MIDDLETOWN
Middletown community invited to the free Seed Swap
The Gardens Project and the Middletown Community Garden invite the public to the free Seed Swap, the opening event for the new Middletown Seed Library which will be located in the Middletown Library. The Seed Swap will happen on October 20 from 12:00 noon to 3:00 p.m. at the library located at 21256 Washington Street. Bring any seeds or plants you’d like to trade with your fellow gardeners, and learn about storing and swapping seeds in the new library. For more information contact Ruth Richards at the Middletown Community Garden, rootruth2@gmail.com. The Lake County Library is on the internet at http://library.lakecountyca.go v and Facebook at Facebook.com/LakeCountyLibrary .
—Submitted
LAKE COUNTY
Veteran’s Town Hall
On Wednesday, October 31st, 2018, Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-05) and Rep. John Garamendi (CA-03) will hold a Veterans Town Hall at the Medeiros Veterans Center in Lakeport from 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm. This event will be an opportunity for veterans to ask questions and hear from the Members of Congress and veterans from regional veterans organizations, including the San Francisco Veterans Administration Medical Center, the Oakland VA Regional Center, the Lake County Veterans Service Office, and the Lake County United Veterans Council. All constituents of California’s Fifth and Third Congressional District and members of the press are invited to attend.
SACRAMENTO
Legislation
When the Legislature finally gaveled down earlier in 2018, it had approved about 900 bills this. We continue to take a look at some of the most interesting or consequential bills which crossed Gov. Brown’s desk. Although the deadline to sign or veto all bills has passed, a bill would become law without his signature.
We’ll keep updating here which bills have become law in California.
For-Profit Charter Schools
WHAT THE BILL WOULD DO
AB 406 would ban for-profit companies from running charter schools in California. Carried by Assemblymember Kevin McCarty, a Sacramento Democrat, the bill also seeks to prevent non-profit charter schools from relying heavily on for-profit companies to manage their operations.
WHO SUPPORTS IT
Labor unions piled on in support of the bill, echoing McCarty’s argument that public tax dollars should not be used to enrich corporate executives. After opposing earlier versions, the California Charter Schools Association switched its position to support, saying the minority of charter schools that are for-profit shouldn’t be allowed to tarnish the image of the broader charter school movement.
WHO’S OPPOSED
The product of a hard-fought compromise between charter school advocates and teacher unions, AB 406 faces no major opposition. But it must now go before a governor who has already vetoed a ban on for-profit charters schools once, in 2015.
WHY IT MATTERS
Charter schools operated by for-profit companies enroll thousands of California children. A 2016 investigation by the Attorney General’s office found that the state’s largest provider of online public K-12 education, California Virtual Academies, had inflated attendance numbers and misled parents about student performance. While the schools were technically non-profits, they were run by K12 Inc, a for-profit, national charter school operator. The bill was signed by Governor Brown on September 7, 2018.
—Felicia Mello, CALmatters
