#AnotherDayAnotherCharterScandal

Is There An Acceptable Level Of Anti-Semitism?

Charter school industry promoter, Ben Austin, says we should ignore ads in an LAUSD School Board race that he admits were anti-Semitic.

“It’s better to be feared than loved. Right now we are neither.”

-Ben Austin to his Charter Industry compatriots

In order to achieve their goal of privatizing education, the charter school industry knows that they must “weaken [the teachers’ union] politically”. However, following last year’s strike, United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) were flexing their political muscle and had managed to get all of the school board members but Nick Melvoin to vote in favor of asking for a moratorium on new charter schools. In the meantime, the charter school industry’s reputation had taken a beating after the felony conviction of Ref Rodriguez and indictment of Vielka McFarlane had exposed corruption within their ranks.

In an email unearthed by Michael Kohlhaas dot org, education “reformer” Ben Austin laid out the charter school industry’s strategy for reclaiming the public narrative. Included on the thread were officials from the California Charter School Association (CCSA), the public relations firm Del Sol Group, the public opinion firm Goodwin Simon Strategic Research, political consultant Mike Trujillo, STEM Preparatory Charter Schools, Green Dot Charter Schools, Parent Revolution, Speak Up, Students for Education Reform, Great Public Schools Now and defeated candidate for State Superintendent of Education, Marshall Tuck.

The proposed initiatives of the privatization zealots included a call to recruit, train, and support candidates for LAUSD school board elections “while building a sustainable campaign operation to support these candidacies.” While Austin admitted that this plan would have “0” impact on the empowerment of parents and students, it would “represent a critical opportunity to recapture our reform [SIC] board majority.” Replacing Scott Schmerelson in Board District 3 was listed as a “key [opportunity] for [a pickup] that would flip the board.”

Schmerelson is a lifetime educator who has previously served as a teacher, counselor, vice-principal, and principal. The candidate the charter school industry recruited to…