Charter schools regroup after big California election loss
Charter school supporters are deciding where to direct their considerable resources after pouring money into the California governor primary to support a longtime ally who failed to move on to November’s election.
The fallout may signal future uncertainty for the school choice movement in a state with some of the most robust charter school laws in the United States. The front-runner for governor, Democrat Gavin Newsom, could hamper or threaten the progress of charters — privately run schools that use public money and have divided parents and politicians. He has mostly emphasized his support of traditional public schools and called for more charter school accountability.
Newsom’s campaign said it would seek to temporarily halt charter school openings to consider transparency issues but that “successful” charters would thrive under his leadership. In the June 5 race, he beat out former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a key ally of the California Charter Schools Association Advocates.
The powerful organization and its big-name donors, including Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Walmart heir Alice Walton, gave nearly $23 million to support Villaraigosa, who finished behind Newsom and Republican businessman John Cox. Now, the group said it’s working on a new strategy that could include supporting Newsom or Cox, despite the Republican’s endorsement from President Donald Trump. The heavily blue state is helping lead a national resistance to his administration. The charter Advocates is in a tight spot after running attack ads against both candidates who advanced to the general election.
The primary is seen as a failed offensive for the charter group and a loss for advocates that won enough seats last year to control the board of the Los Angeles Unified School District, the second-largest U.S. school system, for the first time.
Their $8.5 million added to the unprecedented total spent on a local school board race.
“I frankly can’t remember a prominent loss that they’ve had,” education policy expert and University of California, Los Angeles, professor John Rogers said of the charter movement’s legislative wins. “The California Charter Schools Association has had the power to ensure that legislation that would be against their interest can’t be passed.”
California was the second state to get a charter school law in 1992 and now boasts the largest enrollment numbers. Supporters have won a series of expansions and developments — trailblazing progress that could be at risk under a new governor.
It sets up the potential for an educational sea change in California, where some charter provisions are unheard of elsewhere.