Holding County Supervisors Accountable?

“The LAUSD said [KIPP Sol] was a crap school. LACOE staff said it was a crap school. With all of this agreement, how did LACOE vote?”

– Tracy Cook, Public Education Advocate

Unlike most county school districts in California, the Board of Education for the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE) is not elected by its constituents. Instead, its members are selected by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. They, therefore, face no consequences when they act in opposition to the needs of families.

Los Angeles Public Education advocate, Tracy Cook, saw LACOE’s vote earlier this month to overturn the LAUSD’s denial of the renewal petition for KIPP Sol as a call to action. You can read her thoughts in this edition of the “Voices From The Community” series:

Do you know who your Los Angeles County Supervisor is? Depending on where you live, it is one of these people: Hilda Solis, Holly Mitchell, Lindsey Horvath, Janice Hahn, or Kathryn Barger.

These five supervisors have the authority to manage a $50 billion annual budget. This is larger than the budget of most states.

Supervisors are also responsible for appointing board members of the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE). The majority of these Supervisors have failed at this task. They ignored the needs of students and selected advocates for charter schools.

Earlier this month, the KIPP nationwide chain of charter schools asked the LACOE Board to allow it to continue operating KIPP Sol. In January, the LAUSD School Board determined this charter school’s performance was so bad that it rejected its charter renewal. The LACOE staff agreed with this assessment and recommended to its Board that they should not allow KIPP Sol to continue operating.

The LAUSD said it was a crap school. LACOE staff said it was a crap school. With all of this agreement, how did LACOE vote? Four to three in favor of KIPP Sol.

It was insane and it was embarrassing.

They got away with this because our county supervisors do NOT hear enough from their constituents about their appointees' votes at LACOE.

• Holly Mitchell’s appointees, Stanley Johnson and Andrea Foggy Paxton, voted to approve KIPP Sol.
• Janice Hahn appointee James Cross voted to approve KIPP Sol.
• Kathryn Barger appointee Yvonne Chan voted to approve KIPP Sol.

Holly Mitchell is your County Supervisor if you live in Wilshire, Mid City, or South LA. Janice Hahn represents the south section of Los Angeles, including Wilmington, San Pedro, Vernon, and South Gate. If you live in East Hollywood Hills, Los Feliz, parts of Studio City, and East San Fernando Valley, then Kathryn Barger is your supervisor.

Please email or call Mitchell, Hahn, and Barger and tell them how disappointed and concerned you are by their appointee's votes. Wasting taxpayers’ dollars is not what you want from their appointees.

• Holly Mitchell

(213) 974-2222

HollyJMitchell@bos.lacounty.gov

• Janice Hahn

FourthDistrict@bos.lacounty.gov

213 - 974-4444

• Kathryn Barger

213 974-5555

kathryn@bos.lacounty.gov

Special note on Holly Mitchell: She is my supervisor. I voted for Holly. There is much that Holly does that is smart, seasoned, and good for our community. For those teachers and community members who also have Holly as their supervisor, you probably feel the same way as I do. And like me, many of you may have even contributed to her campaign. She is great on so many levels. Unfortunately, when it comes to charter schools and her squishy lean toward them, she needs to be informed now that we do not want to waste money or harm our children. In the last twenty years, over 100 charter schools have opened and closed, many of them in Holly's neighborhoods. These failures cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. As Holly fans, we must tell her this is not 2008, 2012, or 2015. Foggy-Paxton and Johnson's votes are from a bygone era. Holly needs to hear from you.

Within the next couple of months, LACOE will vote on two additional schools that have appealed the LAUSD’s decision to reject its charter renewals. This brings additional urgency to contacting your Supervisor and letting her know that they will be held responsible for the actions of their LACOE Board appointees.

Carl Petersen is a parent advocate for public education, particularly for students with special education needs, and serves as the Education Chair for the Northridge East Neighborhood Council. 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.