Open Letter: The Fate of Public Education

Dear Friends,

I am writing to you out of great concern for education in Los Angeles.

Coming up on Tuesday, March 5th is an election that will have tremendous impact on public education in our city – and beyond.

In LAUSD Board District 4, the incumbent Steve Zimmer (a teacher and school counselor) is being challenged by Kate Anderson (a corporate lawyer and former political aide).

You may have heard of this race in the news recently because of NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s $1 million contribution to a campaign to unseat Zimmer.

You may well ask why an east coast billionaire is interested in Los Angeles schools.  Good question.

The answer is convoluted, as are most issues concerning money and politics.  But at the heart of the matter are the two candidates’ positions on charter school expansion.

Ms. Anderson is admittedly “pro-charter,” while Zimmer (known as the swing vote on the board) has called for moderation in charter school expansion.

Just to put this in perspective, you should know that the rate of charter school growth is higher in Los Angeles than anywhere else in the country.  In fact, more than a dozen new charters were approved in the last LAUSD board meeting.

The pros and cons of charter schools can get pretty “wonk-ish.”  If you’re interested, you can read a recent blog I wrote that gets into some of the details.

But let me be clear: I don’t think charter schools are a bad idea.  In fact, I think they’re a good idea, but one that has, unfortunately, been poorly implemented.

As originally intended when first created, charter schools were supposed to be “learning labs” that developed new teaching methods and techniques that would then be disseminated to public schools at large.  For the most part, that hasn’t happened.

What has happened is that too frequently charter schools have become “separatist” institutions that drain much needed resources and engaged families away from neighborhood public schools.  Adding insult to injury, these schools often screen students so that they get the “cream” (as recently documented in an investigative report from Reuters) or they “counsel out” special needs students that threaten to drag down their performance numbers.

But the bottom line is that study after study have shown that the majority of charter schools perform no better than their traditional public counterparts and a big chunk of them (about 1/3) are worse than public schools. 

Given that information, I fail to see how charter schools are an efficient and effective use of public funds.  Instead of “reinventing the wheel,” why not devote those resources (including all the parent energy and support) to improving neighborhood public schools?
 
I believe that we should be more cautious and conservative when it comes to handing over public funds to private corporations.  And I believe that Steve Zimmer is exactly the type of public watchdog that we need protecting the education opportunities for our children.

Aside from his moderate position on charter schools, I can attest from personal experience that Steve Zimmer is one of the most dedicated educators I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. 

I worked with Steve in his capacity at the Marshall High School teaching academy and as the one of the founders of the Elysian Valley Community Services Center.  He is the epitome of “grass roots.”  His tireless commitment to the young people in the communities that he serves is inspirational.

You can read Steve’s bio here and see a list of his accomplishments on the board, including a drop-out recovery program that has returned hundreds of students back to school.

If you live in the sprawling LAUSD board district 4 (stretching from Hollywood to Topanga and from Venice to Woodland Hills), I urge you to vote to return Steve Zimmer to the LAUSD board of education.  If you don’t live in that district, I ask that you consider forwarding this message on to friends, family and colleagues that do.

Right now, the rest of the country is watching to see if we in Los Angeles will continue to support true public education or whether we are willing to sell off the education of our young people to the highest bidder.

I ask that you join with me to keep Steve Zimmer in office and send a very clear message that public education is not for sale.

The opinions expressed in this letter are mine alone and do not represent those of any organization with which I am affiliated.

Sincerely,
Dwain Wilson