Los Angelinos: "Parent-revolution" is ASTROTURF

[Nikki Stone1]

KFI had on Ben Austin from parentrevolution.org on the Tim Conway Jr. Show last night. Austin claims to be progressive and was a big Obama supporter, but as we know, those are not the same thing.

In the interview, Ben Austin talked about changing public schools to charter schools and getting parents involved to do so.

Here is their agenda:

TRANSFORM YOUR SCHOOL
Creating a great school in any neighborhood is a big promise. Change doesn’t come easily. How can we make this pledge? Here’s how it works:

Once 51% of parents have signed the petition, there are three different ways you can create a great school in your neighborhood.

1) Transformation of your current school.

Once you get 51% of the parents signed up, the first step you can take is going to the District and demanding they transform your school. Force them to present a plan for how they’re going to fix the school and turn it around. And you- the parents- get to chose if that plan is good enough.

Why will they listen to you? Why will they take you seriously? Because you have strength in numbers- hundreds or thousands of parents are standing together. And because you have leverage, and a credible threat: If they don’t transform your school, you will put your child in a high-performing charter school, with the other two options we provide you.

2) Transformation of current school into a charter.

If the District refuses to present a satisfactory plan to fix your school, organizations such as Green Dot Public Schools or Alliance can work with you to transform that school into a high performing charter. Just last year, Green Dot transformed Locke High School into a Green Dot school, and is in the process of completely turning it around. In this scenario, it would be the same exact school, just under completely new management, and still open to every single student in the neighborhood, just like any other public school.

Read more about the Locke story here. Or watch this Mobile Learning Institute video to learn how Green Dot is using the takeover of Locke High School to show how small schools with high expectations can fundamentally change how public education is delivered.

3) Build new charters

If the District won’t transform your school, and we can’t turn your existing school into a charter, we will build new, high performing charter schools in your neighborhood. Then you, the parent, will have choice. You can enroll your child in a high performing charter public school, or keep him or her in their current school. But the choice will be in your hands.

Questions about charter schools? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions about charters.

Thanks to Madfloridian, I have found out that this group is backed by Eli Broad and some of their big supporters are Green Dot and Bright Star, both charter school companies.

http://thebroadreport.blogspot.com/2010/02/connections-between-eli-broad-parent.html

Originally conceived in Los Angeles by Steve Barr’s (of Green Dot) Los Angeles Parents Union, and largely funded by the Broad Foundation, the "Parent Trigger" has spread east, and here and here. This is an initiative where if enough parents can be convinced, pressured, and tricked to sign a petition, a school will be closed down and replaced with a charter. On each Form 990 from 2005 to 2008, Steve Barr is listed as the CEO/President of the LAPU board.

Eli Broad contributed nearly 50% of the funding for the launch of the LAPU (formerly the Small Schools Alliance, aka the Parent Revolution). The money he supplied helped pay for the propaganda to make it seem like the movement is being generated by "the people," when in fact it is a carefully planned, targeted marketing campaign designed to wipe out the public schools.

The most important thing to know is that this organization is not grassroots; it's astroturf!

An absolute lie is being spread that it was "developed by the grass-roots group Parent Revolution in the Los Angeles Unified School District.’ The lie is that group was not a grassroots group by any means. Danny Weil explains its true astroturf nature. Community members in LA have even stated that they were offered monetary compensation in exchange for their signature on a petition. But when a potential buyer for the LA Times is Eli Broad, who would there be to investigate?

Broad-supported State Senator Gloria Romero, in the running as State Superintendent of Public Instruction, has been the main pusher at the California state government level.

If you hear these people, know that they are about "transforming" public schools to privatized schools for hedge fund profit. The agenda is not a good one.