Co-location isn't the only threat public schools face from charters. Five years ago, a group of parents in Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles formed Eastside Padres to fight off a KIPP charter being built next to their public schools. With their "no excuses" philosophy, KIPP charter schools have a particularly bad track record of social justice violations. After watching the predatory practices of several charter schools that had moved into their neighborhood, the Eastside Padres decided to fight back. Fortunately, they successfully stopped that KIPP charter, but Cudahy families have not been as lucky. The Cudahy City Council recently approved the construction of a new KIPP facility, despite strong opposition from the community, including serious environmental concerns. Considering the amount of money the charter lobby spends to influence our politicians and elections, it is not too surprising that local politicians often greenlight charters against the wishes of their constituents.
I don't want charter school parents to feel attacked. When my kids were little, I felt like I was lucky if I remembered to put my pants on in the morning, let alone figuring out how to navigate the minefield of school choice. I don't think anyone picks a school for their child thinking, "I really want to harm other kids." But we cannot keep ignoring the fact that the simple choice of where to send our children to school can have a huge ripple effect on our communities. We cannot teach children to be kind, caring, and aware of diversity when we are literally invading and weakening BIPOC children's schools.
My big hope is that we can start working together to make education better for all of the kids in our neighborhoods - not just the lucky few who are selected by lottery. To my fellow white parents, especially, please consider sending your child to a local public school. Ignore Great Schools, which was founded with charter money specifically to seed doubt in our local neighborhood schools. Join the Integrated Schools community and listen to podcasts like Nice White Parents or Season 2 of The Promise. Instead of creating our own schools, imagine if we pooled all of our resources and worked hard together to support and strengthen our neighborhood schools. Imagine providing exceptional learning opportunities for every single child.
Charter proponents have long pushed a narrative about our public schools failing, but maybe we need to reframe that discussion and realize that we are the ones who are failing our public schools. We have been shamefully underfunding them for years - especially here in California where we spend close to $8,500 less annually per student than New York City. I am encouraged that President-elect Biden has committed to reigning in charter failure and fraud, and has appointed public school educator Miguel Cardona as Secretary of Education. If we truly want to build an education system that works for everyone, the answer is not privately run charter schools. The only true solution is fully-funded, equitable public education.
Carl Petersen is a parent, an advocate for students with special education needs, an elected member of the Northridge East Neighborhood Council, a member of the LAUSD's CAC, and was a Green Party candidate in LAUSD's District 2 School Board race. During the campaign, the Network for Public Education (NPE) Action endorsed him, and Dr. Diane Ravitch called him a "strong supporter of public schools." For links to his blogs, please visit www.ChangeTheLAUSD.com. Opinions are his own.
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