Closing Schools, Faulting Teachers in Sacramento

July 25, 2013

By Seth Sandronsky
and Duane Campbell

Seth Sandronsky's ZSpace Page

Officially, a budget shortfall for the Sacramento City Unified School District caused closure of seven elementary schools. Marcos Bretón, a columnist for The Sacramento Bee, weighed in with this: “I honestly don't believe that the district was driven by racial bias in closing schools months ago” http://www.sacbee.com/2013/07/14/5565087/marcos-breton-poor-sacramento.html

Excellent in the column is recognition that the SCUSD schools in low-income neighborhoods are disastrously underfunded. Further, as Bretón notes, in low-income neighborhoods the police system does not work, the health system does not work, the garbage goes unpicked up, and water and sewage are problems, along with gangs. Why then, do we expect underfunded schools to work in such neighborhoods?

When it comes to education policy and race, Bretón finds fault in the plaintiffs’ bid to establish legal proof of racial bias in school closures. A federal district judge, Kimberly J. Mueller, agreed on July 22 that the case of the plaintiffs lacked merit.

When it comes to money and policy to close schools and save the district $1 million, we should put this amount in a broader context that Bretón does not. For instance, there is recent and relevant Sacramento history.

Between January 19, 2012, and June 5, 2012, the Walton Family Foundation, the philanthropic arm of retail giant Wal-Mart, donated a total of $500,000 to Stand Sacramento for Sacramento Schools, the 501(c) (3) nonprofit school reform group that Mayor Kevin Johnson founded in 2009 with $500,000 from the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation. In the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Mayor Kevin Johnson is the Second Vice-President and Education Reform Task Force Chair.

Contacted by one of us for comment, a spokesperson for his Stand Sacramento for Sacramento Schools declined to reply as to how the group is spending the $500,000. We know one thing. Walton Family Foundation money is not bridging a budget gap to keep the closed district schools open.

Private dollars flow. Public schools close. This trend speaks volumes about local public education now.

Wal-Mart gives big money to Mayor Kevin Johnson

Wal-Mart and the Walton Family Foundation, named for the family that created the company, have been the largest donors, contributing nearly $800,000 combined to nonprofits on behalf of Johnson and other council members since 2009, according to disclosure documents filed with the city clerk's office.

Those payments include $505,000 since last year to Johnson's education reform initiatives and other groups backed by the mayor. Johnson received another $210,000 from Wal-Mart between 2009 and 2011 – most of which was not reported by the mayor until December 2012. The Walmart Foundation also gave $50,000 last year to a neighborhood nonprofit organization founded by Schenirer, documents show.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/06/30/5534449/sacramento-mayor-kevin-johnson.html#storylink=cpy

Note. Mayor Johnson travels to many cities and speaks at events usually organized by a network of African American churches. He was on Obama's Mayor's Committee on Education.  He promotes the education agenda advocated by his wife Michelle Rhee and by the Walton family.