Miguel Angel Segura: Unpaid Charter School Debt Is No Big Deal

“No, Megan Reilly should not face consequences, she is not committing a crime.” - Board District 2 Candidate Miguel Angel Segura

This is the third in a series on unpaid overallocation fees by charter schools. Please read the first part for an introduction to the current debt.

Miguel Angel Segura’s competitor in the District 2 board race, Dr. Rocio Rivas, sees PROP-39 co-locations as disruptive to public school students and interfering with providing these children the services that they are entitled to receive. Segura views the issue differently, claiming that these forced co-locations are “an opportunity for public schools to come together [to] work towards solutions for their public school students.” Neighborhood school communities like the ones at Shirley Avenue Elementary, Marianna Avenue Elementary, and Wright Middle School would probably disagree with this assessment.

Unsurprisingly, Segura has a more forgiving attitude than Rivas when it comes to charter schools that refuse to pay the fees incurred when they overestimated the number of students who would be served in these forced co-locations. Instead of shutting down these delinquent charter schools, Segura, Ref Rodriguez’s former Director of Community Engagement, believes that the LAUSD should “negotiate in a positive partnership.” Rather than recognizing the non-payment of this debt as falling under fiscal mismanagement, Segura sees it as being no different than the bond debt carried by the district. It should be noted that the bondholders would quickly foreclose on this debt if it remained unpaid by the district.

Similarly, Segura does not believe that the district’s senior staff should be held accountable for failing to collect this debt to the students of the LAUSD. In the candidate’s view, the job performance of these employees does not matter, only that they are not breaking the law.

It is clear that the voters in Board District 2 have two distinct choices when they go to the polls on June 7, 2022. The two candidates’ answers should be kept in mind as their volunteers ask for your signatures next month so that they can appear on the ballot.

Segura’s complete responses to the questions that were presented to him are as follows:

Do you support revoking the charter of any school that has ongoing unpaid debt?

I would not. Yes, there should be more consequences for charter schools that have ongoing unpaid debt, which has a negative daily impact on LAUSD. We have to understand how school debt works much like LAUSD carries regular debt through its bond program along with other fiscal agencies we should treat a charter equally under the law as other public agencies. I would not revoke their charter right away because that does not solve anything, the children in these communities will be the ones who suffer if something like that happens.

What steps do you support to ensure that these funds are collected on behalf of LAUSD students?

I as a Board Member and LAUSD would work to negotiate in a positive partnership with all charters on why they have carryover debt and work to solve it that has minimal impact on students, parents, and the public school teachers who work tirelessly at these public schools every day. If a charter has a debt restitution plan that the Charter division has approved they should do everything in their power to recover the money again in partnership with this public school.

Should Megan Reilly face consequences for failing to collect this debt?

No, Megan Reilly should not face consequences, she is not committing a crime.

If a plan is approved in a transparent fashion all stakeholders should strive to recover the debt. A system of punishment when our Governor Newsom in his budget is investing an unprecedented amount in all of our schools means no child is being impacted by ongoing debt which is normal for large complicated public agencies.

Should Jose Cole-Gutierrez face consequences for failing to collect this debt?

No, he would not face consequences.

Jose Cole-Gutierrez was hired in a transparent process to do a job, if the public schools his office approves are giving children a quality education we should explore what they are doing to provide and potentially make those programs district-wide.

What reforms, if any, would you like made to the PROP-39 process?

PROP-39 was well-intended but at this time there doesn’t appear to be an appetite by any collective bargaining unit to use member dues to put a costly statewide ballot initiative to amend this Proposition. Co-location is an opportunity for public schools to come together [to] work towards solutions for their public school students. Any organization looking to scare or frighten public school parents and students trying to get an education shouldn’t be tolerated.

Next up: Marvin Rodriguez

Carl Petersen is a parent advocate for students with special education needs and public education. He is an elected member of the Northridge East Neighborhood Council and serves as the Education Chair. As a Green Party candidate in LAUSD’s District 2 School Board race, he was endorsed by Network for Public Education (NPE) Action. Dr. Diane Ravitch has called him “a valiant fighter for public schools in Los Angeles.” For links to his blogs, please visit www.ChangeTheLAUSD.com. Opinions are his own.