Progress Ohio invites YOU to join the rally at the Statehouse in Ohio this Thursday.
Join us this Thursday at the Statehouse to demand a comprehensive investigation into poor performing charter schools
Recently:
FBI raided 19 Gulen-affiliated schools in Ohio and two other states.
Former teachers asked the state school board determine why apparent test tampering and other irregularities at the Gulen Horizon Science Academy in Dayton were covered up.
After hearing explosive testimony from teachers about cheating, racism and sexism, a state school board member asked for all 19 Gulen schools to be investigated but the Ohio Department of Education is limiting the probe to just one school.
A new study by Innovation Ohio suggests cheating has been systemic at Gulen’s Horizon Science Academy in Columbus.
Yet the state is still not aggressively investigating these allegations.
WHAT DOES IT TAKE to protect kids and taxpayers?
Join us this Thursday for a Rally at the Ohio Statehouse to call attention to the growing mountain of evidence of poor-performing charter schools and state officials’ anemic response to this crisis.
What Does it Take Rally
Thursday, August 7 at 11 A.M.
Ohio Statehouse Steps – Broad Street Side
(across from the Rhodes Tower)
Speakers include former Teachers and Education Experts
Diane Ravitch's blog 
In Louisiana, one Gulen-Inspired Charter was closed within 4 days of the media putting out documents relation to the schools failures to protect students, and to ensure security of tests. Testing irregularities as well as unethical treatment of teachers and students were also included. A parter school, with similar allegations and lawsuits, was protected, even though “officially” an investigation of Kenilworth Science and Technology Charter School was begun. To this day (over 3 years) there has been NO OFFICIAL closing of the investigation, yet Superintendent John White, who was over the charter that was closed, and over Kenilworth at the time the investigation began, says that the investigation was completed and that “Investigators” simply gave an oral report to the Board President and to himself as Superintendent. Have any of you ever heard of an official investigation with NO paperwork whatsoever?
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Conspiracy isn’t too strong a word in describing what has been going on from the President down. Especially with the Gulen schools, where you have the head living in the Poconos and presiding over a vast charter “empire” – google it, and you see investigations and FBI and CIA and funneling of taxpayer dollars to Turkey, Visa abuse, etc. – and what does our government do? It looks the other way on every account. This man has nine lives like a cat, and seems to be made of teflon. The teachers who spoke up? Reprimanded somehow, yes? Amazing. Something stinks.
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It really is a wild story, PARTICULARLY in this state where there’s so much focus on keeping money that is collected in-state (taxes) IN the state.
It’s just a constant. I’ve never seen a local publicly-funded construction project (for example) where people didn’t ask whether the contractor was in-state. It’s just a normal part of the dialogue here. I don’t think I’ve ever listened to a politician of either Party, national, state or local who hasn’t hit that as a theme.
It’s this weird BLANK, like something that isn’t mentioned, but only in the context of charter schools. I could even see it if it were addressed and debated, but it isn’t. I’m baffled by it.
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Just when you thought you knew all about Charter Schools and the Charter Industry:
http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2014/08/get-visas-for-entire-family-with-500000.html
There are 8 states that don’t have charter laws. Maybe we need to take a new approach and voice our concern to state legislators to repel the charter laws in our states.
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Do you know they actually have a school furnishing company, the Turkish charters? They do! They have a division that sells furniture to the charters.
We MAKE furniture used in commercial settings in this area of Ohio. If people knew they were taking tax money out of these counties and not even buying the products we make to furnish the schools they would flip out.
You could have a situation where the kid ISN’T sitting in a chair made by his parents, although his parents paid for the chair 🙂
A little more attenuated than that, but pretty close!
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As Globalism increases, Nationalism decreases…
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It looked for a while there like we were going to get some regulation but then the state education agency jumped in front of the legislature and (essentially) headed it off by promising to provide “oversight”. They don’t have any statutory tools to provide any real oversight, which was the problem in the first place.
It’s like they rushed in to the rescue to head off regulation. It was really pretty appalling to watch.
The thing was set up with a specific deregulatory ideological focus, where “authorize” becomes a relinquishment of what should be a regulatory role. It’s the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. We don’t do this with any other publicly-funded entity. There are COPIOUS reporting rules for everything under the sun except charter schools.
I don’t know that it can ever be turned around. It’s been two decades now, and they deregulate and expand further every year.
We all saw how difficult it was to re-regulate the financial sector once it was deregulated. It didn’t happen. If it didn’t happen after the worst crash since the depression, it is NEVER going to happen.
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Ohio – a nice place to fly over, but don’t become a teacher and don’t drink the water. The GOP has turned our state into a political frat house.
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If so-called “teachers” – or at least those of the union variety – spent half as much time actually TEACHING and showing some true concern for their supposed students as they did protesting and/or making “gimme, gimme” demands, perhaps our educational system wouldn’t be in the pitiful position they have placed it in today.
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Unions exist BECAUSE of people with your anti-teacher views – pretty much every Republican these days. Your post straight from Fox News Troll Central says it all.
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Cheating on tests has been around as long as testing has. In many cases (especially on the level of a student instead of a whole school) are inevitable. But it is by no means the fault of the teachers. The fault lies with those in charge. The fault lies with those on a high rung on the corporate ladder. I love what Ohio is trying to do. But i believe it needs to be done on a larger scale. take up one more notch.
Fix a broken a school and it will show cracks for the rest of its existence. But fix the one who broke it, and the school will never show a new crack.
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When you figure out what Ohio is trying to do, fill us in.
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RE: the article’s question of….
“WHAT DOES IT TAKE to protect kids and taxpayers?”
….one would think that it would take professional-grade educators who have more concern for their students than they do for feathering their own nests…..true educators who are willing to spend their time actually TEACHING instead of attending extortionistic rallys and protests.
Unfortunately, in the public school systems of today, it would seem that such individuals are becoming as scarce as hens teeth.
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I attended the rally. Thanks to Progress Ohio for planning it and to Diane Ravitch and Phil Willis for promoting it.
One of the speakers has her information posted at “Charterschoolwatchdog”
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I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m sick of the futile attempts to “educate” people on the corruption of charters when it’s clear that no elected official will listen, no matter if the truth is on our side.
The time has come to engage the enemy on their terms: half truths and spin designed to gin up low information voters, except this time, on our terms.
Gulen Charters: run Turkish men almost exclusively. Kids caught engaging in sexual activity on school property. Their parents not notified. These are all reported facts. So, how to spin them?
Easy ……a charter school run by Eastern European men= sex trafficking! Or kiddie porn! Let the idiot masses fill in the blanks with their worst fears. And don’t forget to mention that the state supports them! And fires teachers that blow the whistle! The narrative writes itself. You know the reformers would do it to us if our situations were reversed.
We’ll keep losing as long as we play nice- it’s time to hire some Karl Rove types willing to do the dirty work and do some mudslinging.
Or we can keep congratulate ourselves on keeping to our principles and our enlightened stances as we apply for food stamps or stand in the unemployment line.
It’s our choice. When at war, give the enemy no quarter.
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