Villaraigosa

<a href="https://www.alternet.org/kicking-charter-money-out-unifying-party" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">https://www.alternet.org/kicking-charter-money-out-unifying-party</a>The  mood was festive at the annual Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Dinner in Los Angeles. About 600 Democrats gathered in a hotel ballroom on an October evening to begin wrapping up the year. Community activists and party worker-bees mingled with political luminaries to celebrate top volunteers. Anybody with a (D) after their name and $135 for a ticket was welcome at this event in blue, blue California. Then Eli Broad crashed the party. He didn’t actually show up, but as usual in Los Angeles, his presence was felt. When his likeness appeared on a video screen displaying sponsors, the place erupted in boos. Then, as if they’d been caught on a hot mic, many attendees gasped at their collective slip of decorum.

By the time L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti spoke, the room was composed. In fact, Garcetti couldn’t have asked for a friendlier reception. But the hometown crowd turned hostile again when former L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was announced. He, too, was booed.

The common thread between Broad and Villaraigosa is charter schools. After he was elected mayor of L.A. in 2005, Villaraigosa, who’d run on a pro-labor platform, cut ties with the teachers union and adopted Broad’s agenda of school privatization. Los Angeles has long been a target of the privatizers. As the biggest school district in the country that elects its school board, it’s harder to control for the so-called education reformers, who seek to dismantle the public school system in order to create a marketplace of school choices, shifting billions of dollars in public moneys into private hands.  Villairagosa’s <a href="https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-villaraigosa-labor-20170925-story.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">political calculation paid off</a>—at least with the billionaire education reform crowd which has been pouring money into Villaraigosa’s gubernatorial bid.The Roosevelt Dinner should have been a victory lap for Villairagosa and his allies. Just six months before, they’d successfully taken over the L.A. school board, an effort in which the former mayor had been personally involved. They had spent more money to win the seat held by board president Steve Zimmer than has ever been spent on a school board race in <a href="https://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-edu-school-election-money-20170521-htmlstory.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">U.S. history</a>.Backlash builds
But the huge sums of money made people skeptical of the pure-sounding claims of “putting students first.” Signs of a backlash first appeared at the State Democratic Convention last spring. In convention speeches, references to the vast resources of the charter school lobby made it sound like an occupying force. Speakers pointed out that the staggering amount of money to buy charter school proponents control of L.A.’s school board was sounding less and less democratic. It went beyond school boards, too. Last year, the California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) was the <a href="https://www.scpr.org/news/2016/11/11/66059/flood-of-spending-by-charter-advocates-leads-to-el/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">biggest spender</a> in state legislative races.

The awakening has been a long time coming. Five years have passed since the L.A. County Dems demanded that the deceptively named charter promoters, Democrats for Education Reform, <a href="https://www.lacdp.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/LACDP-2012-DFER-Cease-Desist-Final.pdf" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">cease and desist</a> from calling themselves Democrats. Since then, Betsy DeVos has finished yanking the Democratic disguise off the charter agenda. On <a href="https://www.kcrw.com/news-culture/shows/left-right-center/trump-say-us-is-recognizing-jerusalem-as-the-capital-of-israel" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">NPR affiliate KCRW</a> in early December, stalwart conservative David Frum lumped charter schools in with “medical savings accounts and everything else in the Republican agenda” that Democrats oppose.

And now, spontaneous outbursts showed Democrats opposing the biggest names in corporate education reform. But the clash between charter schools and Democratic ideals still isn’t obvious to everyone.Glowing conflictPerhaps there is no stronger metaphor for Democrats’ conflict about charters than the swag at the state party convention. During caucus meetings and on the floor of the convention, candidates and delegates alike balked at the CCSA’s brazenness in buying electoral influence. But afterhours, many of them waved glowsticks featuring the CCSA logo at the parties throughout the weekend. Maybe they thought no one would notice who bought them.

But the power of charter money is noticeable. At a State <a href="https://youtu.be/puHa5wuo7eE" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">Senate hearing</a> in October about possible charter law reforms, Jackie Goldberg, a retired grand dame of progressive politics and public education in California, seemed to hammer the whole state Democratic caucus for its failure to provide oversight.

“You got two-thirds [majority] for the first time—I never had two-thirds when I was up there—in both houses! You actually can do something about this. And I’m saying to you, it is time to say, Ya basta! Enough is enough…”

If California Democrats are calibrating their relationship with big charter money, the 2018 elections could magnify the issue. Villaraigosa will be the likely recipient of the charter cash.However, Gavin Newsom, the current lieutenant governor and unquestioned front runner, is doing his best to avoid the topic. Newsom was <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Lauren.Steiner.LA/posts/10214180293238131" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">caught on video</a> telling a friendly crowd that he had no intention of taking a position on the existential battle in public education.

“I'm not interested in a stale and raging debate around which side...you're on. ‘Are you with the charter people or are you anti-charter? Are you with the teachers or are you anti-teacher?’ I've been hearing that damned debate for ten damned years…whether Eli Broad was right or whether the CTA was wrong [sic]. I'm not interested in that debate.”

Previous news reports might help explain Newsom’s reticence to speak up against charters. Some of the original <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Newsom-already-has-700k-on-hand-to-run-for-6105799.php" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">money to launch</a> Newsom’s gubernatorial bid came from the same dark charter figures <a href="https://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-edu-california-dark-money-donors-revealed-20160627-snap-story.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">who schemed</a> with Eli Broad to unsuccessfully defeat Proposition 30, Governor Jerry Brown’s initiative to fund public schools through a tax on millionaires. The schemers included one of Newsom’s early donors, John Scully, who sits with his wife on the board of Eva Moskowitz’s Success Academy, the politically powerful charter chain that was the <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/12/11/success-academys-radical-educational-experiment" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">recent subject</a> of an exposé in the New Yorker. The union helped unmask Scully in its 2016 bombshell <a href="https://hedgeclippers.org/hedgepapers-no-29-hidden-donations-brought-to-light/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">Hedge Clippers report</a> revealing supporters of the anti-Prop 30 campaign, but it is now apparently unconcerned with Scully’s support for Newsom.Big money, big oppositionIts anybody-but-Villaraigosa campaign resulted in the union endorsing Newsom, opening the organization to criticism that it isn’t going to help fight big charter power. Half the union delegates pushed for the candidate with a <a href="https://www.cta.org/en/About-CTA/News-Room/Press-Releases/2016/09/20160901_1.aspx" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">track record</a> of working to pass common sense charter oversight legislation, current State Treasurer John Chiang. But some union delegates said leaders made sure endorsing Chiang was procedurally impossible.Polls show 30% of the electorate is still undecided among the crowded field for the June, 2018 primary. So why isn’t CTA playing a more active role in shaping the debate about charter money during the course of the election?

The job of making charter money a campaign issue might fall to the teacher activists who led the insurgency for John Chiang at the union’s endorsement meeting. It could also fall to the Berniecrats, who now make up half the California Democratic Party and who strongly oppose the influence of big money. However, their repeated chants of “Single payer now!” at the convention and other public events leave one wondering if they have the capacity or the interest to take on the charter issue. Activist Lauren Steiner who ran the L.A. for Bernie campaign, pushes the issue among the Bernie constituency, though many of them are backing Delaine Eastin.Given all the signs in the past year that Democrats are down on corporate charter money and Berniecrats’ natural opposition to big money in politics, this could be a unifying issue between the two factions of the party. The implications of that would reach far beyond California.Karen Wolfe writes about public educationref<a href="http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-villaraigosa-labor-20170925-story.html">http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-villaraigosa-labor-20170925-story.html</a>AV launched his political career off his work as a union organizer, and labor played a critical role in getting him elected to office. So it was a remarkable moment when Villaraigosa, as Los Angeles’ mayor, blasted the city’s teachers union where he once worked as “the largest obstacle to creating quality schools.”<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 27px;" droid="Droid" serif="serif" color="color" rgb="rgb" background-color="background-color">Now, as Villaraigosa runs for governor, this evolution is the reason one of the state’s most powerful interests may try to sink his campaign.<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 27px;" droid="Droid" serif="serif" color="color" rgb="rgb" background-color="background-color">“Unless a miracle happens … there’s going to be a lot of money put into efforts against Antonio,” said A.J. Duffy, the former president of United Teachers Los Angeles. “It’s going to be down and dirty.”<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 27px;" droid="Droid" serif="serif" color="color" rgb="rgb" background-color="background-color">Villaraigosa is the most prominent Democrat in California to challenge the teachers unions, a fight that he has continued since leaving the mayor’s office in 2013. Since then, he notably sided with students in a lawsuit that argued that their state constitutional rights were violated by state laws regulating teacher layoffs, firings and tenure. The lawsuit initially triumphed but was later overturned.<p style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 27px;" droid="Droid" serif="serif" color="color" rgb="rgb" background-color="background-color">There are potential benefits to his stance — donations from wealthy supporters of the education reform movement and the ability to cast himself as a man willing to stand up to one of his party’s most influential constituencies. Some argue that these are the very reasons Villaraigosa picked a fight with labor.<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 27px;" droid="Droid" serif="serif" color="color" rgb="rgb" background-color="background-color">“He made a political calculation … that this was a way to further his political ambitions,” said one state education leader who will have to work with the next governor and did not want to be identified. “If you’re going to run for governor or senate, you want deep pockets supporting you.”<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 27px;" droid="Droid" serif="serif" color="color" rgb="rgb" background-color="background-color">Villaraigosa declined to comment about the moneyed forces on both sides of the issue. But he argued his motivation is pure.<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 27px;" droid="Droid" serif="serif" color="color" rgb="rgb" background-color="background-color">“I really wasn’t looking for a fight with anyone, and I’m still not, but I made it clear, I will fight for these kids,” he said in an interview at Dolores Mission, a Catholic elementary school he attended for two years. “Look at these kids. These kids can learn.”<aside class="trb_ar_sponsoredmod" data-adloader-networktype="yieldmo" data-v-ymid="ym_1606464552242100545" data-role="delayload_item" data-withinviewport-options="bottomOffset=100" data-load-method="trb.vendor.yieldmo.init" data-load-type="method" style="margin: 5px 0px 25px; clear: both; font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><div id="1606464552242100545" data-id="ym_1" class="ym ym_scroll" /></aside><p style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 27px;" droid="Droid" serif="serif" color="color" rgb="rgb" background-color="background-color"><a href="http://www.latimes.com/essentialpoliticsemail" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Follow California politics by signing up for our email newsletter »</a><p style="margin-bottom: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 27px;" droid="Droid" serif="serif" color="color" rgb="rgb" background-color="background-color">The rifts with labor emerged once he became mayor in 2005. He was <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2006/aug/24/local/me-strike24" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">labeled a “scab” when he crossed picket lines</a> the following year during the first major city workers’ strike in a quarter-century. He later<a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2012/apr/03/local/la-me-mayor-unions-20120403" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;"> clashed with unions over furloughs and layoffs</a> as the city grappled with the recession.<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 27px;" droid="Droid" serif="serif" color="color" rgb="rgb" background-color="background-color">But tensions grew exponentially as the mayor unsuccessfully tried to seize control of the Los Angeles Unified School District, arguing that city schools needed to be dramatically overhauled because they were failing the neediest students. He eventually gained control of more than a dozen struggling city schools through a nonprofit he founded. He also shaped district policy by helping elect like-minded school board members.<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 27px;" droid="Droid" serif="serif" color="color" rgb="rgb" background-color="background-color">He questioned policies fiercely guarded by teachers unions, such as seniority protections that resulted in constant layoff notices to the younger teachers who tend to staff the most challenging schools. He grew to support using student test scores to evaluate teachers and other overhauls anathema to union leaders.<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 27px;" droid="Droid" serif="serif" color="color" rgb="rgb" background-color="background-color">Villaraigosa argues that he sought to work with the city’s teachers’ union and <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2010/dec/10/local/la-me-mayor-speech-20101210" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">only criticized them when he had no other choice</a>.<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 27px;" droid="Droid" serif="serif" color="color" rgb="rgb" background-color="background-color">“I didn’t want to fight with them. I still don’t. I believe in teachers. I believe in collective bargaining,” he said. But “there was resistance to virtually everything we did. I wanted to partner, but they just fought us tooth and nail.”<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 27px;" droid="Droid" serif="serif" color="color" rgb="rgb" background-color="background-color">UTLA representatives did not respond to a request for comment.<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 27px;" droid="Droid" serif="serif" color="color" rgb="rgb" background-color="background-color">Joshua Pechthalt, the president of the California Federation of Teachers, worked at UTLA at the time and has known Villaraigosa for decades.<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 27px;" droid="Droid" serif="serif" color="color" rgb="rgb" background-color="background-color">“I don’t think he saw it as being anti-union in any way, but being sensitive to kids like he was, and for us to block the kinds of reforms he was supporting was doing a disservice to those kids,” said Pechthalt. “I would disagree with him but I don’t think it necessarily came from a bad place.”<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 27px;" droid="Droid" serif="serif" color="color" rgb="rgb" background-color="background-color">Villaraigosa’s fight is personal. He looks at the children playing dodge ball at Dolores Mission and sees himself.<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 27px;" droid="Droid" serif="serif" color="color" rgb="rgb" background-color="background-color">The roots of Villaraigosa’s arc from union organizer to union critic can be traced to his upbringing in City Terrace, and the patchwork of public and private schools he attended in Boyle Heights and downtown. His passion for organizing was forged during the social upheaval of the 1960s and 1970s — as a teenager he led student walkouts at his Catholic high school and picketed in support of the farmworkers’ boycott at the supermarket where he worked.<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 27px;" droid="Droid" serif="serif" color="color" rgb="rgb" background-color="background-color">But the seeds of his later-in-life criticism of teachers unions also were sown then, as he saw the opportunities that education could afford and the obstacles for underprivileged students.<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 27px;" droid="Droid" serif="serif" color="color" rgb="rgb" background-color="background-color">Fights prompted by anger from his chaotic youth — when as a toddler he witnessed his alcoholic father beat his mother before deserting the family — and a spinal surgery as a teen led to his expulsion from Cathedral High School.<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 27px;" droid="Droid" serif="serif" color="color" rgb="rgb" background-color="background-color">He was sent to Roosevelt High, a public school where one out of four graduated, and placed in basic reading and math classes and vocational training, despite the college-prep classes he had taken previously, he said. “This is what the counselor told me: ‘You look like a guy who wants to have fun. I’m going to give you classes that aren’t going to make you work very hard.’”<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 27px;" droid="Droid" serif="serif" color="color" rgb="rgb" background-color="background-color">...<div class="trb_ar_page" data-role="pagination_page" data-content-page="1" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="margin-bottom: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px; font-family: Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">He grew bored and dropped out, worked and partied. Eventually, prodded by his mother and a teacher who saw a spark in him, Villaraigosa returned and graduated with a 1.4 grade point average. “It was a Catholic school that gave me a foundation, but it was public school that gave me a second chance,” he said.<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px; font-family: Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">That opportunity ultimately led to Villaraigosa’s earning a law degree and working at labor and civil-rights groups before launching his political career: six years in the state Assembly, including a stint as Assembly Speaker; two years on the city council; and eight years as mayor.<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px; font-family: Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">Along the way, labor buttressed his campaigns, donating millions of dollars and dispatching members to walk precincts, man phone banks and turn out voters.</div><div class="trb_ar_page" data-role="pagination_page" data-content-page="2" data-state="pagination_viewed" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="margin-bottom: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px; font-family: Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); margin-top: 13px;">Ultimately, Villaraigosa’s education legacy is viewed as mixed “when you drill down and take a look at actual accomplishments,” said former state Sen. <a id="PEPLT005649" title="Gloria Romero" href="http://www.latimes.com/topic/politics-government/gloria-romero-PEPLT005649-topic.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(69, 145, 184);">Gloria Romero</a>, who was the state leader of <a id="ORGOV0000005" title="Democratic Party" href="http://www.latimes.com/topic/politics-government/democratic-party-ORGOV0000005-topic.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(69, 145, 184);">Democrats</a> for Education Reform. She said he did make “some very good strides and great progress.”<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px; font-family: Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">When Villaraigosa left office in 2013, a Times analysis found that the <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jun/27/local/la-me-villaraigosa-schools-20130628" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(69, 145, 184);">mayor’s schools overall performed comparably to district schools with similar demographics</a>, though some saw notable improvements.<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px; font-family: Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">Villaraigosa argues that change takes time and points to the graduation rate at his alma mater. When he took office, Roosevelt’s graduation rate was 36%; the class that graduated earlier this year is expected to be in the high 80s.<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px; font-family: Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">Villaraigosa’s fight with the teachers unions occurred at a time there was <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2012/sep/03/nation/la-na-education-dems-20120904" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(69, 145, 184);">a growing rift among Democrats nationally about education</a>. Teachers unions have historically been among the party’s most stalwart supporters but some – notably then-President Barack Obama — questioned their priorities.<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px; font-family: Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">The growing divide was not as visible in California, where the California Teachers’ Assn. had long been one of most powerful forces in state politics.<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px; font-family: Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">That’s why Villaraigosa may have reason to be concerned: In 2014, CTA spent $12 million to defeat Marshall Tuck, a huge sum in an obscure race to be state superintendent of public instruction. Tuck is a Democrat and former charter school leader whom Villaraigosa hired to run the nonprofit that oversaw his schools. If CTA and other teachers unions decide to go after Villaraigosa, they could paint him as on the same side of the education debate as corporate interests and Republicans rather than teachers and Democrats. Or they could support his top Democratic rivals in the race, Lt. Gov. <a id="PEPLT007332" title="Gavin Newsom" href="http://www.latimes.com/topic/politics-government/gavin-newsom-PEPLT007332-topic.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(69, 145, 184);">Gavin Newsom</a> and state Treasurer John Chiang, who have less controversial records on K-12 issues.<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px; font-family: Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"><a href="http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-pol-ca-california-governor-2018-money/" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(69, 145, 184);">Follow the money race in the governor's race on our fundraising dashboard »</a><p style="margin-bottom: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px; font-family: Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">The upside for Villaraigosa is that education reform efforts are supported by politically active millionaires and billionaires, and his 2018 campaign has already received <a href="http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-pol-ca-california-governor-2018-money/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(69, 145, 184);">financial support from these donors</a>. Others have funded his efforts to<a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2013/feb/12/local/la-me-bloomberg-lausd-20130213" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(69, 145, 184);"> shape the city’s school board</a>. A critical question will be whether such donors fund an independent effort to boost Villaraigosa’s campaign, as they did for Tuck in 2014.<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px; font-family: Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">CTA president Eric Heins and the CFT’s Pechthalt declined to comment on their organizations’ plans, saying they would announce endorsements later this year. The race is a priority given the governor’s influence on funding, accountability, curriculum and other policy.<p style="margin-bottom: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px; font-family: Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">“Naturally we’re going to be very concerned about who gets elected to that seat and look at their record,” Heins said.</div><a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-edu-school-election-money-20170521-htmlstory.html">http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-edu-school-election-money-20170521-htmlstory.html</a>
Charter school supporters and unions spent nearly $15 million to battle each other in last week's Los Angeles Board of Education races, which crossed the finish line as the most expensive school board election in U.S. history.With the results, charter forces for the first time won a majority on the Board of Education, a shift that could bring big changes to the district. This came from an election like no other, fueled by big-money donations from across the country, giving what are typically local campaigns a national significance.It’s an oversimplification to say the outcome was all about money, but charters spent more ($9.7 million compared with $5.2 million), and their candidates finished first in both races on Tuesday’s ballot.In District 4, challenger Nick Melvoin finished well in front of incumbent Steve Zimmer. In District 6, Kelly Gonez was in first, ahead of Imelda Padilla. That race is close and some votes remain to be counted, but Gonez is widely expected to hold on. If she does, charter-friendly board members would make up a majority on the seven-member school board for the first time.<hr class="diamondy" style="border: 0px none; clear: both; margin: 30px auto; background: url(" http="http" d1qqc1e9kvmdh8.cloudfront.net="d1qqc1e9kvmdh8.cloudfront.net" img="img" ngux-tophat="ngux-tophat" flourished-section-breaks="flourished-section-breaks" diamondy.png="diamondy.png" center="center" no-repeat="no-repeat" scroll="scroll" rgb="rgb" height="height" px="px" width="width" auto="auto" padding="padding" /><h3 class="question" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 31px; margin: 30px auto 25px; clear: left; width: 720px; max-width: 720px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">How much did this election cost per vote?</h3>Based on spending since the March primary, pro-charter outside groups and individuals spent $144 for every vote cast for one of the charter-endorsed candidates. Unions spent $81 for every vote received by teachers union-backed candidates.<h3 class="question" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 31px; margin: 30px auto 25px; clear: left; width: 720px; max-width: 720px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Nearly $15 million in outside spending poured in to the LAUSD elections</h3>City records show outside spending by pro-charter groups topped pro-union groups nearly 2 to 1.<table id="table" class="table" style="max-width: 650px; width: 650px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 50px auto;"><thead><tr><th class="string Top Charter Groups_cell" style="text-transform: capitalize; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); padding: 8px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Top Charter Groups</th><th class="string Amount_cell" style="text-transform: capitalize; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); padding: 8px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Amount</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr class="firstRow odd"><td class="string Top Charter Groups_cell" style="padding: 8px; line-height: 20px; vertical-align: top; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);">Parent Teacher Alliance</td><td class="string Amount_cell" style="padding: 8px; line-height: 20px; vertical-align: top; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);">$5,144,716</td></tr><tr class="even"><td class="string Top Charter Groups_cell" style="padding: 8px; line-height: 20px; vertical-align: top; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);">California Charter Schools Assn. Advocates</td><td class="string Amount_cell" style="padding: 8px; line-height: 20px; vertical-align: top; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);">$2,837,614</td></tr><tr class="odd"><td class="string Top Charter Groups_cell" style="padding: 8px; line-height: 20px; vertical-align: top; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);">LA Students 4 Change</td><td class="string Amount_cell" style="padding: 8px; line-height: 20px; vertical-align: top; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);">$1,325,324</td></tr><tr class="even"><td class="string Top Charter Groups_cell" style="padding: 8px; line-height: 20px; vertical-align: top; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);">Major individual donors</td><td class="string Amount_cell" style="padding: 8px; line-height: 20px; vertical-align: top; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);">$230,785</td></tr><tr class="odd"><td class="string Top Charter Groups_cell" style="padding: 8px; line-height: 20px; vertical-align: top; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);">Speak UP - Supporting Nick Melvoin</td><td class="string Amount_cell" style="padding: 8px; line-height: 20px; vertical-align: top; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);">$111,547</td></tr><tr class="even"><td class="string Top Charter Groups_cell" style="padding: 8px; line-height: 20px; vertical-align: top; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);">Students for Education Reform</td><td class="string Amount_cell" style="padding: 8px; line-height: 20px; vertical-align: top; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);">$95,964</td></tr><tr class="lastRow odd"><td class="string Top Charter Groups_cell" style="padding: 8px; line-height: 20px; vertical-align: top; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);">Charter Total</td><td class="string Amount_cell" style="padding: 8px; line-height: 20px; vertical-align: top; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);">$9,695,351</td></tr></tbody></table><table id="table" class="table" style="max-width: 650px; width: 650px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 50px auto;"><thead><tr><th class="string Top Union Groupscell" style="text-transform: capitalize; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); padding: 8px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Top Union Groups</th><th class="string Amount_cell" style="text-transform: capitalize; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); padding: 8px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Amount</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr class="firstRow odd"><td class="string Top Union Groupscell" style="padding: 8px; line-height: 20px; vertical-align: top; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);">United Teachers Los Angeles and affiliated PACs</td><td class="string Amount_cell" style="padding: 8px; line-height: 20px; vertical-align: top; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);">$4,128,206</td></tr><tr class="even"><td class="string Top Union Groupscell" style="padding: 8px; line-height: 20px; vertical-align: top; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);">Valley Voters United</td><td class="string Amount_cell" style="padding: 8px; line-height: 20px; vertical-align: top; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);">$617,362</td></tr><tr class="odd"><td class="string Top Union Groupscell" style="padding: 8px; line-height: 20px; vertical-align: top; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);">Labor Federation and affiliated PACs</td><td class="string Amount_cell" style="padding: 8px; line-height: 20px; vertical-align: top; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);">$398,667</td></tr><tr class="lastRow even"><td class="string Top Union Groupscell" style="padding: 8px; line-height: 20px; vertical-align: top; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);">Union Total</td><td class="string Amount_cell" style="padding: 8px; line-height: 20px; vertical-align: top; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);">$5,221,273</td></tr></tbody></table>* Service Employees International spent money on both sides: $169,972 for charter-backed Monica Garcia; $51,494 for candidates endorsed by teachers unions.Source: Los Angeles Ethics Commission<h3 class="question" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 31px; margin: 30px auto 25px; clear: left; width: 720px; max-width: 720px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Which individuals or groups spent the most money?</h3>More information will be revealed with ongoing disclosure filings, but Reed Hastings, the co-founder of Netflix and a Democrat, appears to lead the pack with nearly $7 million donated since last September to California Charter Schools Assn. Advocates. Hastings, like others, does not appear in city filings as a contributor because he gave to the charter association. That association then spent money on the campaign or transferred funds to other pro-charter groups.One of these affiliated groups is Parent Teacher Alliance. This is not the <topic id="OREDU0000168"><a class="taxInlineTagLink" id="OREDU0000168" title="PTA" href="http://www.latimes.com/topic/education/pta-OREDU0000168-topic.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;">PTA</a></topic>, but an affiliate “sponsored” by CCSA Advocates with a name that, on campaign mailers, resembles the better-known and nonpartisan Parent Teacher Assn. That PTA has complained about this similarity.In city filings, Parent Teacher Alliance ($5.14 million) tops the list of outside spenders. Its money comes largely, perhaps entirely, from CCSA Advocates, which reported transferring $4.53 million to Parent Teacher Alliance in the last four months of 2016.A small group of wealthy individuals and their foundations are the ultimate sources of funding for the pro-charter groups.<h3 class="question" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 31px; margin: 30px auto 25px; clear: left; width: 720px; max-width: 720px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Why did students spend more than a million dollars to defeat incumbent school board President Steve Zimmer?</h3>They did not. The group “LA Students 4 Change” is a pro-charter political action committee managed by political consultant John Shallman and working in conjunction with CCSA Advocates. In an interview with Times columnist Steve Lopez, Shallman explained that his team <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-20170208-lopez-schools-20170207-story.html" target="_blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">recruited </a>a group of high school students, who appeared in flyers and became involved in the campaign. The students were to be compensated as much as $500 for their help.The primary contributor though was former L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan, a moderate Republican and Trump supporter, who gave $1 million to this PAC. He gave another $1 million to CCSA Advocates. And he spent an additional $41,398 directly.<h3 class="question" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 31px; margin: 30px auto 25px; clear: left; width: 720px; max-width: 720px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Where does the union side get its money?</h3>In city filings, United Teachers Los Angeles is the big spender on the union side, at about $4.13 million. Much of this money came from other teachers unions: American Federation of Teachers, $1.2 million; National Education Assn., $700,000; California Teachers Assn., $250,000.The union collects an average of $9.50 a month from the 22% of its 32,000 members who have agreed to contribute to political campaigns, totaling about $67,000 a month from January onward. Union members also voted to borrow $500,000 from their strike fund for the election effort.The teachers union also contributed an undisclosed amount as part of a "We Are Public Schools" media campaign, which includes billboards with positive messages about public schools. Some featured pictures of the candidates the union supported.<h3 class="question" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 31px; margin: 30px auto 25px; clear: left; width: 720px; max-width: 720px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">How easy is it to figure out the source of the money in the school board races?</h3><h3 style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 31px; margin: 30px auto 25px; clear: left; width: 720px; max-width: 720px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Not very. California Charter Schools Assn. Advocates, for example, files with state regulators, not the city, and the state requires only a semi-annual report. It won’t be possible to look up who gave in the five months leading up to the May 16 election until sometime after June.Key contributors, however, gave large amounts in the last part of 2016, which was disclosed in the most recent semi-annual report.</h3><h3 class="question" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 31px; margin: 30px auto 25px; clear: left; width: 720px; max-width: 720px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Why do the candidates keep saying they ran positive campaigns when piles of mailers seem to indicate otherwise?</h3>The current campaign tactic is to allow the outside spenders, with the lion’s share of the campaign money, to do the dirty work. The candidates use their shares of campaign money to run positive messages about themselves, emphasizing their good character and how much they abhor negative campaigning. They also usually accuse their opponents of mudslinging, when the outside funders on both sides are doing it.==