Petulant Charter School

“When you have the facts on your side, pound the facts, when you have the law on your side, pound the law, and when you have neither, pound the table.”

The staff at the Los Angeles Office of Education (LACOE) has been in a position before where they have recommended action against the North Valley Military Institute (NVMI) only to have the unelected representatives on the Board ignore their decisions. They, therefore, know that they have to be meticulous in their findings in making the current recommendation to revoke the school’s charter. The result is a wide-ranging indictment of incompetence and wrongdoing that will be considered at a meeting on Tuesday, August 8. The final vote to revoke is scheduled to be taken a week later.

Instead of admitting their errors and pleading for forgiveness, the school’s “Superintendent,” Mark Ryan, is attacking the regulatory actions of both the LACOE staff and the Board as “illegal and immoral.” Ryan has manipulated the system for so long that he has forgotten that he agreed to be regulated by the agency when he asked them to overturn the LAUSD’s decision to reject NVMI's charter renewal.

Before the NVMI Board’s meeting on August 6, 2023, I sent them the following letter begging them to put the interests of the students first:

Dear NVMI Board of Trustees:

In the military, discipline is essential as when rules are not observed precisely, armies are “incapable of uniting for a collaborative defense [and are] eager only for plundering and chaos.” This tenet applies to officers and soldiers; “all must equally obey those who have a superior rank, and to whom they are subordinate for the service.”

As a charter school that claims to use the military as its model, NVMI expects its students to submit to its authority and has even argued with its authorizers that it had the right to violate the education code and the Constitution to compel students to comply with its rules regarding patriotism. However, the school’s leadership has repeatedly shown insubordination to LACOE, the LAUSD, and the LACCD. These are the school’s superiors and under military culture demand deference.

The staff at LACOE is not perfect and NVMI’s leadership has every right to avail itself of legal remedies to dispute decisions that it does not agree with. However, the tenets of military discipline require that you “obey first before you complain.”

This body has repeatedly failed to ensure that the Superintendent fulfilled the school’s obligations as set forth by LACOE. This meeting provides an example as the agenda was released days after the deadline set by LACOE staff.

The Superintendent can ignore military discipline, and the facts, by acting like a petulant child complaining about “the illegal and immoral effort by LACOE’s Charter Office and Board to revoke the NVMI charter,” but this does not change reality. The fact is that LACOE’s published rules require that “the charter must secure a facility 60 days prior to the start of school and provide LACOE with a signed lease agreement by July 3, 2023, for the 2023-2024 school year.” When this Board directed Ryan to reject the LAUSD’s PROP-39 offer, it set the school up to violate this requirement. This alone is grounds for revocation.

As you carry out your responsibilities today, I implore you to remember that your obligation is to the students, not the Superintendent. In a system of checks and balances, this Board is not supposed to be a rubber stamp, yet how many of your votes were unanimous? Were you fulfilling your legal and moral obligations when you voted in the past to adopt budgets or proposed rental agreements that were not yet finalized?

One of the things on the agenda today is a request for you to delay the start of the school year even though it will not align with most other publicly financed schools in the area. What will this mean for the students who you are responsible for if LACOE follows through with the revocation? As these students start new schools, they will already be behind, decreasing their chances of success.

This school prides itself on serving students facing severe obstacles. Without an orderly transition, many of these children will fall through the cracks. Don’t you owe it to them to ensure that they begin the school year in a stable environment?

Whatever your thoughts about NVMI’s program, the reality is that the school is failing operationally. The plans for next year have been quickly cobbled together and the finances are a mess. Student outcomes are substandard. Even if you miraculously survive the current revocation threat, the ongoing FCMAT audit and IRS investigation of the ERC request pose near-term threats. The budget depends on a grant that requires a letter from LACOE stating that you are in “good standing.” Given the evidence presented in favor of revocation, do you think that your authorizers are likely to issue this letter?

For the good of the children, I implore you to take the necessary steps to begin an orderly transition to new schools. Inform families that the school is shutting down and invite other school operators to meet with parents. Direct your remaining Special Education staff to assist parents with setting up IEPs with their new schools. It is the moral thing to do.

Sincerely,

Carl Petersen

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Carl Petersen is a parent advocate for public education, particularly for students with special education needs, who serves as the Education Chair for the Northridge East Neighborhood Council. 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.