago. The below document from the Manor Work Group shows that then RVSD Trustees (including current Ross Valley Charter Board members Conn Hickey and Sharon Sagar) felt MAP did not need to file such paperwork, as they were a school based program. Thus, Dr. Bagley changed MAP's official designation to match the ways MAP has been operating (as a Manor-based program) for 18 of its 19 years. 

The requirements for an "alternative program of choice" go beyond simply filling out a waiver. CA Department of Education requires an annual report to evaluate how the program is doing. It makes sense to report on how an alternative program is doing. Why did MAP leaders fail to assess their program for 18 years?!!! (Click here to read the California Department of Education (CDE) requirements for annual reports for an alternative program of choice) 

Click here to see the agenda item that details the votes and discussion around changing this designation. The item CLEARLY states that MAP was out of compliance.  "And since the program has not been in compliance with the statutory reporting requirements of this designation for the past seventeen years, it is questionable whether the program's current designation exists at all."

Perhaps some of the confusion was that MAP was not held accountable for this waiver and reporting requirements by the RVSD trustees as far back as 2005.  Check out the image of notes taken from a Manor Community Meeting in February 2005, and the response from RVSD, which was governed in part by then Trustees, and current Ross Valley Charter Board members, Conn Hickey and Sharon Sagar.  These notes detail the REASONS that MAP did not report but is in direct contradiction to the CDE requirements.  It states clearly on the CDE website:  The school district must annually evaluate such schools and programs.

Can we trust MAP and RVC leaders to run a charter when they were unable to comply with the requirements of running their program? 

We Can't Afford This!

Our cash-strapped District continues to spend a disproportionate amount of money and time on a program which benefits a small number of children (less than 10%). If you think your child is not being negatively impacted by the antics of a few, read on.

In the past three years, RVSD has spent over $112,000 dollars on legal fees related to MAP. This does NOT include fees spent on the current charter which will most likely add another $40,000 to $50,000 to the total.  This is money which cannot be spent on teacher salaries, librarians, classroom aids, shade structures, increased recess supervision, etc. Click here to see the legal fees spent through February 2015. 

In addition to the monetary cost to the district (did we say we can't afford this?), MAP/RVC has soaked up a disproportionate amount of staff time!  A legal review of MAP's policies began in 2012.  RVSD legal council determined that MAP's practice of gender balancing in enrollment, and the self-governance of MAP needed to end. MAP has been on the agenda for an average of SIX (out of 12) Board meetings a year, and in 2013, a whopping TEN meetings, including a special MAP/RVSD workshop in October where MAP leaders fought for gender balancing and to retain their district program status. During this meeting the inequities in ELL/IEP were discussed yet MAP leaders did absolutely NOTHING to recruit from these protected classes of children. They claim now it was the district's fault and responsibility to recruit but given that the MAP Board created their enrollment policies for the prior 17 years, it seems disingenuous.   Click here to see all the agenda items since 2012. 

WE CANNOT AFFORD THIS!  That money could be spent on all of our children instead of wasted on legal fees for a group of people that time and time again have refused to do what is best for ALL of our children.  And the bills will continue to skyrocket if the charter is approved.  Take action and email Mary Jane Burke and MCOE to urge them to deny the charter!

What's With All the Subterfuge, MAP/RVC?

We've noticed a trend; MAP/RVC folks not being completely honest about their affiliations.

We first noticed this when RVC Board member and Treasurer, Conn Hickey, wrote a letter to the IJ about the charter (click here, scroll half way down) , and only identified himself as a "Former RVSD Trustee." 

Then, he and Sharon Sagar, also an RVC Board member, plus all of the MAP teachers (who are petitioners for the Ross Valley Charter), were listed on RVSD Board candidate Susie Bergen's endorsements page (click here) without disclosing their MAP/RVC affiliation.

Finally, the Totally Awesome Really Really Fun Run, which was billed as a fundraiser for San Anselmo Parks and Rec, was also partially a fundraiser for Ross Valley Charter, though we found no mention of this except in the email to the right.

What gives?

Information on Candidates for RVSD Board

Not sure who to vote for in the upcoming Ross Valley School Board election? Here's an article from the Marin IJ about the 5 candidates.

Interestingly, four of the five candidates believe that our current RVSD leadership is on the right track. New candidates Mark Reagan and Amy Blanchard seemed to agree with the voting records of incumbents Anne Capron and Annelise Bauer.

According to the IJ, the fifth candidate, Susie Bergen, said, "the district failed to support the MAP program sufficiently leaving MAP teachers 'no choice but to charter out.'"

Why Should I Care?

If you don't have kids, or your kids aren't at Manor, you may think this doesn't impact you, so, why should you care?

1. Ross Valley Charter will be using taxpayer dollars without the oversight of our democratically elected school Board. They will be overseen by their own, self-appointed Board. Click here to read why the state of Washington Supreme Court ruled charters (like Ross Valley Charter) unconstitutional.

2. Bullis, Bullis, & Bullis (those are three different articles for you to read). Once the door has been opened by approval at any level, the charter school can keep returning for more of what it "deserves," which, by law, is "reasonably equivalent" space. In Los Altos, they've been dealing with Bullis Charter School, founded by tech execs, which has cost their District millions, resulted in school closures, teacher layoffs, protracted legal battles, and less money for ALL the district kids. As one parent in Los Altos District said, "no good deed goes unpunished." We don't need an expensive charter in Ross Valley!

3. They've discriminated. Click here to read a bit about that. If you believe that discrimination, especially in public education, is wrong, then understand the 10+ year history of discrimination in MAP, which they will take with them with less oversight in a charter school.

4. Many of the same people who oversaw MAP when it was discriminatory are involved in the Ross Valley Charter, including current members of the MAP leadership council (click here to see the current MLC), all the MAP Teachers, former RVSD Trustees Conn Hickey and Sharon Sagar. Can we trust them now to do the right thing?

5. If the locate at Red Hill, the traffic impacts will be horrible! 

"No Good Deed Goes Unpunished"

Read the timeline here of litigation related to Bullis Charter School in Los Altos. Sit down before you read it - dizziness will ensue!

Read here about Los Altos School District parents' reaction to learning that hundreds of their students will be displaced and a school site closed to accommodate Bullis, which educates the children of Silicon Valley tech execs.

We must defeat the Ross Valley Charter, because, if approved, it could drain millions of dollars over the next years from our local school district, displace students, and further divide our Ross Valley community.

Our Ross Valley Schools are great, and deserve our support!!