Chalkbeat thought that it would be interesting to gain access to the email correspondence of Success Academy Network to find out how they handled the Dan Loeb crisis. It’s reporter filed a Freedom of Information request. Dan Loeb is the billionaire who is chairman of the SA board who made a racist comment, writing that the leading African American legislator in the State Senate did more damage to black children than the KKK.
The SA Network refused to release any records because they are private, not public. Public records laws don’t apply to them, they said.
Thus, they are public only for getting money, but private when it’s time for accountability and transparency. Accountability and transparency, it turns out, are for the little people.
Chalkbeat writes:
“Success Academy Charter Schools, Inc. (SACS) is a private nonprofit organization that provides services to charter schools, but it is not itself a charter school or a government agency under FOIL,” wrote Success Academy lawyer Robert Dunn in response to an appeal of a Chalkbeat request for Moskowitz’s emails under the state’s Freedom of Information Law, which the network had denied. “Thus, it is not in and of itself subject to FOIL or required to have an appeal process.”
“In addition, Success officials said the emails would not need to be released because they qualify as internal communications that are exempt from the public-records law.
“The city’s most prominent charter school networks — including KIPP and Uncommon — have similar CMO structures, which appears to shield their leaders from at least some FOIL requests. While “the KIPP NYC public charter schools themselves are subject to the New York Freedom of Information Law,” KIPP spokesperson Steve Mancini said in an email, the “CMOs are not.”
“But some government-transparency advocates argue that the law is not so clear cut.
“Because CMOs are so heavily involved in the operation of public schools, it could be argued that the vast majority of their records are kept on behalf of public schools and should be public, said Bob Freeman, executive director of the Committee on Open Government and an expert on public-records laws.
“Even though nonprofits aren’t covered by FOIL, he said, “Everything you do for an entity that is subject to FOIL — everything you prepare, transmit, and receive — falls within the scope of FOIL.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“The best of both worlds”
Public for the money
Private for the rest
For the Milken honey
Charter is the best
Don’t be silly, Diane. She’s just “steering” public funds. It’s not like she’s “rowing”
This is a crucial distinction. It means she is paid by the public but they don’t get to know anything about her organization, which would just be a huge inconvenience.
The whole “CMO/charter” thing is going to have to be explained to the public. They’ve been finessing this for a long time.
People were shocked in Ohio when White Hat went to court and said they owned property purchased with public funds because they had been told over and over that “charter schools were public schools”-no one ever mentioned the management companies.
PT Barnum could not have done it any better
Here’s a relevant image of a T-Shirt that Eva provides to — and which Eva demands that be worn by — Success Academy parents:
It’s from an article about Success Academy forcibly invading a traditional public school through one of those infamous “co-locations”, written from the point-of-view of a teacher in the pre-existing traditional public school:
(scroll down a ways to find this picture)
http://insidecolocation.tumblr.com/
Here’s the caption for this photo:
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
INSIDE CO-LOCATION:
“Success Academy parents are periodically prompted to don a variety of t-shirts to help advertise the stunningly inaccurate message that …
“Charter schools are public schools.”
“This time it was for an October 8th pro-charter rally that parents and students were obliged to attend instead of daily classes. It is true that charter school funds are, in part, provided by taxpayers. In the case of Success Academy, media mogul Rupert Murdoch is also a key funder, who apparently has a vested interest in ensuring that charter schools remain viewed as ‘public schools.’
“However, unlike actual public schools, Success Academies can counsel out non-compliant and under-performing students at will. Anyway, those taxpayer funds are diverted through the schools (for purposes supposedly in the interest of children, as in data collection) towards companies, such as Wireless Generation, which are owned by the very corporations, such as Amplify, owned by Rupert Murdoch.
“So, in a nutshell, corporations fund schools that fund the corporations, making them even richer, all the while using parents’ bodies to falsely advertise their intentions.”
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
And we now should add, contrary to this T-shirt and its message, when Eva is asked to provide the same transparency as truly public schools … her reply is
Get lost!
Who are you going to believe, Eva Moskowitz or your own lyin’ eyes?
DSuccess Academy Charter Schools, Inc. (SACS) is a private nonprofit organization that provides services to charter schools, but it is not itself a charter school or a government agency under FOIL,” wrote Success Academy lawyer Robert Dunn
I’m wondering if DSST and STRIVE and KIPP operate as “a private nonprofit organization that provides services to charter schools”. Anyone from Denver know the answer? PRIVATE NONPROFIT. Two key words in the less than transparent education debate. Don’t be fooled, folks. Nonprofit does not mean no one is making money.
BUSTED!
“Thus, they are public only for getting money,”
NO! They aren’t public “only for getting money”! They are public for getting public space (schools in which they co-locate) rent free!
That, too, Duane.
If they’re private with no public oversight or accountability, then they should be getting absolutely no public money or amenities, such as co-locating in public schools, or using any public school properties.
Not exactly rent free.
Their rent is paid. It’s just that the people “paying” it are public school students. It is paid out of the per pupil allocation that is charged to each public school student in NYC. Each one of them is charged a little more so that Eva Moskowitz can pay a little less. Or a lot less.
Think of it as a “charitable donation” that every public school student gets to make to Success Academy so that the charter chain doesn’t have to pay rent and can keep the millions in the bank for more useful purposes. Like marketing, PR, and high administrator salaries.
NYC public school students are honored to be able to make that charitable donation to such a worthy organization. After all, it’s not like their schools need the money. Nope, it’s a little bit extra they feel is going to that deserving woman, Eva Moskowitz and they are happy to do with less if it means Eva Moskowitz and her schools can have more.
And the people who own the buildings are those who are part of the charter school organization or have some type of relationship with them that is not kosher.
Conflict of interest is written all over their faces, and government does nothing about it.
When the governor solicits millions from your board members, and needs more to run for president, that protects the organization. No public school could get away with this.
In Denver these charters get brand new, taxpayer funded buildings, OR completely refurbished taxpayer funded buildings. Some are older DPS schools; others are privately owned buildings that are converted to privately run charter schools. I still can’t figure out why Eva hasn’t come to Denver. No arguments about putting her charters in public buildings here!
Jeanne,
Does it work in Denver the way it does in NYC?
Not only do charters get completely refurbished taxpayer space. But the COST of that completely refurbished taxpayer space comes out of what is charged to public school students! They get charged a little more — or a lot more — to subsidize free space for charters.
And then charters have the chutzpah to say “you are wasting so much money, look how much you spend per pupil, give us more money so we can spend just as much”.
And the charters get more so that they can market to more students. Leaving fewer public school students to be charged for the rent of the growing number of charter school students.
If they keep this up, and half the NYC public school students pay for the other half that are in charters, the per pupil allocation for public school students will probably be $40,000 per pupil since each pupil will be charged his rent plus the rent of one charter student.
And charters will get “only” $39,000 per pupil to pay for everything they don’t get free from public school budgets and be awash in money.
They are public risk for private reward.
“The Wall Street way”
The Wall Street way
Is public bet
And private pay
With public debt
After a long day, gotta say, Love it. Thanks.
The charter school way is
“I’m private, leave me alone, it’s none of your business while I commit fraud, embezzle, abuse children, and misappropriate funds. And now that I’m low on funds, I’m a hardcore public entity with my hand out in need of more revenues from the government and your tax dollar. Cough it up!”
Yes. Private “public” schools are private where state statutes and public regulations are concerned, but hands-out public where public money is concerned.
Darn right, Ciedie!
What’s the word on Uncommon Schools? Is it as bad as Success Academy?
Beth,
Uncommon is a no-excuses chain. Harsh discipline. In Mass, it had the highest suspension rate in the state.
Anyone know who invented the company shell game? I think that’s what charter schools like this are doing effectively, so they can double dip and triple dip, getting paid government funds for schools, including overly inflated salaries for administrators like Eva, management fees and real estate wheeling and dealing, as if they are different entities, when they are really all the same folks. They do it because they can get away with padding bills and, simultaneously, avoid government regulations. Shell games help crooks to acquire and launder ill gotten gains and they should not be permitted in education.
If it had not become so easy to commit white collar crimes and so easy to avoid prosecution for doing that, I don’t think we would be seeing this kind of thing going on so blatantly in the White House now, too, with all the conflicts of interest and the violation of the emoluments clause in the Constitution. I hope Mueller digs up info on Trump’s nefarious business practices and finds out how he got away with them for so long, because if we want this kind of thing to stop, I think it will have to begin at the very top.
And this private management “not for profit” corp earns huge profits. It’s tax return a few years ago showed around $50 million in reserve funds! And it looks like it earns about $18 million in added profit each year. Here’s the kicker: this private management corp. charges each of the Success Academy schools $2000 per student for the management corp’s support (curriculum and such). This is $2000 per student of taxpayer money. And the not for profit management corp doesn’t need to charge at all, or could charge significantly less, with the assets it’s sitting on. The outcome to many of the Success Academy schools: they’re running at a loss, because of these huge unnecessary fees to the private not for profit corp!
And, as a so-called “non-profit,” they don’t have to pay taxes. Neither do their billionaire sponsors, who get to write off their donations as “charity.” What a bad joke.
We’re talking really big bucks here X how many charters across the country that do this now? = HUGE losses for the common good!
Even worse, you can probably count on one hand the number of politicians and government officials in our nation who actually care enough to do something to stop white collar criminals like this. I don’t know why they won’t they call out these self-serving con artists who are masquerading as altruistic do-gooders.
If I could edit now, I’d delete the second “they” in my last sentence. Sorry.
The tax credits for vouchers is an outright withdrawal of money from the public tax coffers that should be paying for the education of all children but is instead diverted to vouchers for mostly religious schools.
Can we get rid of Schools of Marketing?