Petition updateSave Egan and Our Los Altos CommunityBefore Monday: Email/Text Assembly to Pass SB 126 for Charter School Reform
Peipei YuLos Altos, CA, United States
Feb 23, 2019

ACTION REQUESTED:
The CA State Assembly is reviewing SB 126 (Charter School Transparency Bill) on Tuesday. The Bill is a first step to reforming the way charter schools are run by having them have more transparency as our neighborhood public schools are required to have. Gov. Newsom wants charter school reform, and this is the first step. Please email or text your Assemblymember to tell them to pass charter school reforms broadly and SB 126 specifically. If it passes the Assembly, the Governor will have to sign it. Details on how to do this below under "How To Guide".

RATIONALE:
My opinion is that charter schools take public funds, yet don’t have the same public transparency, accountability, and governance as other public school institutions are required to have. Additionally, if charter schools are public institutions then they need public oversight. We talk a lot about neighborhood vs charter school facilities parity (noting that there isn’t even parity within the neighborhood schools), but we need to talk about governance parity. One key issue I have is that I can elect who is on the LASD Board (neighborhood public school), but I can't with the BCS Board (charter). Yet, both boards impact my children's education and both boards use my dollars to pay for their institutions. To me, this is basically taxation without representation. Unless we solve these foundational issues, the Prop. 39 thrash won’t end for our town and the many others facing our issues (e.g., Los Angeles, Oakland, Redwood City, Menlo Park, and now Mountain View etc).

Although SB 126 is not enough and doesn't cover all my concerns above (e.g., we need to address charter board governance by taxpayers; enrollment caps), we need to start somewhere. Please contact the State Assembly to ask them to pass SB 126 this weekend so they hear our voices on the need for charter school reform before Tuesday. Details below.

HOW TO GUIDE

TEMPLATE EMAIL OR TEXT

Vote yes on SB 126 so that charter schools are required to follow the same rules as other public schools are required to do. Charter schools take public funds, yet don’t have the same public transparency, accountability, and governance as traditional public schools are required to have. In my town of Los Altos, we have been embroiled in ongoing legal, policy, and community debates on facilities with the charter school. These debates and their recent Prop. 39 request to shut down our neighborhood school, which is a high-performing, National Blue Ribbon school in a wealthy area is an example of where, without proper transparency and governance, charter schools could negatively impact public school systems that work well and are thriving. SB 126 is a step in the right direction to improve transparency in charter schools, as their decisions and actions impact the community. We need to have the same level of transparency in this public institution as we do for other institutions.


STAY CLASSY AND ENGAGED, LOS ALTOS

I got 99 problems with Prop. 39, but my neighbor ain’t one. Borrowing from the wisdom of Jay-Z, I want to remind people that my thoughts are around the institution of our educational system and not about people’s school decisions. I respect all my neighbors regardless of what school their children attend. We can solve our problems while being respectful to each other. Stay classy and engaged, Los Altos.

Peace,
Peipei

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