California Charter Schools Association Just Endorsed Former UTLA Organizer, Antonio Villaraigosa

30Mar
by Leticia Chavez-Garcia

Antonio Villaraigosa just received the endorsement of the California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) in San Diego, California at their annual conference this week. As you may or should know, Antonio Villaraigosa, the former Mayor of Los Angeles, is running in a pretty crowded field for Governor of California. And actually, there are several great candidates. Delaine Eastin, who was the first woman to be elected superintendent of public instruction, is great. If elected, she would be California’s first woman governor.  I do like her progressive platform. Then there is another really great candidate, California State Treasurer, John Chiang. Chiang would become the first Chinese American Governor if elected. So there are a few good candidates. Not so good, in my humble opinion, is Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom. (And by the way, what exactly does one do as Lt. Governor?)

Gavin Newsom was recently endorsed by the most powerful special interest lobby group in the state. The same folks that endorse all the establishment hacks, you might have heard of them, California Teachers Association (CTA). They control a majority of the legislators currently in Sacramento. If you have ever read any of my pieces, you know that I am not a fan for many reasons. We will save that conversation for another day.  

Let’s discuss how it came to be that a former organizer with the United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) became persona non grata to CTA. It all started when Villaraigosa was Mayor of Los Angeles (after he left the Assembly in which he served as Speaker), and he was approached with the question of why Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) was allowing so many kids of color to fall through the cracks, being pushed out and dropped out of school? Why? He was the Mayor, so folks expected him to step up and help. He could have said no. He could have said it was not his job to interfere with LAUSD. He could have turned a blind eye, but he chose not to. Mayor Villaraigosa decided to face the challenge head on, even if it meant upsetting his good friends and long time supporters, CTA.  

That thing called accountability that many politicians pretend is important was used to determine how the issues with the hundreds of failing schools in the district would or could be addressed. This really pissed off the adults. In retrospect, Villaraigosa’s moves to affect education have been powerfully successful. This gave students and parents great joy. Student outcomes improved, but CTA railed against Mayor Villaraigosa because he supported various alternatives in addressing the needs and challenges within the district. Specifically, he supported bringing in charter schools and worked to create a series of partnership schools within the district. This infuriated CTA.  

So here we are: Antonio Villaraigosa gets snubbed by his former friends even after it’s been proven that his intervention was great for kids. We call that being a champion for kids. The adults have enough champions.  

What do you think?

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Leticia Chavez-Garcia

Leticia Chavez-Garcia is a Mother, Grandmother, former Middle School Teacher, former Member of a School Board of Education and an Education Advocate for hundreds of parents and students in the Inland Empire. Having become a mother at 15, Leticia knows what it’s like to be a single mother trying to navigate the education system. Leticia received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Political Science and Public Administration from California Baptist University and a Masters’ Degree in Education Technology from Cal State Fullerton in her 30’s. Leticia has used her knowledge and experience to help hundreds of families as an Education Advocate in the Inland Empire and currently works as an Education Specialist.

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