A reader comments on previous posts (see here and here) about Governor Corbett’s appointment of a voucher advocate to be the “chief recovery officer” for financially stressed Chester Upland, Pennsylvania. This is a district that allocates 1/3 of its scarce budget to a for-profit charter school that pays its owner a management fee of $16 million. Oh, and one other thing: First Lady Michelle Obama invited a teacher from Chester Upland to sit with her during the State of the Union Address earlier this year, presumably to acknowledge the staff’s decision to work without salaries while the district was in deep trouble.
Thanks for bringing the Chester Upland, Pennyslvania scandal to national attention. It is not accidental that this is happening in the poorest school district in the state, with the highest African American percentage in the state, with the worst test results of any district in the state, and where there has been an elected school board in control only two out of the last 18 years. Pity the children.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
There was an excellent article by in the May 3 issue of the Philadelphia City Paper about the assault on Philadelphia’s public schools. It contained important background about Chester Upland.
Who’s Killing Philly Public Schools? Underfunded. Overburdened. About to be sold for scrap.
http://www.citypaper.net/authors/daniel_denvir/2012-05-03-whos-killing-philly-public-schools.html
“Chester upland public schools are going bankrupt. And so, this January, the school district joined civil rights groups and parents in filing a federal lawsuit against Corbett, demanding aid to schools that had been broke since Harrisburg ended 16 years of state control in 2010. Teachers pledged to work for free if necessary.
The judge forced the state to provide emergency aid. Two future trials will determine whether Corbett’s cuts violated federal laws protecting special-education students, and whether the cuts were racially discriminatory, much as Philadelphia had alleged in 2001.
“Chester Upland is the canary of school districts,” says Michael Churchill, a lawyer at the Public Interest Law Center representing the district. “They’re just the first one to go. Most of the school districts around the state, except the rich suburban ones, are really suffering. And I don’t see any solution that anyone is proposing in terms of legislative help. I don’t see what the endgame is from the Corbett administration.”
On the other hand, the outcome for Chester Community Charter School — which enrolls more than half the district’s K-8 students — seems to be quite lucrative: $16.7 million of the charter’s budget (more than 41 percent) will go to CSMI, the company that administers the school, according to the Inquirer. Where does that money go? Some point to the likes of CSMI’s chief executive Vahan Gureghian — wealthy businessman, Montgomery County Republican Party powerhouse and a major Corbett donor. Last year, he spent $28.9 million on a Palm Beach oceanfront property.
CSMI’s president, Jake Der Hagopian, is no better. He maintained numerous business ties to Leonardo Pelullo — described by the New Jersey State Commission of Investigation as a “key organized crime associate.”
Der Hagopian, who did not respond to calls from CP, spent much of the 1980s and ’90s in Miami as executive vice president of the Royale Group. Pelullo ran the firm, and was convicted of defrauding Royale and the American Savings and Loan bank of $2.2 million partly to pay off a debt to an associate of vicious Philly mob boss Nicky Scarfo.
There is more: In 1990, Pelullo and his associates were accused of stealing $1.8 million from Transcom Trucking soon after they took over. Transcom’s assets were turned over to another company, PIE Nationwide, where Der Hagopian sat on the board. Der Hagopian was never indicted. But former Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald G. Cole, who prosecuted Pelullo, says the two were close: “Pelullo … would bring Der Hagopian to be his muscle. I don’t care about his title. There wasn’t really anything going on in the Royale Group.”
Back at Chester Community Charter, the federal lawsuit also alleges it inflates the number of special-education students it serves to up its state funding. CSMI is scheduled to open a new charter in Camden this September.
Insane! Someone the other day likened the charter school insanity to the invasive plant kudzu – your recount of this scenario brings it to mind.
Please send these blogs to Gov. Christie in NJ. He needs to see the truth in the charter schools. Although I think he already knows and wants his friends to be in on the goldmine.
PA House Bill 1307 which allowed the appointment of the receiver, Joe Watkins, also allows him to delegate his power to an individual in the District or within a non-profit or for-prifit entity. He may also enter into agreement with a non-profit or for -Profit ORGANIZATION to operate one or more of the district’s schools.
Might be interesting to see if Watkins CHOSES to turn his power over to Guerghian or one of his for-profit entities such as Chester Community Charter Schools or Chester Management , Inc.
Will be watching this one.
The Chester Community Charter School students grade 3 through 8 , are given an XO laptop, a computer to be used by students in DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. (emphasis mine) Don’t know if you need teachers or just “monitors” in these classrooms.
Chester board votes to work with school choice leader
from the Philadelphia Inquirer
“The Chester Upland school board voted unanimously Thursday night to work with state appointed Chief Recovery Officer Joe Watkins in crafting a recovery plan for the financially distressed Delaware County district…
Under state law, the board was required to vote on whether it would cooperate with Watkins in devising the proposal. If it had voted no, the law mandates that Tomalis would seek the appointment of a receiver who would help Watkins carry out the plan… Watkins has 30 days from his August 17 appointment to present a plan for school board approval. The board has 10 days after the plan is presented to decide if it will go along with the recommendations. If the board does not agree with the proposal, state law mandates that Tomalis would go to court seeking to put Chester Upland into receivership, to make sure the plan gets carried out.” http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20120824_Chester_board_votes_to_work_with_school_choice_leader.html
http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20120824_Chester_board_votes_to_work_with_school_choice_leader.html
The attack on schools in poorer neighborhoods is not new. I taught special education in the inner city in the 70s. My students were placed in my classroom based on biased tests which resulted in quite a few misplaced students. When I tried to fight this, I was told that I did not know what was “normal.” Also, each year I would submit a list of educational materials I would like to order for my classroom and each year I received 0% of what I ordered. I just think that if anything good can come from this false “reform” movement, it is the fact that all children are not given the same opportunity to get a quality education.
The Philadelphia Daily News had a column on Friday which gives more detail about the move to a full charter district in Chester-Upland. Diane Ravitch is quoted in the article:
Concerns over school choice advocate taking charge of Chester’s struggling schools
http://articles.philly.com/2012-08-24/news/33343328_1_charter-schools-school-choice-advocate-students-first-pac