"Deceptively, the masquerade of “choice” has served to reinscribe former segregationist and mainstream notions, which have worked effectively to conceal an overarching, mainstream strategy of class and racialized containment." — Professor Antonia Darder
Hi Robert,
How's it going?! I hope you are well and enjoying law school!
It's killing me, I'm not sure I was cut out for this whole law thing.
I was wondering, if you knew much information about Marqueece Harris-Dawson who is running for city council in my district, 8.? I know that he is CEO of Community Coalition and I know some of their history (just a little).
When Community Coalition (@CoCoSouthLA) was founded, they were solely about helping those with substance abuse issues. Sadly they developed broad and deep connections—and became dependent on funding from—United Way Greater Los Angeles (UWGLA), which in turn is funded by the Broad Foundation and Gates Foundation (who also determine UWGLA's education agenda). Hence, the modern @CoCoSouthLA is a leading member of Los Angeles' Nonprofit Industrial Complex (#NPIC) and participates in all the local anti-public school coalitions. They've essentially become one of the more effective public relations arms for the lucrative charter school industry. Their executives, staff, and associates have worked on school board campaigns for candidates funded by Philip Anschutz, Michael Bloomberg, and Eli Broad's Coalition for School Reform (CSR) SuperPAC.
What do you know about his stance or record on charter schools? I tried google searching, but didn't find anything really.
Marqueece Harris-Dawson and @CoCoSouthLA are "all in" on charter-voucher schools, and reactionary ideas like "school choice."
Marqueece Harris-Dawson was a huge supporter of Yolie Flores' vile Public School Choice (PSC) resolution for handouts to the lucrative charter industry.
Marqueece Harris-Dawson and @CoCoSouthLA were part of the privatizers involved in the Don't Hold Us Back campaign to attack United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA), and push for more school privatization.
After the CSR failures with Kate Anderson, Antonio Sanchez, and Alex Johnson, the UWGLA and other NPIC formed another anti-public school coalition: Communities for Los Angeles Student Success (CLASS). @CoCoSouthLA is a founding member, as is Educators for Excellence, Families In Schools, Inner City Struggle, Los Angeles Urban League, and TeachPlus.
Marqueece Harris-Dawson and @CoCoSouthLA were also quick to mourn the hasty departure of the disgraced John Deasy.
I have more on this seeming poverty pimp and privatization pusher, but I think the above is sufficient to establish who he serves.
So, for the list of endorsers for his campaign, there are so many. It does include both Monica Garcia & Steve Zimmer.
Garcia only endorses fellow neoliberal corporate education reform candidates (like Alex Johnson, Marshall Tuck, etc.). Zimmer always kowtows to the NPIC out of fear that they will provide volunteers to his opponents (but they still do it anyway).
At one point there was an article pointing to him as a viable candidate for La Motte's seat, last special election, but he didn't run.
I guess one Alex Johnson was enough in that election cycle.
Let me know what you know. I was invited to a house party meet & greet for him, but I didn't go.
These people think they can hide from their pasts. I make sure the filth from all those charter school industry profits never washes off their hands.
Robert - back when it was first started I recommended one of the parents in my parenting classes to the Community Coalition. At that time they were doing good anti-substance abuse and high school organizing. But I knew the person who started this group enough to know that she had a deep resentment of teachers and public schools. She told me, a teacher, that we were all wrong in the way we taught children, including her own experience in school. I was shocked and really didn't understand her deep resentment of teachers. I am appalled that it has turned into this vitriolic attack on teachers. Did she really intend for it to go this far? I wonder, as she was a supporter of Dr. McKenna. Could she not see how the privatizers are using her former organization? Thank you for this!
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