Huttlinger PAC campaigns for Bryan Johnson for LASD

Here are two of the most disturbing things I gleaned from the “anti Tanya Raschke, pro Bryan Johnson ” election email I received last week from Joe Seither of the Hutlinger Alliance. The email signers – Huttlinger Alliance Founders – apparently don’t believe that the direction of the LASD Board policy should include:

1) permanently siting the charter school and
2) moving sixth grade to the junior highs (aka the middle school model.)

At the League of Women Voters’ forum Oct. 6, Board candidate Bryan Johnson agreed with candidate Tanya Raschke, that these policies were to be pursued asap. This letter from Seither last week does not mention those two important policy planks. Instead it does mention extending the short-term, limited facilities “arrangement” with BCS; not a word in it about fixing the lack of sixth grade math with the middle school model.

Under the mentoring of current Trustees like Sangeeth Peruri and PAC supporters like Joe Seither, Bryan can be seen flip-flopping on issues like a fish out of water.

My Method: The complete text of the PAC’s letter follows and is in black. Lalahpolitico remarks are interspersed in blue with a graphic. Following the best tradition in fact-checking I will rate each claim with zero to four Pinochios. Pants on fire, however, is reserved for the very worst misrepresentations. Other icons are self-explanatory.

Truthiness Analysis

From: Elena, Mark and Joe <joeseither@gmail.com>
Subject: Bryan Johnson for LASD
Date: October 24, 2016 at 10:13:53 AM PDT
To: <normaschroder@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: <joeseither@gmail.com>

Los Altos School District will be well served with Bryan Johnson as Trustee. Please vote for Bryan Johnson.

Dear LASD voter:

We believe Bryan Johnson is the best candidate for the open seat on the Los Altos School District Board of Trustees. His opponent has almost no record of supporting LASD in any capacity since she quit LASD eight years ago to join Santa Clara County-chartered Bullis Charter School.

4 pinnochios – They claim Bryan’s opponent, Tanya Raschke has no “almost” record of recently supporting LASD!? Wrong! Tanya served on the LASD Superintendent’s Facilities Master Plan Committee from 2014-15. It met at least one a month for 2 hours. Lalah attended almost all of the meeetings. Tanya was almost always there. It was a a great deal of work. She was always prepared, actively participated with useful insights and did not just sit there passive and uncommunicative as some members did.

We know you’re committed to excellent public education and have an interest in the upcoming Board of Trustees election. You may recall receiving emails from us via The Huttlinger Alliance for Education, a non-profit community service group, for which we were founding members. Even though the Alliance is now inactive, we remain dedicated to the ongoing success of our excellent public K-8 school district.

3 pinnochios – Lying by omission, the email senders fail to remind you the Huttlinger Alliance was formed to raise money to pay for “extra” litigation against the charter school and to market negative and false information about charter schools in general and about the Bullis Charter School in particular. It is Lalahpolitico’s understanding there were about 5 founding members, and they were each kicking in $5K and up. They leveraged connections at PTA to develop lists. Also the non-school community-at-large was pushed their “educational” material. HAE has not spent to support teacher salaries, teacher training materials, etc.

We urge you to vote for Bryan because only he has:
• Spent six years learning about LASD from top to bottom, attending and speaking at board meetings, and working to pass Measures N and GG to benefit schools

2 pinnochios – Lying by Omission. Bryan certainly has been involved as a parent of Santa Rita students for 6 years. But learning about LASD from top to bottom because of that?! As to his attendance at board meetings, I suspect Lalahpolitico has attended way more board meetings since 2012 than he has. In the last year, I think saw him twice. Since the beginning of the summer, when he was recruited to be a candidate, of course he’s been attending regularly. I probably know as much about LASD as he does. Bryan hasn’t been on the Facilities Master Plan Committee like Tanya Raschke or the Finance Committee like Trustee Vladamir Ivanovich.

The senders of this email forget to mention that Bryan Johnson – their preferred candidate – also donated lavishly to the N and GG bond and parcel tax campaigns, which looks like a “pay to play” move to buy a seat on the Board. [Jessica Speiser also paid into N and GG to be allowed to play Trustee.] The senders also fail to mention Bryan Johnson led the opposition to senior housing improvement at Pilgrim’s Haven – The Terraces. Anti-senior?

The senders also fail to mention, that , Bryan was the person who stood up at a March 14, 2016 Board meeting and first suggested to the Board that the Board continue to procrastinate with Measure N decisions. He urged them to once again put off looking at solutions that use existing land; it would make it easier to pass GG and easier for Trustees Taglio and Luther to get re-elected. Do you remember how in the spring, Board President Pablo Luther PROMISED that by June 2016 the board almost certainly would have decided on a site to buy, and failing that the Board would start to look at existing land? But no, that is not happening. A broken promise. Thanks Bryan for enabling the continued delay in progress !!!

If you read just one of Lalahpolitico’s Golden Oldies…read this one below. Bryan Johnson is heard suggesting more decision delay…
Skim till you find the heading … Bryan Johnson Public Speaker

Figure: Bryan John Urges Decision Delay – March 14, 2016

School Board sets LASD Tenth Site BCS Decision Deadline

• Been a Santa Rita PTA volunteer at every level, including a term as President, and has a well-earned reputation as a team-builder

TRUE. But his opponent, Tanya Raschke, has also been involved at LASD PTA’s – Loyola and Santa Rita – at many levels, for a long time, but no, not as a PTA President. Instead she recently worked for over a year on LASD on a Facilities Master Planning Committee… much better experience for making Board-level decisions about the Board’s BIG ISSUE – Facilities spending! Measure N $150M spending! In addition, she is involved with $250M worth of facilities decisions in her operations career at Stanford University.

• A strong relationship with teachers and staff, and received the endorsement of the Los Altos Teachers’ Association

TRUE, but Raschke also knows the importance of “happy teachers.” Bryan’s a nice guy. Re: the LATA union, Bryan seems unlikely to oppose even a single clause in the next union contract. Even former Trustee Mark Goines protested certain aspects of prior contracts; he wanted more instructional time.

• Seen first-hand the struggles faced by English language learners, economically disadvantaged, and special needs students at Santa Rita, and understands the kinds of support all students need to thrive

IMMATERIAL. Many members of our community who have had kids, have sent them to the public schools which all have English language learners, economically disadvantaged, and special needs students. We’ve all seen it first hand. We all want these students to get what they need. The charter admits special needs students and gives them the state mandated 504 or IEP just as at District-run schools. The overall “Special Day Class” population (for the severely disabled) at LASD is small and the students are pooled (economies of scale). If BCS had a severely disabled student who needs a SDC accommodation, he/she would be going to SDC with other county-wide SDC students. As for the low socio-economic students, the Parent Teacher Organizations at the charter and at the District-run schools both fund hot lunches for these kids. The disadvantaged get the same lunch from the vendor as all the other kids who order hot lunch.

• Committed to working toward a facilities-sharing arrangement with BCS that outlives the current agreement but does not shortchange students or groups that attend and use LASD schools and campuses

PANTS ON FIRE. Oh my god, Flip Flop extraordinaire. According to HAE, Bryan is not even promising a permanent solution for Bullis Charter anymore? Now LASD is just looking for “an arrangement?” At the beginning of this campaign he promised siting BCS permanently, like with a real site permanently! Now HAE says says he will extend the current 5-year agreement/arrangement? What for another 1, 2, 5 years, just enough to “outlive” the current arrangement? Do you suppose that means Bryan will vote with the School Borg to indefintely keep BCS split on Egan and Blach?

So the only people to NOT be “shortchanged” are students at District-run schools and neighbors of LASD land? But it’s ok to shortchange charter students? So we are not healing after all? Sad.

• Been endorsed by all current LASD Trustees, many former Los Altos City Council members, numerous community members and State Assemblyman Rich Gordon

TRUE. This is a major negative for Bryan. The current School Borg chose him! He must have promised to be part of the School Borg establishment. And to uphold the life and culture of “Covington Privilege.” Other parts of LASD don’t matter much to the majority of Trustees and apparently not to Bryan.

You can learn more about Bryan at http://www.bryanjohnsonforlasd.com

Los Altos School District and our community will be well served with Bryan Johnson as Trustee. Please join us in voting for Bryan Johnson on November 8.

Well-served? WRONG. Please vote to prevent the continuation of this slo-mo train wreck, vote to end this Trustee decision paralysis, this Covington Privilege. Vote for Bryan’s opponent, Tanya Raschke, a NEC Mountain View resident. She has the experience to work with complex facilities plans and to wisely spend the Measure N $150M. She has the backbone to speak truth at Trustee meetings, even in the face of overwhelming “Covington School” privilege.

Sincerely,
Elena Shea, Mark Boenninghausen, and Joe Seither

These above Huttlinger Alliance alumni have been key donors to past litigation spending and to spending on national, state, and local anti-charter school “communications,” aka propaganda. They should have had just donated it all to LAEF. That would have actually helped LASD.

Copyright © 2016 Neighbors supporting Bryan Johnson, All rights reserved.
You received this email because you provided an email address when you registered to vote or you were on The Huttlinger Alliance for Education email list.

Our mailing address is:
Neighbors supporting Bryan Johnson
1260 Payne Dr
Los Altos, CA 94024

Several people have told me that Joe Seither resides at the 1260 Payne address. The other email sender — Elena Shea — is a Covington School Area parent. It is a fact that Elena Shea recently became the paid School Clerk at Covington School. [I think the job role involves attendance and materials distribution.]