Few charter schools have received as much attention and accolades as the American Indian Model Schools of Oakland, California.
Politicians and pundits flocked to the school to sing its praises and to heap honor and recognition on Ben Chavis, its leader. Chavis flaunted his “no excuses” style and his disdain for liberal softies. His schools had some of the highest scores in the state so it was hard to argue with success.
As the media took turns lionizing Chavis, they failed to notice that he had managed to lose the American Indians and to tilt the enrollment heavily towards Asians.
But Chavis encountered another problem last year when an audit revealed that some $3.8 million or so of the schools’ funds had ended up in businesses controlled by him or his wife. That was a problem.
Last week, the Oakland school board revoked the charter, but only by a vote of 4-3. Three members of the board were willing to overlook the financial issues because of the schools’ high scores.
Chavis may be gone but he is not forgotten. Even as the charter was revoked, conservative pundit John Stossel was still holding up Chavis as a model educator. Stossel is a union hater. I wish he would explain why so many of the union hating states are at the bottom of the national tests.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Stossel is an embarrassment to his profession, whatever it is. Talk about ineffective, underperforming, in need of improvement, etc. There should be an evaluation system with VAM scores for “journalists”…there wouldn’t be many left. He actually makes a stupid statement about what’s wrong with profiting off a charter school…so send your kids or grandkids there. Put your offspring where your mouth is.
And yet Stossel was a featured presenter at the National Council of Social Studies in DC 2 years ago!! When I, as a member, complained, the leadership couldn’t see any issue. As educators and friends of educators, we have to be more vigilant about who we invite “into the hen house.”
John Stossel is another privileged character who graduated from the prestigious New Trier High School in Winnetka, IL (hmm..now, who else attended New Trier?), then went on to Princeton. So, he’s another one who doesn’t have a clue. Knowing all the good & great teachers at N.T., however, I say he ought to be kissing up to and thanking teachers. But…that’s just me.
BTW–New Trier was the subject of an Op.Ed. in the Chicago Tribune nearly 2 years ago–“New Trier’s ‘F’,” as New Trier hadn’t made AYP for at least 2 years! (due to their special ed. subgroup).
Now it’s been 3 (someone out there correct me if I’m wrong). Parents did receive “school choice” notifications–they could choose to send their kids to a nearby H.S. that did make AYP.
Now, how many N.T. parents did THAT? (Around here, we pretty much laugh about the absurdity of it all.) Consider that N.T. consistently has one of the highest–of not highest–ACT composites in the state begs the question, “Well, then, what’s wrong with the state ‘standardized’ test designed by…Pear$on?”
Not to mention, “Why are we blanket-testing special ed. kids, anyway?” (You must all read “The Answer Sheet’s” extremely sad
article about a multiply impaired student who was forced to take the FCATs. Read the comments. as well.)
Many of the schools in the suburbs in my area don’t make AYP.
And there’s quite a charter school fracas going on in Maine too, with the key issue being whether both the Baxter Academy school in Portland and Maine’s Charter School Commission have to lawyer-up in the face of questions of mishandling of funds and improper review.
Looks like it’s “Lawyers First” when it comes to charters.
“I wish he would explain why so many of the union hating states are at the bottom of the national tests.”
Here is a cute response to this question that I have encountered. It goes something like this: “There ARE no states that don’t have teacher unions — because every state has chapters of the AFT or other national teacher union!”
Cute, isn’t it?
Cute is pretty funny to you. Fact : working in a right to work state means that having any semblance of voice in my own workplace, about my student’s learning experience, having voice to even make statements on behalf of my students or myself is nill, to challenge testing or curriculum implementation or the work conditions that i am placed under is gone gone gone. I have tenure- I earned the right to not be dismissed with cause but that does not mean that I have anything remotely like ‘union’ representation. It means that when or if I am suspended I get to have a union lawyer there- that is all having an affiliate of a union in our state means. I cannot grieve to my union rep when I am being harassed by my admin/ the downtown ed. I cannot grieve when my job is on the line- being in a right to work state means that I put up and I shut up which makes me a much worse teacher than if I did have a real union.
Stress kills the ability to concentrate and retain- something I teach my students as they challenge themselves in my classes. Balancing out that stress is critical to being successful in anything that requires retention and analysis. Funny I cannot give myself that advice as on every single level of teaching stress is ratcheted up with no recourse in sight. There is no real union in right to work states and if you doubt that, why in the world are they so eager to institute that policies in states that do have strong union representation- Wisconsin comes to mind.
I don’t think it’s funny, I think it’s “cute” in the smarmy, smirky sense that is displayed by the sort of people who employ the argument I described. They know damn well that they are playing word games with the term “union”. The fact is they cannot counter the argument that right-to-work states do NOT outshine unionized states, so they make a misleading comment that is technically correct but doesn’t mean what most people think it means. Bonus points if there are others present that are fooled by the comment because they aren’t familiar with the reality of what the AFT is as opposed to local unions, and they smirk at you knowing that you know but will either have to let the matter drop or spend time explaining to the others in the hopes that they will understand (and they might not).
Cute.
It amazes me when Drudge links to a negative education story (go figure) in a right-to-work state and all of the commenters are screaming about unions.
What’s even worse is when it involves an administrator or superintendent.
I can’t tell you how many times I have seen politicians and pundits in right-to-work states blaming all the problems in their education system on the unions. It just goes to show what frauds these people are. The unions, even when they are impotent, are their all-purpose scapegoat.
Educators in the Bay Area, including TFA teachers, American Indian charter employees, and others from the “no excuses schools” community have long talked about the big problem with American Indian Model Schools’ management, leadership, student selection, and skewed performance data. It’s taken a while to get through the process of closing it down, as it does with most schools, teachers, principals, and businesses that behave badly. There are many bad charters, many good ones. And surely you aren’t saying that John Stossel in any way represents the charter school community.
Patti,
I did not say that John Stossel represents the charter school industry. Read the words in my blog. Read Stossel’s article. Even as Chavis was having the charter revoked–an issue that had been in the news for nearly a year–Stossel held him up as a model.
Diane
I will say that he represents the charter community in that he is one of the system’s biggest advocates.
I meant to say that tenure grants me the right not to be dismissed WITHOUT cause.
We should stop using “tenure”. Public school teachers never had tenure to my knowledge the way college professors have. For a college it is a job for life barring criminal behavior. Public school teachers could always be dismissed if rated unsatisfactory after receiving 2 or 3 observations. Teachers should start emphasizing “due process”. The public doesn’t like “tenure” but does like “due process”.
When do they go to prison? Would someone please start putting people like this in prison to send a message. The legislature also needs to do something about accountability. Charters are easy money grabs. Stossel’s an idiot if he thinks people like this should be able to run a school or even be able to walk the streets freely.
Charter School Leaders Mike Piscal, Steve Barr, and Ben Chavis embezzle public funds, all walk away. There’s countless more examples, documented on http://charterschoolscandals.blogspot.com, but the aforementioned three were all ‘rock stars’ of the lucrative California charter school industry.
Hard to believe that Stossel still gets paid to give his opinion on anything, let alone on any educational issues. It has been 20 years since I took anything he had to say seriously. Seriously!!
Interesting to notice: the Stossel piece is undated, and the comment function seems to be disabled…
Similar to Stossel…outdated and unable to learn and process new information that is not aligned with his preconceived notions or somewhat intellectually disabled.
The Stossel piece is NOT undated. I googled it and it says it was posted March 19, 2013:
The Blob That Eats Kids
Posted by John Stossel | March 19, 2013
I blame teachers unions a lot for our failed education system. But they aren’t the only ones responsible. In this week’s syndicated column, I take on the education “Blob”.
The Blob includes the teachers unions, but also janitors and principals unions, school boards, PTA bureaucrats, local politicians and so on.
They hold power because the government’s monopoly on K-12 education eliminates most competition. Kids are assigned to schools, and a bureaucracy decides who goes where and who learns what. Over time, its tentacles expand and strangle attempts to reform. Since they have no fear of losing their jobs to competitors, monopoly bureaucrats can resist innovation for decades.
The Blob hates competition. Ben Chavis started 3 schools in Oakland, California. His school’s work. They have the high test scores to prove it.
Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/on-air/stossel/blog/2013/03/19/blob-eats-kids#ixzz2OTTCupGj
John Stossel, a mile wide and an inch deep. Nothing to see there, move along.
Stay tuned because the American Indian Public charter schools (also known as the American Indian Model Schools) will now appeal to the Alameda County Board of Education for their authorization, and if that doesn’t work they will seek it from the California State Board of Education.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/breaking-news/ci_22851989/oaklands-american-indian-model-schools-seek-new-charter
They supposedly cut ties with Ben Chavis, scrounged around to find a couple of new AIMS board members. Chavis is totally MIA but I’m sure he’s still pulling strings behind the scene.
Yes John, Ben probably broke a few rules. Here are a few of the indictable ones:
Chavis stands accused of improperly channeling $3.8 million to himself and his wife.
In early June 2012, the FCMAT audit was published. Key findings in the sixty-five page document note conclusive documentation of fraud in rental agreements, funds siphoned from the SAIL summer program, and bidding for on- site construction projects.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Indian_Public_Charter_School
http://www.insidebayarea.com/breaking-news/ci_22851989/oaklands-american-indian-model-schools-seek-new-charter
Two things about Stossel:
1. He may hate public education, but at least he’s an equal opportunity hater when it comes to the government. While many of his political persuasion will argue for reductions in funding to government agencies or services EXCEPT those from which they receive benefits, at least he fights for cuts to all of them. He’s talked about privatizing roads, getting rid of street lights, private police forces, closing down many of our overseas military bases, etc.
2. He absolutely hates public education, but his organization doesn’t mind adding district employees to its email list to sell products. Yes. The product in the email is free, but as with all free products, it’s free with the hopes that you’ll like it so much that you’ll buy other products. Bull.
Before you join the lynch mob, realize:
1) No charges have ever been made by the DA against Chavis or AIMS. OUSD forwarded the FCMAT (audit) report to the DA nearly a year ago!
2) The appropriate authorities approved the opening of AIPCS II in the 12th Street location (in 2007) with full knowledge that Chavis owned the building.
3) The rent charged the school is below market value. The going rate in the Chinatown neighborhood that AIPCSII opened up is ~$1.80/sf/month. The School pays $1.09.
The school has looked for other locations, both at the time of the chartering and during Intent to Revoke process. They asked OUSD for space. OUSD said that they did not have any appropriate space for the school. Multiple real estate agents have been asked to procure appropriate space within 2 miles of either campus. Nothing is available at $1.09/sf.
I am embarrassed when I see my fellow democrats act like a bunch of Birthers and Fox News ditto-heads.
Ken,
There are other reasons to be concerned about the American Indian Charter School and Ben Chavis in particular. Such as his racially inappropriate remarks; his abusive treatment of children; his sneering and preening and boasting. And doesn’t it disturb you a bit about the deception that the AICS has almost no American Indians? And does it seem appropriate that the head of the school owns the property and rents it to the school for $750,000 or so annually? The school may be getting a bargain, but something doesn’t smell right.
Diane:
Thank you for the civil response….
I think the Indian thing is a bit of red herring. There is no mandate in the charter document regarding seeking out American Indian students. Anyway, to do so would probably violate other laws that mandate first come/first server/Lottery system.
Regarding the rent… well, the appropriate authorities approved the charter to be at 12th street with full knowledge of his ownership of it back in 2007.
To drag this up in 2013, and pretend that this is a recently unearthed fact that the school hid.. and cause all sort of disruption, pain and suffering to the parents who know have to scramble to find new schools… that is the thing that I am more upset.
with.
Re his sneering and boasting…. don’t listen to it. It is sort of irrelevant as to the real issue of getting my kids a rigorous education in a safe environment. Anyway, AIMS !== Chavis and Chavis !==AIMS.
I find it odd that the school would pay rent to the director of the school. It may have been approved but it still seems unusual.
I admit I was surprised when I learned that were only 2 or 3 American Indians in the American Indian Public Charter School and that the majority of students are Asian Americans..
never mind, I apologize for my childlish rant. It was stupid of me. What I really meant to say was that I disagree with you and I think the government should get out of education entirely even to the point of eliminating the Department of Education. By the way, Stossel is a libertarian, not a conservative. There is a difference.