Posted by
Mark on Thursday, November 08, 2007 2:00:23 AM
Will the real Scott Yuill stand up!
I hear that Rocklin City Councilman Scott Yuill has signed up to be an advisor to the Western Sierra Collegiate Academy. The Western Sierra Collegiate Academy is a 7 – 12 public charter school in Placer County that hopes to open its doors during the 2008 – 2009 school year. The leaders of this school plan to present their charter to the Rocklin School District Board of Trustees sometime during the next couple of months. It is likely that their request to house this school in Rocklin will be turned down by the Rocklin School Board of Trustees. Rocklin Superintendent, Kevin Brown has already told a member of the Rocklin Academy Board of Directors that a public charter school that will require all students to be enrolled in course work required for entrance to the University of California, California State University, and select private universities is not going to happen under his watch and the watch of his anti-charter school Rocklin Board of Trustees. Why would anyone want to oppose a school that will only give parents another choice of where to send their children? The group that is organizing this charter school has no animosity towards the Rocklin School District. All they want is school choice. Remember that California Assemblyman Ted ‘in my pocket” Gaines, and the California Teachers Association (CTA) control the Rocklin Trustees. Anyone who reads the paper knows the CTA is opposed to charter schools.
Remember it is the Rocklin School Board that is forcing Rocklin residents to pay taxes for an elementary school they cannot attend. That school is the highly successful Rocklin Academy charter school. Rocklin Academy is housed in a Rocklin School District elementary school.
How does Rocklin City Councilman Scott Yuill enter the picture? During the last school board campaign, Mr. Yuill supported the 3 anti-charter school board candidates, Todd Lowell, Steve Paul, the “Grand Poobah,” of the board and “dear in the headlights” Wendy Lang. I sat down with Mr. Yuill and explained the charter issues to him before the election. He listened and said he would think about it. He did think about it and decided to throw his hat in with the other Rocklin City Council members and supported the anti-charter school candidates. And now the citizens of Rocklin are paying the consequence for that support.
Maybe Mr. Yuill has had a change of heart by volunteering to serve as an advisor to the Western Sierra Collegiate Academy. I have great respect for someone that can admit they made a mistake. How do we know Mr. Yuill really supports the Western Sierra Collegiate Academy? He can show his support by addressing the Rocklin Academy enrollment issues. I know Mr. Yuill reads this blog. Mr. Yuill, you can post a comment on this blog saying the Rocklin Unified Board of Trustees made a mistake by forcing the Rocklin Academy to have 20% of their enrollment from outside Rocklin, even though there are hundreds of Rocklin families on the waiting list who paid the taxes to build the school that houses Rocklin Academy. By addressing this issue, you can really tell the citizens of Rocklin that you support their right to school choice. Failure to address this issue will only confirm your opposition to the school choice movement in Rocklin.
I will also be interested in how you respond if the Rocklin School District Board of Trustees really does turn down the Western Sierra Collegiate Academy’s request for a charter in Rocklin.
Mr. Yuill, you based your campaign on a new voice in Rocklin. Please fulfill that campaign promise and stand up for school choice in Rocklin. Separate yourself from the “good old boys” network that is alive and well in Rocklin. You have an opportunity to be a true leader.