With the help of California Assemblyman Ted “in my pocket” Gaines and his new friend, the California Teacher’s Association, elected officials in Rocklin, California have forced Rocklin families to pay taxes for a local public school that is used by families from outside Rocklin who do not pay taxes for this facility.  These elected officials have gone so far to even restrict Rocklin families from being allowed to attend this school even though they paid the taxes to build the school.  Let me provide you with a little history on this injustice.

There is a public charter school in Rocklin, called Rocklin Academy (RA).  RA is the top performing elementary school in Placer County.  It is also one of the top performing elementary schools in the entire state of California.  RA shares the Ruhkala Elementary School site with one of the Rocklin Unified School District Elementary Schools.  Rocklin residents pay a special tax that is used only to build elementary schools.

Rocklin residents believe that they should have the right to send their children to their school of choice, especially if they have paid the taxes to build the school.  This all changed in March of 2007.  The Rocklin School Board with the support of the California Teachers Association (CTA), the Rocklin City Council, and California Assemblyman Ted “in my pocket” Gaines forced the Rocklin Academy Board of Directors into signing an agreement that eliminated the right of some Rocklin families to send their children to RA.  The agreement signed last March requires 20% of the enrollment at Rocklin Academy to be from outside Rocklin.  The Rocklin School Board, the CTA, Ted Gaines, and the Rocklin City Council are afraid of the competition RA brings to the other Rocklin School District elementary schools.  It is strange, that a majority of the Rocklin School Board, the entire Rocklin City Council, and Ted Gaines, claim to be Republicans.  Republicans know that competition is good for business and helps schools become more successful.  However, in Rocklin these groups want to squash RA.  They want the school to go away.  They are trying to do this by restricting enrollment and eliminating the opportunity for tax paying Rocklin families to send their children to one of the top schools in the state and a school that they paid the taxes to build.   Because of the success of RA hundreds of Rocklin families are on a waiting list to get their children into this school.  There are also hundreds of families that have not bothered to put their names on the list because they know they do not have a chance of getting in to the school.

I believe the Rocklin Academy Board of Directors did not want to sign this agreement.  The only action the could of taken was to take the Rocklin School District to court.  The Rocklin School District has very deep pockets compared to RA.  A court fight would of drained RA resources.  The Rocklin School District knew this and that is why they forced the RA into an agreement that is unfair to Rocklin families.

The entire Rocklin City Council supported the Rocklin School District’s actions against RA and the hundreds of Rocklin families.  When people challenged the City Council’s support for this injustice, city council member Peter Hill decided to use character attacks against the people that opposed paying taxes for a Rocklin school they were not permitted to attend.  While the entire city council worked with Rocklin Superintendent Kevin Brown, the Rocklin School Board, the CTA, and Ted “in my pocket” Gaines to take away school choice in Rocklin, a member of the city council decided to send a family member to RA.  What a bunch of hypocrites. 

Hear is the big picture.  The Rocklin City Council supports Rocklin residents being taxed to pay for a school they cannot attend.  Ted Gaines helped put this agreement in place with his friends from the CTA.  Rocklin School Board member Todd Lowell, a big Ted Gaines supporter, and Rocklin School Board member Steve Paul, the “Grand Poobah” of the board misled the Placer County Republican Central Committee by saying they supported charter schools.

What can us ordinary citizens do?  If one does not mind being on the receiving end of Rocklin City Councilman Peter Hill’s and his comrades character attacks, we run a successful campaign to replace these elected officials who like to tax us ordinary citizens.

We will have 3 seats on the Rocklin City Council and 2 seats on the Rocklin School Board that us ordinary citizens need to win next November.  We need to start now.  Join me, and lets take back Rocklin from the elected officials that think they can continue to tax us and spend our money.  The wheels are already in motion to replace the backstabbing Ted ‘in my pocket Gaines.        

Stay tuned for a posting on how the Rocklin City Council wants to continue to tax Rocklin residents.