The arrogance of the rich: the story of Bullis

In Los Altos, California, an area where the median house price as of this writing is $3,391,900 according to Zillow and the median income is $157,500 a year  (the US median is $53,482), wealthy parents in neighboring Los Altos Hills were upset that the Los Altos School District closed their school because of low enrollment (you can read the full story here).  These highly resourced parents started a battle with the district by petitioning for a charter school.  The district turned them down.  Unfortunately, under the law at the time, the county was able to override the district decision and the district was forced to provide space.  



All this was back in 2003.  Now, 16 years later, the charter school continues to suck resources from the district and even worse, these arrogant parents think that because they ran a school for highly resourced children that they know how to do school.  They bullied their way into the neighboring school district to start another charter school that will   "attract low-income students and students learning English, with a goal of having a student body where 35 to 40 percent of children qualify for free and reduced-price meals."  The Bullis board submitted this application regardless of the resistance from the community.  "A majority of comments from parents, students and community members at the Dec. 6 meeting called for the board to either reject the request altogether or delay opening the school for a year."  So, in December when the board approved the charter, only the rich parents from Los Altos not the community in which they are going to drain resources from were happy.  Both board members of the Mountain View school district and the superintendent opposed the school "Superintendent Ayindé Rudolph argued that creating the school would hurt the district financially, and parents contended that the founders had not taken the time necessary to get to know the community they intend to serve: low-income families."  Yet, they approved it because "trustees said they had little choice but to approve the charter petition. First, the board is only legally allowed to reject the petition if the proposal is unsound in some way – if the educational model wouldn’t work, the financials aren’t in order or the petition lacks a required element. The trustees noted that simply not wanting a charter school in the district is not grounds for denial."

The story of Bullis charter school is not about charters, per se.  It is about rich people trying to feel good about themselves by "helping" the socioeconomically disadvantaged by imposing their will.  It reminds me more than a little of a colonial mindset.  Initially, the Los Altos Hills' parents were upset that their school was closed.  They had no problem taking money from the district to essentially  fund their own "private" school using public funds (attendees are expected to donate a minimum $5,000 a year).  Now, they want to take money from another school district to fund their pet project.  Nevermind, that this this new school will not have an additional $5,000 per year per student.  Nevermind, that they have no actual background in education or in the challenges faced by low-income students and ELLs.  Nevermind, that the community that they have selected does not want their school.  They are doing "good" and they know best.