Charter School Operatives in the WCCUSD

as of July 2020

The charter “movement” in West Contra Costa County is professionally staffed and well paid. Here are some of the known advocates and their (generally paid) affiliations. Their salaries and benefits are paid by political interests that fund various organizations, including “astroturf” parent organizations. Any “helpful information” they provide to the community at large is driven by their political agendas.

If you see these people, or people affiliated with these organizations, commenting on social media, emailing information, and attending staffing events, we urge you to think critically about their message in the context of their role within the nationwide, and indeed statewide effort to privatize public education, starting with the OUSD, LAUSD, and WCCUSD.

Full Name	Organization	Role or Title	Notes
Hilary Harmssen	CCSA*	VP, Regional Advocacy, Northern California
Jill Scheible	CCSA	Member Council	Works at Clayton Valley Charter School
Helen Wang	CCSA	Regional Director, Bay Area

Jason Singer	Education Matters**	Executive Director	https://www.ed-matters.org/executive-directors-message/

Tiffany Kang	GO WCC***	Former Communications Manager	https://gopublicschoolswcc.org/2018/01/were-hiring-communications-content-manager/ Now Communications Liaison for District 2, Oakland City Council
Maribel Lopez	GO WCC	Director of Community Leadership	https://gopublicschoolswcc.org/
Richard Pelayo	GO WCC	Former Managing Director, Member Campaign Study Team	https://gopublicschoolswcc.org/datainaction/
Minnie Setty	GO WCC	Member, Leadership Council	https://gopublicschoolswcc.org/ Works at Chamberlin Family Foundation
Scottie Smith	GO WCC	Member, Leadership Council	https://gopublicschoolswcc.org/ Co-found of “The Blackboard” in WCCUSD
Natalie Walchuk	GO WCC	Executive Director	https://gopublicschoolswcc.org/

Raquel Antolin	Our Turn Action Network****	Education Reformer Former organizer, SFER	Still lists most recent experience (as of 2019) as SFER on LinkedIn profile. https://www.linkedin.com/in/raquel-antolin-700b07a1/ SFER op-ed: https://www.studentsforedreform.org/raquel_antolin

*CCSA = California Charter School Association. Board members listed here:
https://www.ccsa.org/who-we-are
**Education Matters was formed in 2014 as a PAC by Steve Chamberlin, WCCUSD Charter School Operator.
***GO WCC = GO Public Schools West Contra Costa. For a list of other GO WCC “team members,” see: https://gopublicschoolswcc.org/our-team/#
****Our Turn Action Network was formerly Students for Education Reform (SFER). The group is headquartered in New York and has a barebones website with no links to specific WCCUSD activities. It posts on Facebook, but many posts are boilerplate.

The following entities have representation on the CCSA Board of Directors and Member Council:

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Charles and Helen Schaub Foundation
Doris & Donald Fisher Fund
Ednovate
Education for Change (Alameda County)
Great Public Schools Now
Hastings Fund
Walton Education Coalition