On September 8, 2019, a commentary I wrote on the success of charter schools and the current political environment which threatens them appeared in the Riverside Press-Enterprise. It is reprinted below. I encourage all of you who support charter schools to follow the work of the California Charter Schools Association to learn more about charter schools, and to click on the “Get Involved” tab to see ways you can make your voice heard.

Welcome back to the new 2019-2020 school year! We’re delighted that you have chosen one of the Springs Charter Schools family of schools as your charter school of choice. We’ve begun our 20th year of operation with 9,126 students, including 6,656 at River Springs Charter School, the largest charter school in the country. We’ve been growing steadily, and this year alone we’ve hired more than 200 new employees. I attribute our success both to you, our Springs families, as well as Springs’ many fine teachers and support staff who work so hard to ensure that our students receive an outstanding education.

I hope you’re enjoying your summer. We’re busy at work here at Springs, preparing for the 2019-20 school year! We’ve hired new principals at three of our school sites, so I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce you to them.

I hope you are enjoying your summer break! As you go about your summer fun, please make time to join us for our 16^th annual Springs Charter Schools Parent Ignite! Conferencehappening at your choice of two locations on either August 20 or August 22. Our Ignite! Conference is designed to be an inspiring day of learning for parents before the school year begins; our theme for the new school year is There’s No Place Like Springs!

After 19 Years, Springs is Still Putting Students First!

The past few months have been tough for charter schools in California on two fronts.

Our 2018-19 school year is ending, and that means it’s again time to bid a fond farewell to our graduating seniors. In 2019, 253 Springs seniors will graduate, up from 229 last year.

It’s hard to believe that we’re again nearing the end of another school year. I hope you and your families have some fun things planned for the summer. And to our graduating seniors, I look forward to seeing the exciting college and career choices you will be making as you graduate from Springs.

It was my great pleasure to participate in groundbreaking ceremonies for our new facilities for Springs’ Flabob Airport Preparatory Academy on March 18. Once complete, the school will have an office and 10 classrooms surrounding a hangar. We had a wonderful turnout of Springs families and staff, local elected officials and other friends of the school.

At Springs, we’re committed to keeping our students safe. We provide our staff with training on how to respond to a variety of emergencies, including health emergencies which can arise among our 8,812 students.

(See The Press-Enterprise article from February 11, 2019, added below)