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Kenney Enney advocates for parental rights, school choice, and charter schools 

– A message from Kenney Enney 4 PRJUSD 2023 –

Michael Rivera

Michael Rivera

– At last week’s PRJUSD Candidate Forum between Mrs. Angela Hollander and Mr. Kenney Enney, the question was asked “Do you support parental decisions in school choice?” Based on the answer Mrs. Hollander gave, she does not. Does she understand what “school choice” means? Mrs. Hollander said, “the purpose of public schools is to protect public education.” Wrong, Mrs. Hollander.

The purpose of public schools is to educate our children.

Mr. Enney is an unabashed advocate for “school choice”; which, by definition spans the gambit of options from Education Savings Accounts to Charter Schools, of which there are over 1300 in the state. California Education Code 47601 lays out the law for charter schools. It states, “charter schools operate independently from the existing school district structure as a method to improve pupil learning; increase learning opportunities; encourage innovative teaching methods; create new professional opportunities; provide parents and pupils with expanded educational choices; and provide vigorous competition within the public school system.”

Mrs. Hollander and her campaign manager, Dee Lacy, both pointedly attacked Mr. Enney for his support of establishing a charter high school in Paso Robles. Mrs. Hollander stated that Mr. Enney should go to Sacramento to lobby for school choice if he wanted a charter high school.

Dee Lacey said in her March 28 opinion piece that by wanting a charter high school, Mr. Enney doesn’t support public schools. Evidently, Mrs. Hollander and Dee Lacey skipped the class on charter schools.

Are they not aware that our community already has a K-8 charter school? Do they know that Almond Acres Charter Academy has served the families of Paso Robles, San Miguel and the North County since 2012? Are they not aware that a charter school is a public school? Does Dee Lacy know that by law, a charter school cannot discriminate against any applicants?

Are Mrs. Hollander and Dee Lacey aware that public charter schools, on average, operate at 60% of the cost of establishment public schools? Do they know that public charter school students, on average, perform 15% points higher on tests than establishment public school students?

Charter schools are started by petition and usually the school district where the school is located is the authorizing agent. The LA teacher’s union made the closing of all charter schools in the LA Unified School District a pre-condition for agreeing to allow kids to return to in-person instruction during the Covid shutdown. The Paso Robles Public Educators has prevented Almond Acres from operating under the PRJUSD since 2012. From 2012 until 2019, the San Miguel School District sponsored the charter. In 2019, when the PRJUSD Board, because of pressure from the union, refused the Almond Acres charter, the San Luis Obispo County Office of Education sponsored the charter.

Why would the unions be so opposed to a more effective and efficient education model? Competition. Charter schools are non-union. Because of that, the teacher’s unions hate charter schools. That is something that I am sure Mrs. Hollander and Dee Lacy know.

Mrs. Hollander has accepted $17,237 from the Paso Robles Public Educators and the California Federation of Teachers during this special election campaign.

Between the November 2022 election season and now, the education unions have spent over $48,000 to control the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District Board of Trustees.

The unions don’t like competition. They don’t want Almond Acres. They don’t want parental choice. The Almond Acres charter will be up for renewal in 2024. We need to be concerned about the future of the best-performing public middle school and the 3d best-performing public grade school in our community. Angela Hollander took union money, which is a clear conflict of interest. Will she recuse herself from votes that affect union interests? Not likely.

Michael Rivera
Father, grandfather, taxpayer, and 50-year resident of the Central Coast

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