Billionaires behind California Charter Schools Association’s (CCSA) near record spending to defeat LAUSD's advocate for Students with Disabilities

Contact: Dan Nyaradi Cell: 541-480-4948 3/1/15 KAYSER IS UNDER-DOG IN ELECTION AS CCSA IS ON TRACK FOR ANOTHER ALL-TIME SPENDING RECORD IN A SCHOOL BOARD ELECTION Los Angeles –The California Charter Schools Association’s (CCSA) political arm, the CCSA Advocates, has dumped three quarters of a million dollars into defeating Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Board member Bennett Kayser and for promoting Dr. Ref Rodriguez, a member of CCSA’s own Board of Directors. While the issues facing the District are many and varied, this single-issue advocacy group has compressed debate to a simplistic pro- or anti-charter discussion. With just three days left before Election Day, the trade organization and its candidate are $277,543.68 ahead in campaign expenditures. As of 2/25/15, a total of $412,615.34 has been spent in favor of Rodriguez with another $373,762.82 spent maliciously attacking Kayser. With over a quarter million dollar advantage, CCSAA has flooded the airwaves, radio waves, social media, mailboxes and phones. Over the next four days, this gap is expected to increase even more given the large pot of money stashed in Sacramento by the b/millionaires. Howard Blume recently reported in the Los Angeles Times (2/26/15) that prior to the December filing deadline, one billionaire gave the political action committee (PAC) $1.5 million, an out-of-state Republican gave $450,000, and an out-of-state Republican Walmart heir kicked in $250,000 to the group’s large political pot. By running its money through a Sacramento PAC, CCSAA has bypassed local reporting rules that require a much higher level of transparency. Once past the December deadline, the next time CCSA Advocates report is August 2015, at which point voters will learn who gave what in their local school board race. If necessary, there will be a general election in May, once again, voters will be without key information about the rich out-of-town Republicans paying to promote charter school growth in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, the overwhelming majority of Bennett Kayser donors represent the 99% who rely on public education. It will be their volunteering and their small donations that conquer Goliath. Rodriguez Total: $786,378.16 Kayser Total: $508,834.48 (Sources: http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-lausd-charters-election-20150226-story.html#page=1 and http://ethics.lacity.org/disclosure/campaign/totals/public_election.cfm?election_id=50) ### Paid for by Re-Elect Bennett Kayser for School Board 2015 – 419 North Larchmont Blvd., #37, Los Angeles, CA 90004 – ID #1361502 – Additional information is available at Ethics.lacity.org – Bennett2015.com – (323) 283-5574

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