Jerry Brown’s Two Pet Charter Schools: Part One

Read Part Two HERE.

Jerry Brown wants to have another turn on the Governor of California ride. The "About" page on his campaign website features a little story about him. [UPDATE 5/27/2010: See the new information at the end of this piece]

Of the 1035 words written to summarize Jerry’s long political career, 196 words are dedicated to Brown’s accomplishments while he served as Oakland’s mayor from 1998 to 2006. Of those 196 words, 53 words quite accurately describe Brown’s involvement in education during that time. His interest in the education of Oakland’s school children is explained as such:

Brown personally founded the Oakland School for the Arts and the Oakland Military Institute. Both schools serve students from the 6th grade through the 12th and are among the best performing schools in Oakland. Their graduates are now studying in such outstanding universities as Yale, Vassar, Stanford, West Point, UCLA and UC Berkeley.

Now, an astute observer will notice something’s missing – namely any mention of the 50,000 or so students who attended the schools which weren’t either of Jerry’s charters. With so little information about his views on public education or any other possible involvement he had had, an independent critical thinker will be curious how the claims on Jerry’s website mesh with reality.

About Jerry’s Schools

The Oakland Military Institute (OMI) opened its doors in the fall of 2001. For its first three years, OMI was under a charter granted by the California State Board of Education, after which it was granted a charter by the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD). The first school year for the Oakland School of the Arts (OSA) was 2002-2003; its charter was granted by OUSD.

Here are the enrollment figures for Jerry’s charters:

Enrollment	OMI	OSA	Total	OUSD	Percentage of Oakland public school students served by Jerry’s charters
2001-2002	157	-	157	53545	0.3%
2002-2003	321	102	423	52501	0.8%
2003-2004	342	176	518	50437	1.0%
2004-2005	420	272	692	49214	1.4%
2005-2006	480	421	901	48135	1.9%
2006-2007	526	285	811	47012	1.7%
2007-2008	546	311	857	46431	1.8%
2008-2009	530	408	938	46516	2.0%

I lived in Oakland during the two terms that Brown was mayor, and I also voted for him both times. Today I am of the opinion that Brown’s attitude toward Oakland’s public schools could be described as one of contempt and increasing distance. Rather being a vigorous advocate and lending strong support to the public schools which contained 12.5% of the population he was supposed to be serving (Oakland’s 2000 US Census report was 399,484), Jerry Brown spent his time and energy on a minute percentage of kids by launching his two charter schools.

Because it is tied into downtown development – and therefore connected to Jerry Brown’s developer friends – the OSA is Brown’s specially-tended “baby.” Despite the fact that OUSD had performing arts programs at the traditional public schools (most notably Skyline High School, alma mater of Tom Hanks), Brown never offered them one lick of support.
Even today, Jerry Brown continues to undermine the traditional public schools by leveraging his connections to bring in millions of extra dollars to his one special “baby.” In this era of “choice,” Jerry Brown is doing his very best to make the traditional public schools look like poor, undesirable half-siblings.

Andrew McIntosh just wrote an online piece for the Sacramento Bee which tells us all we need to know (Jerry Brown's 'kids' get ka-ching from Bing, October 16, 2009):

Brown, the state's top law enforcer and former governor, has raised $9.8 million for two Oakland charter schools that he helped launch while he was mayor of the Bay area city: the Oakland School for the Arts and the Oakland Military Institute.

More than 200 corporations, foundations and people have given to the two schools at the urging or "behest" of Brown since 2006, state financial records show.

That includes an eye-popping $1 million alone from Steve Bing, the uber media-shy Hollywood producer who owns an entertainment company, a green building construction firm and a solar energy venture under his Shangri-La Group of companies.

While state law limits the value of campaign contributions and gifts to politicians, there are no limits on so-called "behested" payments to politicians' favorite pet charity.

Such donations aren't considered campaign contributions or gifts under state law but must still must be reported to the FPPC if they top $5,000 a year from a single source.

Steve Bing made his donation to the Oakland School for the Arts through Los Angeles law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, which reported the donor as "B. Co." in records.

Brown spokesman Scott Gerber reports that "B. Co." is Bing. The donation was made Aug. 5, 2008, state records show.

Bing owns green construction firm Shangri-La Construction L.P., corporate records show. It was incorporated in Delaware on Sept. 9, 2008.

The construction firm three months later became a partner in a $100 million green building investment fund, a news release shows.

Paul Bloch, a Los Angeles publicist for Bing, declined to comment on the millionaire's donation or his company, adding: "We don't ever comment on anything."

Gerber said it's "absurd" to link Bing's generosity to the Oakland charter school to Brown’s push for California cities statewide to embrace green building ordinances.

"Jerry Brown has a long record of championing environmental causes and protecting the environment," Gerber said.

Brown relishes his record of raising cash for the two schools, Gerber added. "The schools have achieved an enviable record of helping disadvantaged young people get into prestigious universities such as Yale, Stanford, UC and West Point,” Gerber said.

Robert Stern, president of the Center for Governmental Studies in Los Angeles, doesn't think that such donations can be banned. The key, he says, is that they're all disclosed.

"It's great to give, but are they giving because Jerry Brown is a great guy or because he's attorney general?," Stern asked.

Donors backing one or both of the Oakland schools have included oil giants, banks, mortgage lenders, utilities, health plans and telecom giants, and Indian tribes with gambling interests, many of which are regulated and investigated by his department.

Other big donors include:
- General Atlantic Corporation, a private equity giant, $450,000.
- Lytton Rancheria in Santa Rosa and United Auburn Indian Community, both casino operators: $250,000 each.
- PG & E, $75,000
- Wal-Mart Stores, $50,000 [this was probably the Walton Family Foundation]
- Occidental Petroleum: $25,000
- Safeway Foundation, $25,000.
- Clorox Company $40,000; the Clorox Company Foundation, $100,000.
- Dow Chemical Foundation, $10,000.
- Hearst Foundation, $150,000 into to Oakland's Military Institute, while Hearst heir William R. Hearst III personally donated another $50,000.

The Oakland School for the Arts received $10,978,807 in 2006 for 285 students, $1,032,828 in 2005 for 421 students, $1,432,148 in 2004 for 272 students, and $1,088,851 in 2003 for 176 students (Form 990 - EIN 680463892). Just recently Brown persuaded Sean Penn to be the featured guest at a fundraiser which brought in over $1 million dollars.*

This all is being conducted while the performing arts funding of Oakland's traditional public schools is nearly totally neglected!

And keep in mind this information from the FPPC:

The Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) was created by the Political Reform Act of 1974, a ballot initiative passed by California voters as Proposition 9.

The FPPC educates the public and public officials on the requirements of the Act. It provides written and oral advice to public agencies and officials; conducts seminars and training sessions; develops forms, manuals and instructions; and receives and files statements of economic interests from many state and local officials.

The FPPC investigates alleged violations of the Political Reform Act, imposes penalties when appropriate, and assists state and local agencies in developing and enforcing conflict-of-interest codes.
The FPPC regulates:

• campaign financing and spending;
• financial conflicts of interest;
• lobbyist registration and reporting;
• post-governmental employment;
• mass mailings at public expense; and
• gifts and honoraria given to public officials and candidates.

So with the gobs and gobs of money, and by reading the glowing blurb on Jerry’s campaign website, you’d think that all would be more-than-well with his two schools. My goodness, millions of extra dollars for just a handful of Oakland kids, along with big boasts of tremendous accomplishments – Yale, Vassar, and Stanford!
Well, it’s about time someone took a closer look.

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*UPDATE: The following year, it was Robert Downey, Jr.'s turn (Iron Man) to help Jerry raise dough for OSA. The event was held at the mansion of Ann and Gordon Getty on May 5, 2010. Look at pics of the guests and setting here.

And speaking of gubernatorial elections (Jerry Brown for governor and Gavin Newsom for lieutenant governor), be advised of these generational social connections between Brown, Newsom, Getty, and Pelosi.

• Jerry Brown is friends with William Newsom (SF Mayor Gavin Newsom’s father, a retired state appeals court judge and administrator of the Getty family trust). Their fathers were close friends (Pat Brown and William II).
• William Newsom is also a close friend of Gordon Getty (son of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty, and composer). They met in the late 1940s while attending St. Ignatius Catholic prep school in San Francisco.
• William Newsom’s (Gavin’s father, Jerry’s friend) late sister Barbara was once married to Ron Pelosi, brother-in-law of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
• Gavin Newsom’s business ventures were funded by Gordon Getty. Gavin and Gordon’s son (Billy) were friends but may have had a falling out in 2000. http://articles.sfgate.com/2000-08-11/news/17655760_1_getty-money-gordon-getty-gavin