Reinventing California Public Education. One Vote at a Time.

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Major wins for all students in LA Unified
Posted by Steven Levin on May 18, 2017 at 9:24 AM

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On Tuesday, May 16, CCSA Advocates-endorsed candidates Nick Melvoin and Kelly Gonez won their elections for the LAUSD School Board.

Nick and Kelly believe that a zip code should not determine the educational quality that a student receives and they value a parent’s right to choose the best public school for their child, whether that’s a traditional district, magnet, pilot, or charter school. They agree with educators that want to do more of what is working and less of what isn’t.  

These wins represent a new direction for the Los Angeles Unified School Board; we hope the District can embrace charter schools’ important role in LAUSD to provide access to high-quality public schools to all students and to be partners in developing and sharing best practices.

Many of our supporters have spent months working hard to elect LAUSD’s newest school board members. These wins could not have been possible without you. We want to offer our sincerest thanks. Your efforts gave a voice to our students and communities.

In Board District 4, Nick defeated incumbent school board president Steve Zimmer by a margin of 57.41% to 42.58%. This represents a mandate for a new leader in BD4 to ensure that every student in LAUSD has the opportunity to succeed.

In Board District 6, Kelly defeated Imelda Padilla by a margin of 51.47% to 48.52% to replace outgoing school board member Monica Ratliff. Kelly’s experience in the classroom and in federal education policy underscores the breadth and depth she will bring to the school board to solve some of the district’s biggest challenges.

These results are delivered with one note of caution: late absentee ballots remain to be counted, which could result in a substantial increase in the number of votes cast. However, the results aligned fairly closely across early mail ballots and election day votes, so we would not expect a major shift in the late mail-in ballots.

We congratulate both of our endorsed candidates on hard-fought campaigns and our team looks forward to reaching out to them and working with them on behalf of all students in LAUSD.

We also want to acknowledge the good intentions of both Steve Zimmer and Imelda Padilla. While we may have differences on some policies and strategies, we know that we share many of the same goals to ensure the district puts kids’ interests first.

We invite you to stay involved in our efforts and encourage you to get involved in the LA Advocacy Council or any of the Policy Working Groups. Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest news and information about the California charter school community.

Thank you again for your continued efforts.

LAUSD March 2017 Elections Results
Posted by Steven Levin on March 09, 2017 at 10:55 AM

Nick__Kelly_Monica.pngAfter months of working hard to elect candidates who value a parent’s right to choose the best school for their child, the unofficial results of the March 7 Los Angeles Unified school board elections are in and they show success for CCSA Advocates’ endorsed candidates.

We’re very excited to celebrate the re-election of Monica Garcia to the LAUSD Board of Education, representing Board District 2. We believe this win validates Garcia’s deep roots in the community and her commitment to serving all students.

Kelly Fitzpatrick-Gonez exceeded expectations coming in first in a crowded field, demonstrating that voters in the Northeast San Fernando Valley are impressed by this classroom teacher who has dedicated her life to serving students in the community that she grew up in.

We also saw a strong performance from the reform candidates in Board District 4; Steve Zimmer was kept under 50%, demonstrating that Westside voters are interested in change. Nick Melvoin placed second and will carry that mantle into the general election.

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CCSA Advocates endorses four candidates for Los Angeles Unified school board
Posted by Steven Levin on January 26, 2017 at 9:58 AM

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CCSA Advocates has endorsed four candidates running for school board in three districts in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) primary election taking place on March 7. Those candidates are:

CCSA Advocates believes incumbent García and the three challengers - Melvoin, Holdorff Polhill, and Gonez -  are the kind of leaders all families in Los Angeles want to represent them on the LASUD Board of Education to ensure that their children can access a high quality public education.

“We are pleased to endorse Mónica, Nick, Allison and Kelly for the LAUSD school board” said Gary Borden, Executive Director for CCSA Advocates. “These individuals represent the kind of leadership that will work for the benefit of all students, encourage innovation, and will expand opportunities for LAUSD students and their families regardless of their zip code, income or ethnicity.”

 About the Candidates:

  • Elected in 2006 to the school board in District 2, which covers East Los Angeles, Monica Garcia has championed school reform offering students and parents learning models that include smaller and more personalized settings and has worked tirelessly to ensure LAUSD’s English Leaner population remain an integral part of the District’s instructional priorities. Garcia has also led the campaign to raise $7 billion in bonds to benefit students via new facilities. 
  • In District 4, which covers West Los Angeles and parts of the San Fernando valley, CCSA Advocates has made a dual endorsement. Both Melvoin and Holdorff Polhill have a history of involvement with student advocacy, as educators and community leaders, and working with teachers to advance learning instruction and parent engagement.  
  • In District 6, which covers the northeast part of the San Fernando Valley, CCSA Advocates has endorsed Kelly Gonez, a 7th grade science teacher at a STEM-focused middle school from Sylmar. In 2014, Gonez was appointed by President Obama to serve as an education policy advisor in his Administration. She secured over $50 million in additional education funding while leading the Obama Administration’s advocacy to increase education funding and support for special populations, including English language learners, immigrant students, homeless students, students in foster care, justice-involved youth, and others.

LAUSD is the second largest school district in the country, and the seven members of the school board oversee a budget of $7.1 billion and are responsible for the education of 640,000 public school children in 900 traditional district schools and 187 charter public schools.  The election of three school board members comes at a particularly important time as the district faces critical budgetary decisions, the need to improve student achievement particularly for chronically underserved students and even greater parent demand for high quality educational options including charter public schools.

 “As a parent, I want the best possible education for my child,” said Lisa Rowley, a parent at Westchester Secondary Charter School. “For me, this election is about choosing the right leadership who will lead LAUSD in a way that will ensure my child, and the thousands of children who attend LA schools have the opportunity to reach their full potential.  I believe these candidates are leaders who will advocate for children first, empower and engage parents in their children’s education, work with teachers and education leaders to deliver high quality educational programs for kids and be accountable for decisions that are in the long term best interest for our community.”

The City of Los Angeles Primary Nominating Election will take place on Tuesday, March 7, 2017, with a run-off election taking place in May if necessary. Vote-by-mail starts February 6 and the deadline to register to vote is February 21. 

CCSA Advocates wishes to thank all of the candidates who participated in our endorsement process, including their time spent in discussions with staff and local representatives, and the candidates’ thoughtful consideration of policy and programmatic issues. We appreciate the passion and commitment to LA’s public school students that these individuals will bring to this election and we look forward to working with them in their service to the community.  

About CCSA Advocates (www.ccsaadvocates.org)

CCSA Advocates is a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing the involvement of the charter school community in the political process, creating a pipeline of charter school supporters and activists, electing public officials who support California charter public schools, and growing the political influence of the California charter public school movement.

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Ways to get involved with CCSA Advocates
Posted by Steven Levin on December 01, 2016 at 7:45 AM

The last few weeks of 2016 have been eventful, and 2017 promises to be even more exciting. As the year winds down and people are looking for ways to support their children and public education in California in the new year, we have come up with a few ways that you can get involved. Please make the commitment to spread the word about charter schools. 

Here are a few quick and easy things that you can do right now to get involved and support our work:

Together, we can strengthen California public education... one vote at a time.

 

 

November 2016 Elections recap
Posted by Steven Levin on November 17, 2016 at 2:39 PM

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This year, CCSA Advocates participated in over 100 elections in large and small ways across the state – that alone is an exciting testament to the growth of our collective work and the engagement of the charter school community in our political process.  

Our electoral work has mostly focused on the state legislature and local school boards, including both school districts and county boards of education. 

  • At the state legislative level, across our team and our partners' work, we participated in 20 legislative races. We won 18 of those – an enormously successful number. These wins will help CCSA’s Government Affairs Team and the whole organization move responsible policy forward for charters in the state Capitol.  
  • At the local level, we saw wins from around the state in our local work. We saw wins in Oakland, Richmond, Fresno, Sacramento, Orange County, San Jose and many other parts of the state. We are electing charter school champions to school boards throughout California. We hope that these people will take office with the belief that charter school have a valuable role to play in the public school system.  
  • We engaged several ballot initiatives across the state as well. We supported many that will provide greater funding for all public schools locally, including charter schools. At times we opposed local measures if they didn't fairly include charter school kids in the measure.
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Candidates who support parental choice earn major editorial board endorsements across California
Posted by Steven Levin on November 03, 2016 at 3:24 PM

Major newspapers in Los Angeles, Oakland, San Diego, San Jose and West Contra Costa have endorsed candidates who support parental choice.

“We’re encouraged that independent observers of public education share our support for legislative and school board candidates across California who support parental choice and who are working to provide high quality education to all children,” said Gary Borden, Executive Director of CCSA Advocates.

Newspapers whose editorial boards have endorsed candidates supported by CCSA Advocates include:

  • San Diego Union-Tribune
    • LaShae Collins for San Diego Unified board and Mark Wyland for San Diego County Board of Education
  • San Jose Mercury News
    • Kimberly Meek for San Jose Unified board
    • Grace Mah and Rosemary Kamei for Santa Clara County Board of Education
    • Madison Nguyen for Assembly District 27
  • San Francisco Chronicle
    • Tim Grayson for Assembly District 14
  • Los Angeles Daily News
    • Laura Friedman for Assembly District 43
  • East Bay Times
    • Jumoke Hinton Hodge, Huber Trenado and James Harris for Oakland Unified Board of Education
    • Tom Panas for West Contra Costa Unified Board of Education
  • Santa Cruz Sentinel
    • Anna Caballero for Assembly District 30

“We expect additional editorial board endorsements as election day nears,” said Borden. “Voters are eager to elect candidates who recognize that parents want choice in public education, and we’re glad that so many newspaper editorial boards agree.”

 

 

New study details special education best practices in California charter schools
Posted by Steven Levin on October 27, 2016 at 2:26 PM



SPED_Report3.pngOn October 27, 2016, the California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) released Meeting the Needs of Every Student Through Inclusion, a report that details the special education program philosophy behind 10 exemplary California charter public schools, how they implement best practices on their campuses, and what policy arrangements have allowed them to succeed. This qualitative study of some of the highest-performing charter schools in California offers new insights into the best ways to serve students with disabilities in all schools, in particular the benefits of inclusive education.


 

 

 

 

 

CCSA Advocates announces endorsements for November 8 General Election
Posted by Steven Levin on October 20, 2016 at 7:18 PM

The California General Election is only a few weeks away and early voting has already begun. Not sure which legislative or local school board candidates to vote for? We have you covered. 

CCSA Advocates is proud to endorse candidates around the state who share our vision of reinventing California public education.

CCSA Advocates is dedicated to increasing the involvement of the charter school community in the political process, creating a pipeline of charter school supporters and activists, electing public officials who support California charter schools, and growing the political influence of the California charter school movement.

See all of our endorsements across the state.

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10 Questions for Riverside County school board member Barbara Hale
Posted by Steven Levin on August 25, 2016 at 12:54 PM

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CCSA Advocates is reinventing public education one vote at a time. And we have been working to accomplish this by supporting local school board candidates who we believe will make a difference not just for charter school students, but for all students.

Case in point: in the June 2016 school board elections in Riverside County, CCSA Advocates supported Barbara Hale, a former teacher who became a principal at Sycamore Academy, a TK-8 charter school in Wildomar. Along with two other CCSA Advocates-endorsed candidates, Bruce Dennis and Ray “Coach” Curtis, Barbara won that election and was sworn into the Riverside County Board of Education shortly thereafter. Just by electing these three candidates to the school board, Riverside went from a county with a reputation of being hostile towards charter schools to one that is viewed as much friendlier.

Barbara has spent more than twenty years of her life dedicated to working with students and their families throughout Riverside County. She was a founding member of Sycamore Academy, which is now in its eighth year of operation. As a parent, teacher and principal, Barbara has worked collaboratively with students, families, teachers, administrators and the community to provide a high quality education to all children and ensure that they reach their full potential. After years of promoting charter schools and facing constant opposition to them – much of which she attributes to lack of knowledge about charters – Barbara decided to seek higher office to make even more of a mark than she already has.

We talked with Barbara about Riverside County, her thoughts on charter schools there and her plans to effect change for all students.

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