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Democratic charter school advocates are starting to help elect Republicans. Author and host of the Have You Heard podcast Jennifer Berkshire pointed out a noteworthy trend in the ever-shifting partisan dynamics of public school privatization. “Well-heeled Democratic charter advocates [are] spending big to elect Republicans.” This includes cofounder of Netflix Reed Hastings, a longtime charter school backer. Twitter

This pairs well with journalist Rebecca Klein’s breakdown of how state governments are carrying former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’s torch as they consider school voucher programs. HuffPost

Now the rest of the news…

“Enabling theft and fraud” in Los Angeles. Carl Peterson documents how the Los Angeles Unifed School District continues to take away building space from public school students to give to charter schools, with past due bills totaling $1.9 million. Patch

Charter school founder gets a year in prison. The founder of a defunct charter school in St. Louis, Missouri, has been sentenced to 366 days in prison and ordered to repay nearly $2.4 million in state funding obtained by falsifying student attendance. St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“Charter schools invaded our neighborhoods without public input.” A group of parents, teachers, and educators in East Los Angeles detail how their neighborhoods have become saturated with charter schools to the detriment of public schools. Age of Awareness

And here’s this week’s opportunity to connect…

The Coalition for Community Schools and Institute for Educational Leadership is hosting a coalition town hall on racial equity in the “community school” model. Join February 23, 2021 2:00 – 3:00 PM ET. Coalition for Community Schools

Photo by Helge Thomas.

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