This is a story about a private contractor who figured out how to make big money: open a center to diagnose and treat preschoolers with disabilities.
The state of New York pays for everything, and no one pays much attention to the quality of the services. The state pays for your beautiful new building and even your Mercedes.
So what if you misdiagnose children? Who will know? Then you order yourself to provide very expensive services, which you don’t really provide.
“Some children whose first language was Chinese languished in classes taught in Spanish or Korean. Others who were supposed to receive individual tutoring were thrown into groups of four or more children, all with different types of disabilities.” Some children didn’t have any disabilities but the state was billed for them too.
So what if your revenues grew over a decade from $725,000 a year to $17 million?
That’s business.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Diane, I learned from a friend who is also the parent of a sixth grade middle school student in the Rush-Henrietta School District that her daughter took a three hour social studies test yesterday and was facing another three hour science test today. Most middle school students I know finished up at least a week, if not ten days ago. I’m assuming that R-H District is field testing somebody’s questions. Parents have been told these are final exams. Considering that my friend’s daughter cleaned up at her sixth grade awards ceremony held prior to her “finals”, I have to believe that these tests have nothing to do with being promoted to the next grade. What have you heard about three hour “finals” given after the fact?
Interesting article about fleecing the public that fall for every scam, especially if its benefits are claimed to create “super kids” academically! Here in Denver, I have a friend who has a child with learning challenges. She invested thousands in private testing and was told that her son had “rare” learning disabilities that the public school faculties (or outside tutors, such as myself) could not discern, nor help. She took the “bait” and signed up for tutorial sessions of $90 for 50 minute sessions. At the stroke of the 50th minute, the “specialist” left a vapor trail as she whisked out to her car. NO little chats about progress, goals or objectives were permitted…just 50 minute with the child.
I find the $90.00 outrageous, and the claim that their son had a rare learning disability, unknown to educators, the definition of an educational scam! Seems the moneyed
motivations of these types make the old horse traders of yesteryear seem like rank amateurs! Caveat em tor!
Reblogged this on David R. Taylor-Thoughts on Texas Education.
Yes, $17 million/year is a lot of money. In the LAUSD School Construction Bond Account over time is $27 billion. LAUSD is constructing schools for 2-3 time the average for all others in L.A. County according to a study by the State of Calif and comparing that to their own records starting in 2003. Take that percentage of that amount and that is just construction. Now there are all the other suppliers like Apple in the latest illegal purchase of equipment which will not last 10 years and paying people to have anything to do with curriculum. It is all illegal use of that money on top of the construction money. Money just drips away when they do not watch the store and do not care and it is all about percentages in the long run, whether large or small districts. Look at the small districts sucked into those “Crazy Bonds” which pay back at (12-18)-1 instead of (2-3)-1. Very big money and huge profits for those who wrote them. 60% of those school breakfasts in the classrooms are thrown away. What are those losses? You have to make it relative and that is why percentages are so important as very few school districts have the revenue of N.Y. Those who are after the money and control want a piece of all just like the godfather does. And the more pieces the better. Why do you think they like mayoral control?
I forgot to add for perspective. According to the last Deloitte and Touche Audit I saw and sent to the N.Y. Parents the N.Y. City Schools total budget was $23.9 billion. LAUSD this year is $6.43 billion. N.Y. has 1.1 million students. LAUSD 600,000 or so. N.Y. has $21,473/student and LAUSD has about $11,600/student. D.C. has 52,000 students with $29,145/student. And LAUSD has $2,000 more than the state average and Inglewood, which has been taken over by the State and is now in worse trouble after the state took over, has less than the average and has a worse situation/student than LAUSD. How does this happen?
Also, how do you place in jeopardy districts with such large revenue/student?????
George, your statistics are staggering and every word worth an investigative reporter (including all of your resources and information from other articles in this blog) from every paper left with one to bring light to this waste and fraud. Just think, when we have charter schools like a massive breakout of mushrooms covering the land from sea to shining sea, with no oversight or checks and balances, we won’t have to worry about money. It will be in an off shore bank somewhere. The special education money, always underfunded but always used to make up for other losses, won’t needed because by then the DSM-V will elliminate almost all disabled as they did the Autistic/Asperger student. If you use an eraser on whatever it might be it no longer exists. I think someone has erased the public school system but we are just finding out about it. These are interesting times. My heart is broken and my stomach sick!!!
Me too. I cry all the time & am shocked that no one believes me not my mother or my boyfriend. If I can’t get them to believe me, that explains how the rest of the nation doesn’t know. That public ed is disappearing scares me so much!
I can’t believe how blind I’ve been I only woke up 4 years ago. Before that I couldn’t see… Ignorance is lovely but it doesn’t pay the bills. I thought I would retire from this job…
Welcome to everyone else’s world of economics. Being anti capitalist is a form of haru kiru.
J. H. Underhill
The wealthy get wealthier and more corrupt, and the people suffer……….isn’t capitalism great!
Woo hoo the cash cow is alive and well. I can’t believe that something that is supposed to be a public good could be allowed to be turned into a cash cow for a profiteer. Your tax dollars at work!!!
DeeDee, there are entrepreneurs looking for every possible angle to make money, by every means. That is why more and more prisons and hospitals are privatized. The entrepreneurs sell the myth that they can do it better and cheaper. That is never true. It enriches the few while destroying public services and obligations.
“That is never true”? Pretty sweeping generalization based on unstated assumptions. The real question on which citizens differ is “Just what are public obligations.” That’s a debatable question, in my view. No one on this blog chooses to actually debate it. We are witnessing the death spiral of the great american school system. That’s true enough. The question is WHY?
Public obligations: Probably number one is public education as demanded by all 50 states’ constitution. In Missouri: Article IX, subsection 1a: “A general diffusion of knowledge and intelligence being essential to the preservation of the rights and liberties of the people, the general assembly shall establish and maintain free public schools for the gratuitous instruction of all persons in this state within ages not in excess of twenty-one years as prescribed by law.”
Along with that clean water, air and environment (yes that means some form of EPA), free access to all modern utilities and road systems (with perhaps some type of usage tax) and universal health care as it is impossible to completely enjoy one’s rights and liberties without good health.
Charters and vouchers would satisfy all of the state constitutions I suspect, but it hasn’t been fully litigated yet. Your point about health care is legitimate, but the means need not be a single payer system. Clean air and water are essential too, but EPA goes utterly beyond that. Power mad. Roads yes. Electricity yes. If they’d keep to that we’d be better off. But no. They have to meddle in business. Get rid of the IRS and substitute a fair tax or flat tax. National defense. Sound money. Soda size, no. Fat content, no. Basic civil rights, yes. But requiring lending to uncreditworthy borrowers, no. Borders, yes. Citizenship, yes. Gun laws, no. Saving failing companies, no. Subsidizing alternate energy, no. Over regulation of business, no. Using government organs to punish enemies, no. Obamaphones, no.
J. H. Underhill
“Charters and vouchers would satisfy all of the state constitutions I suspect,. . .”
Not in Missouri vouchers couldn’t and won’t satisfy the state constitution: “Public aid for religious purposes–preferences and discriminations on religious grounds.
Section 7. That no money shall ever be taken from the public treasury, directly or indirectly, in aid of any church, sect or denomination of religion, or in aid of any priest, preacher, minister or teacher thereof, as such; and that no preference shall be given to nor any discrimination made against any church, sect or creed of religion, or any form of religious faith or worship.”
Seems rather clear cut that vouchers could not pass that constitutional muster, much to the chagrin of the religionistas.
It’s not in aid of religion, but an educational voucher useable by the student to whom it is issued at a school of his choice for secular instruction.
Read what the constitution says. In Missouri, thank the gods, we have one of the strictest clauses against aiding and abetting religion of any of the states’ constitutions.
I say the pilot blacked out, not that he was shot down.
Got me on that one HU! HUH? To what does thou refer?
It’s a metaphor. Death spiral of the great American school system. Capish?
J. H. Underhill
Meet Chicago”s newest, non-elected, Rham appointed, Board of Education member:
DIANE!! PLEASE HELP! I TYPED A COMMENT AND WHEN I TRIED TO POST IT, IT FLIPPED ME TO “DASHBOARD” SCREWED MY COMMENT AND REFUSED TO LET ME IN, UNTIL I HASSLED THEM THREE TIMES! WHY IS “DASHBOARD” A PART OF YOUR SITE? IT IS EDITING REMARKS!! ISN’T THAT INTERESTING…