Damien Newton

Major victory over a corporate charter school chain and their trade association

Original post at Robert’s page on Medium.

On Tuesday, March 23, 2021, I got my second big win in court against a charter school corporation. It was also a major victory over their California Charter Schools Association (“CCSA”) trade association, which tried to use the case to carve out immunity to the California Public Records Act (“CPRA”). I represented @DotKohlhaas in the action.

Here was my tweet from the day prior, after skimming through the tentative:

TFW the tentative ruling is 80% in your favor, so you won't be arguing from a position of weakness during the hearing. 😍😍😍 pic.twitter.com/SnWy8woEaH
— Robert D Skeels, JD, Esq 🔻 (@rdsathene) March 23, 2021

My first win against a corporate charter school was a year ago as third chair in a suit to overturn a wrongful expulsion of a student of color. The Partnerships to Uplift Communities (“PUC”) charter chain (of convicted felon Ref Rodriguez fame) had violated the student’s due process rights. Violated isn’t a strong enough word for what they did. PUC unilaterally changed the charges at the appeals hearing and then branded the child as a terrorist in his permanent record. Under the tutelage of the brilliant partners at the law firm I was a part-timer at the time (I am currently transitioning to full time there), plus sage advice from @DrPrestonGreen, we built a strong case.

It was my argument that the charter corporation never proved specific intent — a crucial element to Ed. Code § 48900.7, as well as PUC’s glaring lack of notice afforded to the student, that saw the court overturn the wrongful expulsion and give the student their life back.

This latest case was a charter trying to hide all its dirty secrets by not complying with the CPRA. The scandal-ridden The Accelerated Schools (“TAS”) charter chain’s leaders absconded when the community started pushing back and started asking questions about union busting.

Michael Kohlhaas dot org sent sent TAS several CPRA requests in 2018, which they ignored (unlawfully). A year later, I filed the petition for writ of mandamus to compel them to produce records. Some ten months later TAS finally sent some records, but claimed “blanket exemptions” on a bunch of other ones.

The Accelerated Schools Sued To Compel Compliance With The California Public Records Act – My First CPRA Petition Against A Charter School – But Not The Last – Not – By – Any – Means

The good folks at Michael Kohlhaas dot org documented the part when it was decided to continue with the litigation. This was for Hilda, an amazing educator, and all the other people wronged by TAS/CCSA.

In October 2020 The Accelerated Schools Produced Five GB of Records In Response To My 2019 Requests — And In Response To The Lawsuit I Filed In December Over Their Refusal To Comply With The Law — The Production Was Huge But Seriously Deficient In A Number Of Ways — And Their Exemption Claims Were The Usual Implausible Nonsense — Through My Lawyer — The Incomparable Robert Skeels — I Begged Them To Be Sensible And Discuss — Pleaded Even — But They Unaccountably Refused — So We’re Going To Trial On March 23 2021 — Unless They Come To Their Damn Senses Before Then — Get A Copy Of The Trial Brief Here!

An infamous law firm that only represents lucrative, privately managed charter school corporations staked out the position that any communications with the charter school industry’s trade association — the CCSA — was subject to a range of exemptions under the CPRA.

I suppose I can’t blame them. The charter industry — long used to unaccountably spending tax dollars in total secrecy — fought tooth and nail the imposition of the CPRA and Brown Act added by Ed. Code § 47604.1(b)(2)(A). When the statute took effect January 2020, charter school corporations were already looking for ways to skirt the law. At the firm where I’m a junior associate, we use the CPRA for pre-discovery work against charter corporations. Michael Kohlhaas dot org, on the other hand, has used the CPRA to expose some of the ugliest, scandalous conduct by an industry already infamous for scandal. Uncovering the vile Nick Melvoin’s sharing of Los Angeles Unified School District’s (“LAUSD”) confidential legal strategies with their then party-opponent in a lawsuit (the CCSA) was a blockbuster revelation enabled by the CPRA.

It Appears That Icky Sticky Nicky Melvoin Revealed Confidential Attorney Client Information From LAUSD’s Office Of The General Counsel To The California Charter School Association In A Secret Meeting In February 2018 — Having To Do With A January 2016 CCSA Lawsuit Against LAUSD Over Prop 39 Access To Facilities — In February 2018 CCSA Met With Melvoin About LAUSD Facilities Policy — At This Meeting Melvoin Told CCSA — The Adverse Parties In The Freaking Lawsuit — That LAUSD’s General Counsel Was “Confident In Lawsuit Position” — And Therefore Was Disinclined To Settle — Two Months Later CCSA Conceded And Dropped The Suit Without A Settlement — Perhaps Their Decision To Pursue This Course Was Informed By Confidential Information Obtained From Melvoin — It’s Hard To Imagine It Could Be Otherwise

Of course, when you start using the sunshine laws on one of the darkest and vilest industries hatched out of the neoliberal project, you’re going to expose a lot of charter school scandals. There’s so many documented here.

Back to TAS claiming blanket exemptions. When I tried to explain the law to them, they responded: “The claim based on your legal analysis that these exemptions do not apply to the records withheld in this matter is incorrect.”

I was a little nervous going into this, but got a great deal of advice from three National Lawyers Guild attorneys who have also represented Michael Kohlhaas dot orgin the past like the incomparable Matthew Strugar, Colleen Flynn, and Abenicio Cisneros. The two former helped me with procedural questions and sample pleadings. The latter provided me argument strategies for my reply brief and gave me the best authority to cite on exemptions (Golden Door Properties, LLC v. Superior Ct. of San Diego Cty., 53 Cal. App. 5th 733, 267 Cal. Rptr. 3d 32, 64 (2020), as modified on denial of reh’g (Aug. 25, 2020))(“Golden Door”). How on point was that case? The Court cited that same case three times in their minute order.

We had already prevailed since the lawsuit caused TAS to produce some records last October, but the dispute over the blanket CCSA exemptions was a proxy political battle. TAS surprisingly claimed exemptions on emails that Michael Kohlhaas dot org had obtained via CPRA from other charter school corporations that had followed the law. Weird hill to die on, but this was the CCSA trying to establish blanket exemptions. The Court ruled that every one of those emails was not exempt! A major win for us.

Also, because we caught TAS in (several) obvious lies, including one where they claimed in one pleading that only a small percentage of documents had been exempted, and then had a high-paid TAS executive claim in their sworn declaration that there were “hundreds of thousands” of records exempted. We pointed out that inconsistency, which led to the court granting our request for a privilege log. Better still, the court used Golden Door to order TAS to produce declarations for each record they claim exempt. While we didn’t get everything we put in our prayer, this was a major victory — especially in regards to the claims for blanket exemptions from the CCSA. I’m sure this isn’t the last time they’ll try this strategy, but at least we can share how to argue against it.

The final disposition will be decided in the summer, but TAS having to produce privilege logs supported by sworn declarations totally justified us continuing to litigate after the settlement offer. Let the corporate charter school industry know that they aren’t going to be able to hide their dark secrets anymore. Here’s a few excerpts from my briefs that probably didn’t sit well with the corporate charter school industry, their CCSA trade association, and their hired mercenaries. ¡La lucha continua!

Lastly, huge shout-out to Michael Kohlhaas dot org. They’re doing the lord’s work. From exposing self-dealing by tax payer funded Business Improvement Districts (“BIDs”), to uncovering some extremely disturbing activities by the Los Angeles Police Department (“LAPD”), to putting the lucrative, corporate charter school industry on notice that the sunshine laws are coming for them, to using the CPRA to protect the most vulnerable in our communities, like I always say: “not all heroes wear capes.”

This Week’s Headlines: School’s Out for Summer, How Should It Reopen?, and #DefundTheLASPD

If we thought the 2018-2019 school year was a weird one, we had no idea what this past school year would have in store. It started out normal, and then the virus hit, and two months later people were in the streets asking for the school police to be disbanded.

But the school year is finally over, with classes not scheduled to start again until August 18. In the meantime, Summer school will start next week, The Grab & Go program will continue through the summer, and parents are being asked to take this survey with their opinions on when and how schools should re-open.

Meanwhile, the American Federation of Teachers estimates it will cost $116 billion to open schools safely across the county before a return can be thought about.

UTLA Calls For School Board To Defund The Police (LASPD)

Yesterday, the United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) Board of Directors voted on a motion demanding that the school board de-fund the Los Angeles Schools Police Department (LASPD), the largest school police department in the country. While the full details of the motion and its reach are not public information as of this writing, UTLA has a long history of supporting major reforms in school policing and the Black Lives Matter movement in Los Angeles.

The vote can be understood as support for the Black Lives Matter protests. Concern for the experience of our BIPOC students everywhere – in our schools and on our streets – has taken over the discourse across the country following the murder of George Floyd and the eruption of police brutality in response to protests.

The UTLA is hardly alone in calling for radical changes, or even a complete abolition, of the LASPD. Groups such as the Community Corporation of South Los Angeles, the ACLU, Black Lives Matter, Students Deserve, and the Labor Community Strategy Center (known for projects such as Taking Action Social Justice Clubs in L.A. High Schools and the Bus Riders Union) have been working for change in how middle and high schools mediate behavioral issues with students for years. And that change would include either de-funding or completely abolishing the school police.

In a Big News Week, Updated Schools and Communities First Quietly Qualifies for the November Ballot

Back in April, backers of Schools and Communities First submitted a record-breaking 1.7 million signatures to the Secretary of State to qualify the funding measure for the fall ballot. While the state had to verify the signatures, less than 1 million were needed so it was all-but-certain the measure would earn its ballot spot.

And over the weekend, the state made it official. Schools and Communities First will be on the ballot.

“With the steep cuts in our county budget we’ll be faced with really difficult decisions that will jeopardize people’s access to these critically needed services,” writes Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheilia Kuehl.

Headlines: The State’s Education Budget Promises Cuts, More on the Virtual LAUSD Plans for Summer School, and Re-Opening?

The last time we did headlines, we spotlighted a UTLA tweet that warned of a massive budget fight coming to school districts. Last week, Governor Newsom released his proposed school budget for next year. According to KPCC/LAist Education reporter Kyle Stokes, there are pretty sever cuts, but it could be worse.

“The news could’ve been worse for schools. Because California law closely ties education funding with state revenues, schools could’ve lost billions more. But Newsom proposed a series of temporary measures — including injecting another $4.4 billion of federal coronavirus relief money directly into district budgets — to backfill some of the revenue loss.

Another silver lining: Newsom also refused to roll back a proposal for a 15% increase in spending on special education, which is funded separately from the rest of the K-12 program.”

Stokes goes on to outline other things that could come into play that could spare districts from more cuts: federal aid, new funding approved by voters, and action by the legislature.

Headlines: LAUSD Says Back to Class on August 18, More Battles Over Charter Co-Location, and Let’s Appreciate All School Employees

Earlier today, LAUSD announced that the 2020-2021 school year will begin on August 18, as originally planned. Despite some early reporting that this meant the campuses themselves would re-open, LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner made clear that campuses may still be closed, and this could just be the day that remote learning begins for the new school year. Maybe it would help if we all made social distancing hats for our kids.

There have been plenty of false starts and confusion over just when LAUSD would re-open its campuses in the past two months. Even in the past week, Governor Gavin Newsom opined that schools “may re-open” in July, causing UTLA and others to point out that such an opening would be a huge financial hit to districts. Later in the week, President Donald Trump urged states to consider re-opening schools for the rest of the current school year.

Sadly, this affirmation of the school year start date is not the only COVID-19 related news. School districts, LAUSD among them, are warning that massive cuts may be coming as a result of decreased revenue caused by the COVID-19 slowdown. Even as children struggle with distance learning and upheaval in their home lives as parents are laid off or furloughed, school districts could be seeing massive cuts even as Congress seems (maybe – the story is complicated and evolving) to have found money to bail out cruise ships headquartered in other countries and another $500 billion in no-strings-attached “loans” to big businesses.

Headlines: LAUSD Earns High Marks For “Grab And Go”, Rough Financial Times Coming and More on Elections.

In addition to providing educational opportunities for students during the shutdown, LAUSD has also been distributing meals though its “Grab and Go” program at schools throughout the district. The program is earning mostly high marks, and was profiled in the LA Times last week as an example of a COVID response program that’s working. There’s also a video version of the story.

If you are in need, visit this link to see where the closest Grab and Go can be found.

Also, a hat tip for the fun #GrabnDough hashtag that features recipes to make better meals out of Grab and Go food bags.

And as we start to look forward to schools re-opening, hopefully in the fall, the question circles around what schools will look like on Back to School Day. NPR has some thoughts based on what is happening at re-opened schools throughout the world.

One Week of Headlines: School’s Out FOREVER (until next year), No F’s in the Last Quarter, UTLA Pushes Back on Relocations and More…

Well, it’s official. Yesterday morning, LAUSD announced that its buildings will be closed until the next school year giving time for more long-term planning to educate students in a safe environment while we wait for a coronavirus vaccine. Summer school will be offered online. No final word on STAR or other camps based on the school campus, but based on the language used by Beutner, I would guess they aren’t happening. LAist/KPCC, KTLA, EdSource.

The LAUSD announcement came the same day Spring Break ended and students returned to their virtual learning experience. It’s a hard way to start off Spring quarter, and in response there have been many wonderful “missing you” videos from all around the District. An exemplar is from Venice High School, where the same teachers who stole the city’s heart by dancing in the rain during the 2019 strike did their best to put a happy face on this weird experience in this video.

And while classes continue online, the move to approve charter co-locations continues in the real world. UTLA is asking LAUSD to put a halt on all charter co-location applications until the general public can be more involved in the process. Such a move is in-line with recommendations from national advocates for equity and inclusion in public processes.

From the “best practices” department comes a virtual spirit week put together by the parent advocate at Richland Avenue Elementary School (where my kids go.) If you’re looking for something fun to add to your curriculum or your kids’ sheltering at home, check it out.

Find SARS2/Covid19 resources for families here.

Backers of “Schools and Communities First” Submit Record Breaking Number of Signatures for Inclusion on Fall Ballot.

Backers of the Schools and Communities First Ballot Initiative didn’t let a little thing like a global pandemic stop them from submitting 1.7 million signatures to the California Secretary of State to earn a spot on the November ballot. The measure needs 50%+1 vote to pass. California’s fiscal analyst estimates it would raise an estimated $8-$12.5 billion a year for education and public safety by changing the state constitution and raising property taxes on California’s largest businesses.

“Now more than ever, we need to support those heroes on the front lines who have been caring for the most vulnerable, educating our children, and keeping Californians safe,” said Alex Stack, communications director for the Schools & Communities First campaign, in a press statement.

To qualify for the fall ballot, Schools and Communities First would need nearly one million verified signatures (read: signatures of voters registered in California). Because of poor handwriting, error recording the signatures or people just putting bad information on the signature sheets, the state recommends gathering 20% more signatures than the minimum requirement.

April 1 is Census Day! Take a Break from Homeschooling to Fill Your Form Out Online.

This post and podcast originally appeared at Streetsblog Los Angeles.

April 1 is Census Day! Every ten years, the United States government sends out a questionnaire to ask people living in America where they live and other questions about their lives. The final count of where people live helps determine how the federal government allocates resources. So the more people that fill out the census, the more money will flow into their community.

Today, SGV Connect broadcasts this half-episode with Active SGV’s Adriana Pinedo who is leading the advocacy group’s efforts to get as many people counted in the San Gabriel Valley as possible.