"After this weekend, I'm surprised you or anyone would ask about this instead of Black lives mattering and the racial justice our country so desperately needs." - Tanya Ortiz Franklin, June 1, 2020
In late spring of 2020, the country was at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and the economy was collapsing under the weight of the crisis. To help struggling small businesses, Congress had passed the Payroll Protection Program, which provided loans to local businesses with the promise of forgiveness if recipients used the money to keep their employees. While public schools were not eligible for this money, charter schools were considered to be businesses and were given access. Local schools like Palisades Charter High School dipped into the trough even as they made plans to lay off employees.
Before writing an article about charter schools and PPP funds, I reached out to candidates who had just advanced to the general election and asked for their opinions ABOUT? BE SPECIFIC. Not only did Board District 7's Tanya Ortiz Franklin not respond to these questions, she instead responded by admonishing me for even asking them. Ignoring the fact that I had just published an article about the state of race relations in America that included a discussion about the murder of George Floyd, she wrote about her surprise that I would ask about anything other than "Black lives mattering and the racial justice our country so desperately needs."
While stopping police violence against people of color is a crucial component of advancing racial justice, it is far from the only issue confronting BIPOC communities. If one accepts the premise that education is the great equalizer, then fully supported public schools are essential to achieving Dr. King's Dream. As an LAUSD School Board Member, Ortiz-Franklin has the ability to ensure that neighborhood schools are given the support that they need, but this requires standing up to the charter school industry that paid for her campaign.
In South L.A. charter schools have proliferated the area, draining students from neighborhood public schools with long histories of serving the area. Many of these charter schools took PPP funds, while local businesses struggled to get their share, exacerbating the crisis for these BIPOC communities. With the deck stacked against it, Pio Pico Middle School has been informed by the district that it will be closed. The campus will be used instead by the Girls Academic Leadership Academy (GALA), Dr. Michelle King School for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.
What has Tanya Ortiz-Franklin done to promote racial equality for the students at Pio Pico Middle School?
Also in South Los Angeles, the LAUSD put forth a plan to evict the students of Orville Wright STEAM Magnet, 60% of whom are black or African American, from their newly renovated campus. The charter school proposed to take its place, WISH Charter, has a student body that is significantly whiter. WISH Charter also owes the district $424,326.51, 90% of which would go directly to the public school where it was co-located. On April 27, 2020, the WISH Charter Schools organization was provided with $1-2M in PPP funds while Wright did not receive any.
What has Tanya Ortiz-Franklin done to promote racial equality for the students at Orville Wright STEAM Magnet?
In the Valley, High Tech Los Angeles Middle School provides an example of how charter schools have re-segregated publicly funded schools. This school is currently co-located on the campus of Van Nuys Middle School, where 8.5% of the students are white. On the same campus, High Tech has a student body where 54.9% of the students identify as being white. Additionally, 91.3% of the students at Van Nuys are socioeconomically disadvantaged, with .4% being homeless. Only 45.1% of the student body at the charter school are socioeconomically disadvantaged with 0% being homeless.
What has Tanya Ortiz-Franklin done to promote racial equality for the students at Van Nuys Middle School?
Declaring that Black Lives Matter should be more than a campaign slogan, but a North Star, directing policy at all levels of government, including the school board. Racial equality can only be achieved by attacking injustice at all levels. Is Ortiz-Franklin willing to do that even when it conflicts with the needs of the charter school industry? Maybe Black Lives Matter was just a convenient campaign message to be discarded the day after Election Day.
Carl Petersen is a parent advocate for students with special education needs and public education. He is an elected member of the Northridge East Neighborhood Council and serves as the Education Chair. 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.
