Whistleblowers at a charter school in Nashville called for financial scrutiny of their school:
The Nashville charter school New Vision Academy is under investigation by the school district for financial irregularities and failing to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
New Vision Academy came under scrutiny in March after an anonymous whistleblower sent a detailed report to school board member Amy Frogge, who forwarded it to the district.
Metro Nashville Public Schools charter schools executive officer Dennis Queen confirmed the investigation is ongoing.
In addition, the whistleblower report, compiled by teachers, said English language-learning students and students with learning disabilities were not receiving required instructional time. However, on those two areas Queen said the district found New Vision to be in compliance in both of those areas.
According to the whistleblower report, students were charged for textbooks even though the school earmarked thousands of dollars for classroom supplies. The top two executives at New Vision, who are married, make a combined $562,000….
The teachers who detailed the allegations said they want New Vision, which has about 200 students, to address the issues, improve its financial management and admit its shortcomings. The Tennessean is not naming the teachers because they feared retribution from the nonprofit, which does not have a policy protecting whistleblowers.
On Monday, the four teachers who talked to The Tennessean for this story were escorted out of the school. Three were told not to return. One was allowed back into the school Tuesday to finish teaching the final three days of the school year. All four were told the school is accepting their resignations as of this week.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
There is definitely is something wrong when New Vision has 200 students, top executives make a combined salary of $562,000 and charge students for textbooks. Kick the buzzards out and demand money back. [It figures that Tennessee doesn’t have a policy to protect whistleblowers.]
Fancy names, like New Vision, is a con and parents fall for this? Hoo-rah for the brave teachers who spoke out. What is wrong with a state that allows this to happen? This ‘school’ should be permanently shut down.
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A look at other news about the Nashville Schools shows that the whole administrative architecture has been investigated in the last several years and found to be filled with crony-based appointments. The charter school leader and others were not accredited in spite of having multiple posts in different states. The school board is part of the problem, which means the voters are too.
Gates has sent millions to Nashville organizations, including operating support for a charter schools support center. Gates also set a lot of money to SCORE —The State Collaborative on Reforming Education. SCORE has undermined the role of state officials and local school boards in monitoring what happens in school districts. Political power in education rests with the business community, non-profits, and education groups who too easily to say OK to “collaborations” designed to erode their profession. SCORE hires a lot of people to push what Gates and the founder likes. https://tnscore.org
SCORE was founded in 2009 by Republican insider and MD, Bill First, former US Senator who has a checkered past on ethical matters and supports teaching Intelligent Design. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Frist
Credit the newspaper for trying to show Tennessee voters the depth of the corruption in Nashville charter schools and administrative appointments.
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SCORE has a firm footing in TN thanks to Race to the Top, Gates, Milken, Broad, & who-knows-where-money & its carefully cultivated political connections in the highest agencies of state government. Their “research” is spun to reach preconceived ed reform conclusions. I would characterize SCORE as a state level proxy for national think tanks. They function like Thomas B Fordham, AEI, & The Milken Foundation to put out press releases, PR spin & fake research at the state level.
From their website: “Our programs and statewide outreach work help SCORE inspire Tennesseans around a common reform agenda, sustaining momentum and maintaining focus on student achievement.” https://tnscore.org/programs-outreach/
Anytime there is bad publicity or push back against testing or teacher evaluations, SCORE is out in front of it to mitigate PR damage. They’ve become the go to organization for politicians to justify privatized education in TN.
Their latest effort is to choose teacher fellows to spread their agenda inside school districts. https://tnscore.org/programs-outreach/tennessee-educator-fellowship/
“During a one-year term, the Tennessee Educator Fellows learn about, reflect upon, and inform the policies, practices, and systems that affect student achievement and educator effectiveness. They also serve as liaisons between their colleagues, their communities, policymakers, and advocates as Tennessee continues the work of improving educational outcomes for all students.”
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“Ohio Auditor of State Dave Yost detailed ECOT’s financial records as a part of his investigation into potential illegal activities of the online charter school as a part of its closing. Among Yost’s findings is nearly $2.3 million in payments in 2017 and 2018 to a company called Third Wave Communications.”
The CEO of Third Wave Communications is the ECOT founder’s daughter.
The Ohio auditor somehow forgot to mention this in his report.
There are two other companies that received the vast majority of the ECOT funding, IQ-ity and Altair Learning Management, both of which are owned and run by the ECOT founder’s family.
I think ECOT is the biggest corruption scandal in Ohio history- I can’t think of another that involves 75 million in funds. “Coingate”, which involved missing worker’s comp funding, was +/- 13 million and people went to prison for that scandal.
http://plunderbund.com/2018/05/13/while-going-out-of-business-ecot-continued-to-enrich-the-lager-family/
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Reblogged this on David R. Taylor-Thoughts on Education.
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Attention, taxing authorities:
“In addition to the charter school, New Vision runs a social work nonprofit, which ensures youth abide by the terms of their juvenile probation. New Vision files a single 990 tax return, and therefore its finances can be muddied between the two non-profits.”
BTW, 990’s are publically available… Maybe donors & local taxpayers should take a gander?
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