Thursday, August 18, 2011

Open Letter to DFER's Gloria Romero regarding her recent reactionary letter to the AFT

I think about former Senator Gloria Romero comparing Compton educators to "batterers" and wondered whether the writers of those words ever stop to think about the consequences of their prose. — Martha Infante

Gloria J. Romero, Queen of California School Privatization, head of reactionary DFER, darling of the CCSA.
Photo by Mark Warner (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Sen. Romero:

Here are some questions I'd like to ask you for an upcoming Schools Matter article I'm writing regarding your recent letter to the AFT:

Why did you find the AFT slide show offensive?

Why does the Parent Empowerment Act only contain the punitive portions of NCLB? Why nothing to help existing schools improve? Why nothing that would actually empower parents?

You mention "bake sales," in reference to supposed parental power at public schools. Are you aware that charter corporations have nothing like Governing School Councils, School Site Councils, or Governing boards like Pilot, Traditional, and ESBMM schools have. Why no efforts to increase the existing decision making power parents have in those venues, and why don't you advocate for charter schools to provide similar mechanisms for their disenfranchised parents?

You authored SB-191 and SB-592 on behalf of the deep pocketed trade group California Charter School Association. No apologies for helping the CCSA increase market share and the already considerable wealth of their executives? Any explanation from Democrats for Education Reform as to how privatizing schools empowers parents or communities?

Lastly, what's to stop cynical charter-voucher proxy groups like Parent Revolution from using the "trigger" law to increase charter school market share? Also, were you aware that Ben Austin broke the law when he lobbied at the State Board of Education? Did you know he received a letter of admonishment for his illegal activities? There's a copy of the letter in this article: "Parent" Trigger co-author Austin knew he was breaking laws while he lobbied the California State Board of Education.

I appreciate your prompt response to my questions

Advocating public education and social justice

Robert D. Skeels

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