Gary Rubenstein has written about the failed promises of charter schools many times. In this post, he reports on the latest sex scandal at KIPP. Maybe there’s something about the power dynamics of a “no excuses” school that encourages adult domination of children in their care.
He writes:
Today the US Attorney’s office for the southern district tweeted this [Open the link to see the tweet!].
The description of the charges gets pretty graphic so I will not quote it all here, but part of it says:
From at least in or about 2002 through at least in or about 2007, CONCEPCION singled out the Minor Victims for personal attention. He gave them money, clothing, jewelry, and other gifts, and he provided them with alcohol. He told several of the Minor Victims that they were in romantic relationships with him and provided each of the Minor Victims with a cellphone so that they could communicate with him without their parents’ knowledge. CONCEPCION used the cellphones he provided and other devices to maintain his “relationships” with the Minor Victims and to arrange sexual encounters.
The press release does not identify the school, but I recognized the name of this teacher since he was featured in the chapter about KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) in the 2008 book published by The Thomas B. Fordham Institute called ‘Sweating The Small Stuff — Inner-City Schools and the New Paternalism’ (you can get it on Amazon for $0.99 or you can get the full pdf for free here.) It’s basically a book that glorifies the abusive practices of ‘no-excuses’ schools because they get good standardized test results. The Fordham Institute is one of these think tanks that basically creates ed reform propaganda but makes it look like actual research. Their president Michael Petrilli is a nice enough guy, we have had some friendly exchanges, but he knows absolutely nothing about education. I would feel bad for him if he weren’t making so much money.
In the chapter of ‘Sweating The Small Stuff’ entitled ‘”KIPP-Notizing” through music’ there is this passage that has not aged well:
In two days, the orchestra will give its commencement concert in this auditorium in the South Bronx to honor the eighth-grade graduates of KIPP Academy, housed in a wing on the fourth floor of Lou Gehrig Junior High. But rehearsal in the stifling auditorium is going poorly. Jesus Concepcion, the dapper conductor and benevolent baton-wielding despot on the podium, is not pleased.
“Sit down!” Concepcion tells a seventh grader playing string bass at the back of the orchestra. The bass player had refused to help a fellow cello player pick up his music when it slid off his music stand, kicking the sheet music back to the student instead. “You want to be nasty?” Concepcion asks rhetorically. “I’ll teach you nasty. You don’t deserve to play! You let down your teammates. And that music you kicked, I arranged. Get off the stage!” After the student glumly exits the stage, orchestra members keep their eyes glued to Concepcion during a soaring version of “Seasons of Love” from the Broadway show Rent. But as at many rehearsals of the string and rhythm orchestra, the cycle of disruption and discipline continues. A few minutes later, the graduating eighth graders start chatting animatedly in the hallway as they practice lining up.“Unbelievable!” Concepcion exclaims. Mitch Brenner, KIPP Academy’s Director of Institutional Solutions and enforcer of all things KIPP, hops up to straighten out the excited eighth graders. “Not a word!” Brenner calls out. “Do not speak! You are our graduates. Do not open your mouth!”
KIPP has had to do a lot of apologizing and self-reflecting over the past few years. First there were the sexual abuse allegations that caused them to fire co-founder Michael Feinberg. Even though Feinberg’s accuser was not able to definitively prove her case in court, he was far from exonerated and has pretty much been shunned by most of the education reform community. Then, about a year ago, the other co-founder Dave Levin wrote an apologyto the KIPP alumni about some of the racist practices that KIPP has employed over the years, things that charter critics have been accusing them of over the years, but KIPP never cared then because they felt it was helping them get the statics they needed to get the donations they needed.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Ah … have charters become the place where sick people can ABUSE our young?
Seems like this is true.
“The Fordham Institute is one of these think tanks that basically creates ed reform propaganda but makes it look like actual research.”
They’re not alone. There are tens of ed reform groups like this. Reading what they put out you’re amazed that no one in ed reform calls them on what is the absolutely blatant anti-public school bias and the unrestrained cheerleading for charter schools and vouchers.
But no one in ed reform ever does call them out. Because it’s an echo chamber.
This is why I think public schools shouldn’t take policy direction from ed reformers. They’re biased against our schools and the bias absolutely infuses all the work they do. It’s nutty to allow people who don’t support the continued existance of public schools to direct what happens in public schools. No private school would ever hire a group of people who sought to abolish private schools to advise them on their schools. No charter school would ever do it.
Does Eva Moskowitz take direction from anti-charter orgs? No, of course not. So why are public schools taking direction from anti-public school think tanks and lobbying groups and university departments?
Here’s an ed reform think tank in Newsweek talking about how public schools should handle reopening:
“So how are schools to respond?
First, the question should not be whether we reopen schools, but rather how we do so. The vast majority of research suggests that we can safely reopen schools with well-established mitigation measures.”
Hey, great question! The problem is none of them mention the fact that ed reform aligned governors all the country are banning mitigation measures in schools.
They’re not permitted to criticize the governors of Texas or Arkansas or Florida, because those governors are their political allies on privatization. So we’ll all just pretend that the bar on mitigation measures in Texas and Florida is somehow the work of “teachers unions” when in fact it’s the work of the governors in those states.
This is who public schools rely on for policy direction? They’re wholly ideological ed reform cheeleading teams. It isn’t even an accurate depiction of what’s happening, let alone worthwhile advice for public schools.
The rule for public schools should be “don’t hire or take direction from people who have an ideological committment to the eradication and replacement of your school”. Seems reasonable, right?
https://www.newsweek.com/covid-19-will-continue-disrupt-schools-we-can-manage-it-opinion-1617489
I’m even going to defend KIPP on this. All schools have problems with child abuse and teachers. Thankfully it’s a small number, but every school either has had or will have this problem.
The issue with charters isn’t that they have the same problems public schools have- the issue with charters is they insist they’re somehow magically different from all other schools and their lobbying groups bash public schools for the same problems each and every school of any kind either has or will have.
Ed reformers didn’t realize that their preferred charter and private schools would run into the same issues with child abuse they spent years bashing public schools on?
There’s that bias again! It infects everything they do.
I’m not at all suprised the lauded privatized schools have the same set of problems public schools have, but then I never bought the ed reform malarky that they were immune.
I agree that child predators often seek employment that places them in the company of children, ie, priest, youth pastor, camp counselor, teacher, tutor, babysitter etc. By this point given the technology we have today, we should have a national data base with fingerprints of offenders. We shouldn’t be allowing them to continue to work with children if they move to a new location.
If public schools had the same problems with rogue actors that charter chains do, there would be a scandal a minute. The vast majority of schools are, thankfully, still public schools, yet the vast majority of waste, fraud, and abuse comes from the charter sector.
Correct.
Agree with LCT
I urge everyone to read within the ed reform echo chamber. I think the bias against public schools and for charters and vouchers is so blatant it’s impossible to miss.
You cannot get through an ed reform editorial without reading some broad blanket indictment of all public schools- as a CATEGORY and it’s completely mainstream in “the movement”.
Should public schools take direction from people who sneeringly refer to their schools as “government schools” or “factory models” or preface every mention of any public school with the word “failing”? Of course not. That’s nuts. You’re permitted to find and hire people who support your schools. That’s allowed.
Ah, the old charter school string and rhythm orchestra. Sounds familiar.
They got lots of money from corporate music companies for guitars, drums, keyboards and amps at my ex’s South Bronx charter school in the early 2000s. (Note: My ex is NOT Concepcion.) He was forced to write his own musical arrangements for strings and rhythm section.
He quit after a couple of months of butting heads with the “principal” who changed not only the class rehearsal scheduled almost daily, but pulled kids out or placed them in nearly every day despite the rehearsal season having already started. The reason: Their reading/writing or math scores were too low that week or they finally got to be where the “school”
wanted them so they were “rewarded” with orchestra. Oh, and the ensemble
had to audition for the “principal” in order to be allowed to perform at the concert.
So here are music arts in South Bronx charter schools: Lots of money
awarded to set up orchestra with the wrong instrumentation. No budget for sheet music written/arranged by actual composers/arrangers because there are no such pieces for groups with this kind of instrumentation. Daily schedule and roster changes. No excuses behavior policies—students were not allowed to talk even when walking across campus and up three flights of stairs each day while carrying all equipment in order to rehearse—yes, carrying keyboards, amps, string basses and cellos. (Kids. Up flights of steps. Every day to and from rehearsal. Pros won’t even do that without an elevator.) Auditions with non-experts in music in order to be permitted to actually perform.
I will never forget the “principal’s” name. I won’t post it here for fear of my ex’s career getting sabotaged, but I can assure everyone, she was no educator. She was a dictator that forced my ex to write lesson plans in a scripted fashion. It went totally against any of the musical orchestral training he had had. My ex couldn’t get out of there fast enough.
Now let’s add sexual predators to the mix. Not sure how common this practice is in all charters. I won’t paint them all as a bastion for sexual predators especially since it’s easy to do with public schools
when one or two people are identified as such. Makes it easy fodder for public school opponents to say all teachers are predators. However there is plenty of corruption out there in the charter industry. Not discounting it, but even without the presence of sexual assault on children, all of the other infractions in the charter school I mentioned are enough to say this was not a good place for the students.
Follow up to my above commentary. Just messaged my ex-husband. This was, in fact, the person who he replaced at the same charter. I had no idea at the time that it was considered a KIPP school. The story about orchestra was too eerily similar for me not to investigate.
Last follow up: Around the time, he left the position, Concepcion was the subject of a positive NYT article on his “excellent” work as a Superman at this charter. Right after he abruptly left in the middle of the school year for reasons undisclosed to his successor, the article was taken down. Why? Who in the KIPP network was influential enough with the NYT to solicit a fluff piece and then get it removed as a proactive response to what they knew was happening behind the scenes? I’d be interested to know just how far their reach is.
Not sure if this is the same article because it may or may not have been retracted—just wanted to stand corrected on the issue. This article chronicles his departure from Bronx Prep which was the school he held a position in prior to the dates he was accused of harassment and misconduct. He is painted as “the” best teacher they ever had and he had irreconcilable differences with the CEO, l mean “principal.”
“Sweating The Small Stuff — Inner-City Schools and the New Paternalism'”
Given the context , that’s quite the ironic title.
Scandalous behavior occurs at almost all institutions. The difference between the incidents seems to be whether these incidents can be collected and understood.
When several incidents of abuse began in the Catholic Church, the public could easily identify the pattern and the Church strained to cover up its culpability. Similar abuse in independent churches, on the other hand, are seen as isolated from a central institution. Much more effort must be made before a public understands some collective pattern of abuse.
Likewise, a single behavior in a public school can be cast as a blight on the whole system, but independent institutions might avoid this generalization for a time.
I believe the commentary here is on to something when writers make a connection between draconian discipline and personal abuse. Tamping down behavior leads to more closed mouths and secrecy, giving cover to deviants. Are those who are attracted to the authoritarian model of discipline more likely to abuse?
Both observations are correct, IMHO: no-excuses discipline creates an unhealthy atmosphere which could enhance cover-up, and authoritarian-type abusers would be attracted to schools where teachers have draconian authority. However, authoritarianism is just one of many abusive behavior-styles. In fact as you see in the KIPP example, it was the sneaky grooming & ‘I’m your boyfriend’ behavior that sealed the deals. Abusing a position of public trust is the common thread.
I found a very enlightening comment on a Meta-Filter thread about a scandal involving multi-award-winning, renown literary biographer and former eighth grade teacher, Blake Bailey, who allegedly had a dark side. He allegedly groomed his female eighth grade students, then allegedly waited until, after graduating and when they reached legal age (17 in Louisiana, where this all took place) allegedly seduced them, or failing to seduce, allegedly raped them.
(Did I say “allegedly” enough times? 😉 )
It’s quite an ugly story. To get an idea of how ugly, here’s just one of many stories covering this, a first-person account of one of Bailey’s students:
https://slate.com/human-interest/2021/04/blake-bailey-former-student-sexual-assault-essay.html
Anyway, on this Meta-Filter thread discussing the Bailey case, came a comment from an official in charge of vetting teachers for a public school district in southern Illinois. Part of his job includes, of course, identifying and screening out perv teachers. He correctly guessed that Bailey taught at a charter school, and insisted that this was a key part of the story that was not being reported on, contrasting charter’s unregulated status and consequently poor vetting in comparison to the more rigorous process executed at public schools, and also the different responses –– public vs. charters –– when administrators find they have such perv teacher on the loose in their schools.
Here’s that comment from the pseudonymous “Eyebrows McGee”:
“The other thing that I think isn’t highlighted enough about this story (and I’m making a separate comment because I really want to highlight this!) is that Bailey taught at a charter school.
“And there’s a lot of politics to be argued about charter schools as a concept, but what is inarguable is that because they are generally not unionized (even in states where public school teachers are universally unionized) and because in all states they are typically subjected to lower standards than teachers at ‘regular’ public schools, charter schools are heavily dependent on having high teacher churn or turnover, and being staffed by idealistic young teachers right out of college.
“Their teachers may NOT come through traditional teaching programs, with professional standards courses. Their administrators quite often come from the business world, not the education world, and know a lot about managing employees, but very little about the specific challenges of teaching.
“In my experience in Illinois, they are heavily dependent upon new graduates force to work under grueling tech hours, while paying them less than other local public school teachers get. (Like, if your average 1st-year teacher is earning $36,000 a year and working 12-hour days, your average 1st-year charter school teacher is earning $30,000 + good feelings, and working 16-hour days. That’s where all the savings comes from!) It’s unusual in Illinois for teachers to last three years at a charter school, because the burnout rate is SO high, and everyone who doesn’t burn out is trying desperately to leap to a unionized public school. I did not in five years meet a single charter school teacher with more than five years experience –– certainly no no-nonsense teachers with 20 years of experience with 12-year-olds.
“Flouting its legal requirements, our local charter school was bound and determined to never report any disciplinary incidents to us –– it made their numbers look AMAZING for student discipline and teacher crime-ing if they didn’t report any of them –– and we actually had a lawsuit, that was still pending when I left, about whether charter schools were required to report that information to local public districts/the state board of education. (They were also super-determined not to teach the mandated-by-state-law genocide curriculum, but that’s a whole different story.)
“Even if we won, though, they just would have carried on not reporting any of it, because charter schools can be run by for-profit corporations, and the way they make the profits is by hiring brand-new, sometimes underqualified, always underpaid teachers, paying them less than the local union contracts, and denying any problems that arise. All that creates profit! (Sometimes they also ignore rules around school lunches and busing and things like that, because that costs money and profit comes from not feeding students.)
“I’d like to think that Bailey couldn’t have gotten away with so much for so long if he weren’t teaching at a charter school. I know that’s not true –– there are predators who last 20 years in public schools –– but there were some things that stood out to me in the story as signaling ‘charter school!’ before I knew he taught at a charter school. There’s just so much less supervision, so much less teacher professionalism –– a lot of these schools VALUE the chummy, we’re-all-buddies sort of teaching that lets predators like Bailey thrive. I’d like to think he’d have been drummed out a lot faster in a traditional public school, because some of these signs are so egregious — hindsight is 20/20.
“But we should not overlook the way charter schools enabled him and gave him access to vulnerable students. To particularly vulnerable students! because charter schools often serve low-income, low-resource populations.”
Here’s the link. (His comment is about 3/4 of the way
down a very long thread, and oh, I apologize for the
expletive in the link)
https://www.metafilter.com/191311/Fuck-you-Mr-Chips
While public schools may have the occasional bad actor that preys on students, there are many more rules and regulations required in a public school setting that are designed to keep students safe. Safety is a big priority in most public schools. I served on a building safety committee for many years. Part of the responsibility was to ensure the safety of students as priority #1. We had to comply with all state mandates and local fire safety rules and codes. We set up crisis teams with protocols for hostile intruders and evacuation plans in a case of a bomb threat or a natural disaster. We had practice drills with local law enforcement.
As you mention, many charter schools reject any notion of regulation. As a result, it would be much easier for predators to operate in such a lawless environment, and it is sad and unacceptable.
This is not just something that the FBI & NYPD just whipped up, but an investigation that went on for months, as this very long pdf of the full indictment indicates:
https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/press-release/file/1422531/download
WARNING: this is graphic stuff.
In response to Jack– “…some things that stood out to me in the story as signaling ‘charter school!’ before I knew he taught at a charter school. There’s just so much less supervision, so much less teacher professionalism.”
Thank you for relating your experiences and views, with which I mostly agree. HOWEVER, in my experience as an arts teacher, that “lack of supervision” can ALLOW professionalism and better instruction! Consider that “lack of supervision” can also mean “lack of nitpicking, ignorant, limiting, counterproductive, CYA, hoop-jumping micromanagement by an incompetent administrator who somehow got ‘certified’ without every having to take a course in arts education” !!!
I was a full-time arts teacher for 18 years in three different Title One school districts, I worked under 5 principals, 3 of whom had long experience in the arts (though only one of those had actually been an arts teacher). Those 3 principals quickly realized I knew what I was doing, facilitated my programs, and otherwise left me alone. My professional evaluations from them were relevant and helpful because of their experience in the arts.
The other 2 principals, without an arts background, attempted well-intended but often counter-productive “supervision”. In one case I went immediately to Human Resources and resigned, then returned and started packing up my stuff, with full intention to leave and forfeit $1500 for not giving 30 days notice (some conditions of employment are simply intolerable). There was no anger or drama on either side, it was simply an unworkable situation where a more effective use of arts classrooms–put in place by my department head, the previous principal, and me–was cancelled. Unbeknownst to me, several colleagues prevailed upon the principal to back off and let me teach my subject. My evaluations from these 2 principals were positive, but irrelevant and unhelpful, because they had little understanding of arts education.
During my 2 years at the charter school, the 2 successive principals gave me complete freedom. This was not because either had any experience in the arts, but because of what appeared to me to be the lower level of supervision at charter schools that Jack mentions.
In conclusion, “professionalism” has an inherently positive connotation. “Supervision” can be either positive or negative, BUT lack of supervision can indeed allow increased “professionalism.” Note: none of what I’ve written here is intended to excuse or minimize the very real problem of UNprofessional behavior, including sexual crimes, in any school.
Thanks, but the quotes in italics in my above are not from me ––– although I agree with them –– but from an administrator in downstate Illinois who’s job it was and is to vet prospective teachers, identifying and screening out perv teachers, and who goes by the internet nickname “Eyebrows McGee.”
Thanks for the correction; I forgot who was speaking by the time I got to the end of your fascinating account.
Totally get what you say. I’ve had my share of principals trying to tell me what I should do in my program without the music credentials. I can assure you the charter school “principal” under which this abuse happened was a micro-manager. Remember, the “Rhythm Orchestra” had to audition for the “principal” in order to be permitted to play in the concert. The board of directors must be pleased with what was prepared.
Oh, and don’t forget the time when the anti-union, pro-privatization Jeanne Allen went all in defending now-disgraced former-CEO / co-founder of KIPP, Mike Feinberg.
Background: KIPP officials, responding to reports and accusations from alleged victims, hired a law firm to do a 12-month investigation as to whether Feinberg: 1) had sexually molested middle school students (ages 11-14); and 2) had extramarital affairs with former KIPP students, who grew up to work in the KIPP organization, where, again, is when Feinberg then allegedly had flings with them.
A year later, the investigating law firm found “credible evidence” backing these charges, including the fact that in 1997, one child accuser sued him, and the KIPP bosses, including co-founder Dave Levin, authorized a six-figure out-of-court settlement to be paid to her. The settlement also had non-disclosure terms that effectively silenced both the child victim and her parents.
Mind you, in the aftermath of paying out a six-figure sum to one of Feinberg’s victims –– again, in large part, to silence that victim and her parents –– KIPP officials incredibly put NO LIMITS OR RESTRICTIONS PUT ON FEINBERG REGARDING HIS ACCESS TO OR ABILITY TO INTERACT WITH STUDENTS.
On top of that, parents were never told of the settlement, nor of the risk to which their children were subjected as a result of KIPP’s failure to restrict Feinberg’s access to children. This, in turn, caused KIPP parents to go thermonuclear when this was finally disclosed at the time of Feinberg’s firing was fired last year (almost two decades later), after the conclusion of the law firm’s investigation.
In the aftermath of this, arch-privatizer Jeanne Allen leapt to Feinberg’s defense. This, in turn, horrified even Allen’s closest allies, as she publicly castigated the KIPP bosses for what she considered their unfair and ill treatment of Feinberg, arguing that his years of past work in privatizing schools through charter school expansion should earn him a pass, as it were, for the above transgressions, whether or not the accusations are true.
In a now-classic Twitter exchange, even Allen’s allies in the corporate ed. reform world were utterly aghast at Allen’s clams and defense of Feinberg, and at Allen’s appalling disregard for the suffering of both Feinberg’s victims and Feinberg’s victims’ parents, then proceeded to let her have it.
The pro-corp.-ed.-reform org CHALKBEAT covered this here: (in the latter part of the story IMMEDIATELY BELOW)
https://www.chalkbeat.org/posts/us/2018/02/23/how-kipps-observers-and-allies-are-reacting-to-co-founder-mike-feinbergs-firing/
Here’s the Twitter exchange:
Two of the tweets attacking Allen were later deleted, but thankfully they remain and thankfully survive in the Chalkbeat article.
You can mentally insert them when re-reading the above Twitter exchange.
X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
CHALKBEAT:
(recounting tweets to Allen from her corporate ed reform allies):
“I’m heartbroken & angry that you think an independent investigation that confirmed ‘credible evidence that is incompatible with the mission and values of KIPP’ isn’t enough to NOT give someone the benefit of the doubt,” responded Kate Duval, the head of external relations for the group 50CAN.
“Neither good work nor service entitles a man to the benefit of the doubt when accused of sexual assault or harassment. No matter who they are,” wrote Matt Richmond of EdBuild.
X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
Interesting. The (now-deleted) tweet from Duval got an approving response from one “Rich Abate,” who, in his own Twitter page, bills himself as “a Lancaster, PA public school teacher.” “Abate” is Allen’s maiden name before she married the Allen guy. Could that be a relative of Allen’s? Her brother? Her nephew?
“…paying out a six-figure sum to one of Feinberg’s victims –– again, in large part, to silence that victim and her parents ––”
Can anyone comment on the legal technicalities here: Can a victim who receives a non-disclosure settlement answer a question from a reporter by saying “I received a financial settlement but I am not allowed to discuss it.” ? Can a friend or unconnected member of the public say “She received a financial settlement but was not allowed to tell me the details.” ?
Such non-disclosure settlements often happen in high profile cases, and the fact of such a settlement then becomes known–just like this one we are discussing. But what are the legal requirements? What prevents a victim, family member, friend or unknown ally from spreading only this limited information of settlement? In effect, this would indicate an admission of guilt even though the case was settled before a final legal decision of guilt was made.
Good question, and one that came up in the aftermath of the Weinstein situation. In response, laws were past to outlaw NDA’s (Non-Disclosure Agreements), so that perps couldn’t buy their way out of their predatory crimes, and silence their victims with money.
Yet, Feinberg’s victims got a settlement in return for their silence–supposedly. Are they instead completely free to talk, with no consequences? In that case, what is the incentive for Feinberg to pay all that money?
Jack, if “laws were passed to outlaw NDA’s (Non-Disclosure Agreements), so that perps couldn’t buy their way out”, why did Feinberg pay all that money? Is this case in a jurisdiction that did not pass such a law?
There were two “waves” so to speak or bad news regarding Feinberg.
One was back in 1997, and that’s when the girl and her parents sued Feinberg, accusing him of molestation. Before it went to court — i.e. to prevent it from going to court — KIPP officials, presumably including Feinberg’s partner and co-founder Dave Levin, authorized a six-figure settlement with an accompanying NDA (allegedly). No parents were notified, and there were no restrictions put on Feinberg, allowing him to interact with students as if nothing happened, and with the KIPP parents and general public being none-the-wiser.
The whole Weinstein stuff broke in October 2017. The laws barring NDA’s came down a couple years later.
Another wave of accusations against Feinberg came in 2018, which prompted KIPP leaders to hire an outside law firm to conduct an extended investigation of the recent accusations, as well as the 1997 stuff. (Feinberg has always denied the accusations, and fought against the settlement, wanting the matter to go to court, if necessary, to clear his name.)
Based on the results of the investigation, KIPP leaders canned Feinberg.
(NOTE: at the time, Dave Levin did his best Claude-Rains-in-CASABLANCA routine***, claiming that he had no idea, that this was the first he’d heard of any such problem with Feinberg, with Levin unconvincingly insisting that he was shocked, SHOCKED, I tell you, to hear of them.
There’s no way on earth that Levin could have been unaware of the accusations or the settlement. Back in the early days of KIPP, 1997, Feinberg & Levin were the undisputed masters running the KIPP show, and Levin had to have both known and authorized the settlement and its terms, and Feinberg & Levin being in such total control explains Feinberg staying on, with ZERO consequences or limitations, and with the parents and public none-the-wiser.)
The letter to the parents and KIPP community finally — finally(!!!) publicly owning up to the affair and announcing Feinberg’s firing — included KIPP leaders’ first-ever public acknowledgment of the 1997 stuff, including the six-figure settlement paid to the 1997 female victim (age 11-14, or in that range, as this was a middle school). When parents learned that this info was kept from them for the previous two decades, and that, from 1997-2018, Feinberg had no restrictions put on his ability to be around their children, those parents predictably went berserk.
Ilyse Hogue- “We cannot move forward from the dark days (Jan. 6) and defend democracy if we continue to gloss over how ideologically aligned these movements are….the deep and historic connections between anti-choice, violence and white supremacy.
The quote above was Ms. Hogue’s response in an interview about the latest arrest of a rioter/insurrectionist who has a long record of forced birth activism.
Two Canadian priests came under scrutiny this summer for claiming that the reports about abuse of the First Nation children in Catholic Church-run, government funded schools were lies. One of the two used the occasion to repeat a falsehood common to white supremacists about Jewish deaths during Hitler’s Third Reich. The priests appear to be in their 60’s and 70’s similar to the American priests spewing anti-Biden sermons. They are at an age where they would know and do better if they chose to.
City News in Toronto (7-29-2021) quoted one of the priests, “It’s kind of hard if you’re poor not to lie.” In my experience, many more comfortable people lie with the justification, “I do it because I can get away with it. Trump provides example.
Glowing falsehoods are spun about religious schools and charter schools by right wing libertarians and the shills they pay so that they can promote discriminatory education and schools aimed at fostering authoritarianism. It’s accurate to say that lying comes easy to ed reformers and religious opportunists who don’t value children. Forced birth extremism is about control of women. The people disparaging public schools and attempting to mislead school boards about CRT are racists. Ilyse Hogue’s quote should be heeded about connections. A “big tent” with well-placed right wingers has power which is used against democracy, including the rights of women and the LGBTQ community.