Archives for category: Charter Schools
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CTU Leads the Fight Against CPS School Closings

By dianeravitch
January 3, 2018 //
4

Mayor Rahm Emanuel likes to close schools in African American communities. He claims underenrillment but then opens new charter schools to replace the public schools he closed. Is there a master plan? Is this strategy about real estate and gentrification? Large numbers of black families have left Chicago. The Chicago Teachers Union has valiantly resisted School closings, but Mayor Emanuel will not be deterred. Some community activists charge that the school-closing strategy has contributed to the city’s high levels of youth violence. Stable communities support stable schools. School closings disrupt communities and studebts’ lives.

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Stop Destructive School Actions

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PLEDGE TO ATTEND

CPS’ dishonest “choice model” — which sets up a limited number of well-resourced magnet schools, a large number of charter schools and defunds other schools using “Student Based Budgeting” — has destabilized Black & Latino neighborhoods, driven families from Chicago, and left many neighborhood schools struggling to offer students a quality curriculum, starved of even the most basic resources.

CPS proposes to close all four neighborhood high schools in Englewood: Hope High School, Robeson High School, Harper High School, and TEAM Englewood Community Academy High School. To the Mayor, their students just don’t matter enough to have the same rights, access or education as his children or neighbors.

CPS proposes to phase out National Teachers Elementary Academy because they want to give their building to another community.

The unelected School Board voted to co-locate a clout-heavy charter school whose charter operator is linked to scandal-ridden SUPES into Hirsch Metropolitan High School, a move that would destroy Hirsch to start a new privatized school.

As CTU members, there are ways to fight back. We urge all CTU members to support the educators and families at these schools as they defend their schools and communities. Here are some of the ways you can help:

  • Attend closings hearings starting on January 9th. Plan to testify to talk about how student based budgeting and privatization are affecting your school and community.

  • Attend actions being planned by the students, parents and educators at these schools. They need our support at these protests to keep the public informed and keep the pressure on Rahm.

  • Plan to attend the next Board of Education meeting on Wednesday, January 24.

Click here for more information.

Categories Charter Schools, Chicago, Closing schools, Education Reform

Pennsylvania: Aggressive Marketing Fools Philly Parents into Sending Children to Low-Performing Charter Two Hours Away

By dianeravitch
January 3, 2018 //
27

 

This is incredible but true. Tricked by aggressive marketing, some parents in Philadelphia are putting their five- and six-year-old children on a two hours plus bus ride to a low- performing charter school. The Chester Community Charter School is owned by a major Republican donor.

“Imagine waking your 5-year-old kindergarten student before 5 a.m., walking him to a street corner in the city’s Far Northeast, then watching him board a bus for a 2½-hour ride to a school more than 30 miles away.

“Then, imagine he endures the same trip in reverse each afternoon. Five days a week.

“For some parents, it’s not just a bad dream. Such a routine is customary for an increasing number of Philadelphia students enrolled at Chester Community Charter School…

”As enrollment grows, so do the profits of CSMI LLC, a for-profit education management company that operates Chester Community, and was founded and is run by Vahan H. Gureghian, a lawyer, entrepreneur, and major Republican donor.

“CSMI’s books are not public – the for-profit firm has never disclosed its profits and won’t discuss its management fee. State records show that Gureghian’s company collected nearly $17 million in taxpayer funds just in 2014-15. At that time, the school had 2,911 students, and CSMI was paid $5,787 for each. At that rate, more than 1,000 additional students from Philadelphia might mean nearly $6 million in new revenue…

”Results from the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) exams released in September showed that Chester Community had some of the lowest scores among charter schools in the region: 15.6 percent of Chester Community students passed the PSSA reading test in the last school year; 6 percent passed math. Those scores are similar to those of Khepera Charter School in North Philadelphia, which the School Reform Commission has voted to close in June because of poor academics and financial woes. At Khepera, 15.8 percent of students passed reading; 2 percent passed math.”

Marketing pays off handsomely.

 

Categories Charter Schools, Education Industry, For-Profit, Hoax, Privatization

Valerie Strauss: The Most Ridiculous and Disturbing Things DeVos Said in 2017

By dianeravitch
January 2, 2018 //
19

 

Valerie Strauss has collected the most memorable, ridiculous, and disturbing things that Betsy DeVos said in her first year as Secretary of Education. She is the most unpopular member of ztrump’s cabinet, possibly because of her hostility to public schools, possibly because of her lack of qualifications, possibly because of her permanent supercilious sneer.

She made a big first impression at her confirmation hearings when she defended guns in schools to protect against possible intrusions by grizzly bears.

That was not funny.

But what was not funny was when she refused to say that she would act against schools that excluded students because they were black or LGBT.

Even worse than her words have been her actions, which gave preference to charter schools, voucher schools, and for-profit schools, which whittled or hacked away at the rights of students with disabilities, students defrauded by fake for-profit colleges, and transgender students.

DeVos is a proud reactionary, determined to destroy public schools and student rights.

Categories Betsy DeVos, Charter Schools, Civil Rights, Education Industry, Education Reform, Privatization

New Mexico: Charter Leader Steals Millions for 15 Years with NO Oversight

By dianeravitch
January 2, 2018 //
21

 

 

Mercedes Schneider reports the story of a charter school founder in New Mexico who milked his schools for millions of dollars. He got away with it for fifteen years!

NM Charter School CEO Steals Public Money for 15 Years. How’s That for Oversight?

No one cared. Even when the State Auditir reported the malfeasance to the New Mexico Public Education Department, no one cared.

The FBI cared.

In October, the charter founder pleaded guilty to 15 years of defrauding the schools for his personal benefit.

“ALBUQUERQUE – Acting U.S. Attorney James D. Tierney and Special Agent in Charge Terry Wade of the Albuquerque Division of the FBI announced today that David Scott Glasrud, the former administrator of Southwest Learning Centers in Albuquerque, N.M., has pleaded guilty to federal theft, fraud and false statement charges arising out of a 15-year scheme to defraud millions of dollars from the group of public charter schools he founded.

“During this morning’s proceedings, Glasrud, 50, entered a guilty plea to a nine-count felony information charging him with two counts of theft from programs receiving federal funds, three counts of wire fraud, two counts of mail fraud, and two counts of making false statements. Glasrud entered the guilty plea under an agreement that recommends a term of imprisonment within the range of 48 to 63 months. Glasrud also will be required to pay restitution in an amount to be determined by the court.

“According to the felony information, Glasrud established the public charter school Southwest Secondary Learning Center in Albuquerque in Dec. 1999, and later established three other public charter schools in Albuquerque: Southwest Primary Learning Center, Southwest Intermediate Learning Center, and Southwest Aeronautics, Mathematics & Science Academy. The four schools collectively are known as the Southwest Learning Center Schools (Charter Schools) and operate with public funds, including federal funds.

“Glasrud served as the Head Administrator for, and exercised financial oversight over, the Charter Schools until Aug. 2014. As the Head Administrator and an employee of the Charter Schools, Glasrud had a duty to use his best efforts on behalf of the Charter Schools in all matters of trust and confidence, and not to act for his own benefit at the expense of the Charter Schools. In his plea agreement, Glasrud admitted violating this duty of trust repeatedly over the course of 15 years by engaging in an ongoing series of schemes to defraud the Charter Schools for his personal benefit. Glasrud also acknowledged making false statements to FBI Special Agents who were investigating his criminal conduct.

“The felony information alleges, and Glasrud has admitted, that from Nov. 2000, Glasrud was doing business in his personal capacity as Southwest Educational Consultants, which he incorporated as Southwest Educational Consultants, Inc. (SEC) in March 2002. Glasrud served as SEC’s registered agent, director and President, and his personal expenses were paid out of an SEC bank account. Glasrud used SEC to facilitate his schemes to defraud the Charter Schools.“

Read on to learn the many ways the founder dreamed up to steal money intended for the schools.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Privatization

Carol Burris: Sex Scandals Happen in All Kinds of Schools: Public, Private, and Charter

By dianeravitch
December 30, 2017 //
11

Former TV anchor Campbell Brown made herself a big niche among education deformers by her repeated assertions that public schools were rife with sexual predators, and these predators were protected by teachers’ unions, seniority, and tenure. Through her articles in Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post and Wall Street Journal, Brown launched a campaign against teachers’ unions, tenure, seniority, and public schools. Ridding the schools of any protection for teachers’ right to due process became her singular mission. In service to her new-found cause, she became a friend of Betsy DeVos, became a member of the board of DeVos’ pro-voucher, pro-charter American Federation for Children, created a billionaire-funded education news organization called The 74, and launched an organization called the Partnership for Education Justice to pursue lawsuits against teachers’ rights.

But guess what? All kinds of schools—public, private, and charter— have had sex scandals, some of which remained hidden for years. This past year, elite private schools have revealed that some faculty members had engaged in affairs or predatory behavior with students, and the schools covered up the scandals to protect their reputation, either by ignoring them or by pushing out the teachers, who were then hired by other elite private schools.

Now Carol Burris notes that charter schools too have experienced similar problems.

She writes:

“On December 21, this was a headline in The New York Post: “Teacher at all-girls school busted for nude pics of student, molestation.” An important word was missing from the headline: “charter.”

“Ryan Evans, an English Language Arts teacher at the Bronx Global Learning Institute for Girls Charter School, had convinced a 12-year-old middle school girl to send him photos of her naked body. He then molested her after class.

“Just the day before, The New York Times ran a story about long term allegations and the ongoing investigation of the sexual abuse of two girls at a KIPP.

“These are not two isolated incidents. For the past six months, NPE has been logging all of the scandals associated with charter schools. The enormity has been startling. Often reported in local newspapers, the scope of the problems associated with this comparatively unregulated sector of schooling has been underreported.

“Earlier this month an Arizona charter school hired a male teacher who had been previously fired and had lost his license for having an inappropriate relationship with a student. Because charter school teachers in the state do not need to be certified and the charter did not do its due diligence, the teacher was hired and only fired when a concerned parent alerted the school about his record.

“In late November, Washington DC administrators of a charter school were fired because they failed to take appropriate action when they learned of a teacher’s abuse of a student. Earlier that month, a Chicago teacher was forced out after a “sex romp” with a 12 year old boy.

“In October, a KIPP counselor was charged with sex crimes and a Philly charter school administrator was charged with statutory rape.

“Granted, horrible incidents like these occur in public schools too but when you think about the far larger number of public schools compared to the small sector of charters, the frequency of scandals in charters is frightening.

“Expect this to accelerate for two reasons. First, the lack of regulations and scrutiny of the sector. Second, public schools are better places to work and will therefore always attract the better teachers and school leaders.

“Will Campbell Brown, who thought that public schools were full of sex offenders now give the charter sector a hard look?”

Sexual contact with minors is wrong in all settings. Would Campbell Brown, now in charge of monitoring content for Facebook, please call off her attacks on teachers, their unions, and public schools?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Reform

If a Charter Chain Owns Two Luxury Condos, Can the Students Use the Hot Tub?

By dianeravitch
December 30, 2017 //
12

 

 

The Houston Chronicle has taken note of the unusual expenditures of a small charter chain that found it necessary to purchase two condos in luxury apartment buildings for “office space” and “storage.”

I wrote about this charter “chain” yesterday.

Since Houston and Texas have been charter-crazy, this is a tiny little wake-up call about the risks of turning public money over to private entrepreneurs without accountability or transparency.

This editorial calls on the leaders of KIPP and other charter chains to join in demanding a state investigation:

“It’s easy to imagine the outrage that would ensue if Houston ISD purchased apartments in posh neighborhoods – and the inevitable electoral fallout for district trustees. With charter schools, however, voters don’t have recourse to the ballot box when problems arise.

“The public needs answers to the serious questions posed by Accelerated’s peculiar spending. TEA investigators must act quickly to ensure charter school funds are spent on behalf of students, and not to support the lifestyles of administrators.”

Start with this embarrassment, then investigate the state’s many Gulen charters, then keep going.

 

 

 

 

Categories Charter Schools, Fraud, Houston, Texas

Texas: Should Charter Schools Buy High-End Condos with Public Dollars?

By dianeravitch
December 29, 2017 //
14

A small Texas charter organization has spent sizable sums to buy residential condos, claiming they are for “office space and storage.”

“Accelerated Intermediate Academy – the charter school network criticized for its purchase of a Houston condominium with taxpayer dollars – also owns a second condo in downtown Dallas where similar units have been appraised at more than $300,000.

“The network also shelled out nearly $120,000 in property taxes on the Houston property, including $45,700 in late fees and attorney costs, in 2016 after the Harris County Appraisal District denied a request for a property exemption, tax records show.The two-school charter network, which served fewer than 300 students last year at two campuses, spent $427,238 for the Houston condo and an undisclosed amount for the high-end Dallas residence, property records show. Both were purchased in June 2011…

“The property purchases and tax payments mean hundreds of thousands of dollars less for the academy’s classrooms, raising additional questions about the network’s leadership.
Accelerated Intermediate Academy has received about $55 million in taxpayer dollars since opening in 2001, producing solid academic results. It is one of dozens of charter school networks that are publicly funded and privately governed by nonprofit boards to provide parents an option in place of traditional public schools.

“A Houston Chronicle investigation last month uncovered the Houston condo purchase in 2011 and reported that the school’s superintendent, Kevin Hicks, earned more than $250,000 each of the past three years despite several parents and former teachers saying he rarely appeared on the Houston campus….

“School officials told appraisers in Dallas that the unit would be used for office and records storage, even though the school already had a 9,600-square-foot campus in the nearby suburb of Lancaster. That campus has never enrolled more than 17 students since opening in 2012, according to state reports. The Houston unit also was described as an office and storage facility.
Following both purchases, school leaders sought full property tax exemptions, which routinely are granted for charter schools. The network noted in a letter to Harris County appraisers that “the only funds we receive are state and federal funds….”

“Accelerated Intermediate Academy’s properties had high-end touches befitting their price tags, according to online real estate listings. The Dallas unit came with hardwood floors, stainless steel appliances, a wine cooler, granite countertops and access to a rooftop deck with a hot tub. The 1,118-square-foot Houston condo has floor-to-ceiling windows, hardwood floors and access to a pool with skyline views.

“As Accelerated Intermediate Academy has sunk money into buying properties, however, the charter network has paid teachers salaries that are well below average, payroll data shows. Most of its educators have earned about $35,000 to $45,000 in recent years. By comparison, the starting salary at traditional public school districts in the Houston area is about $50,000.

“The school also has stockpiled $12.5 million in cash, enough to cover six years’ worth of operating expenses; most schools keep three to six months’ worth of operating expenses in cash.”

Every storage space should be equipped with a wine cooler, granite countertops, and access to a rooftop hot tub.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Dallas, Education Industry, Houston, Privatization

A Rocketship Charter Teacher Describes What Recess Is Like

By dianeravitch
December 29, 2017 //
33

This Rocketship Charter teacher describes what a typical recess is like in the Bay Area School.

For a time, Rocketship was the hottest charter chain in the nation. Richard Whitmire’s wrote a book about it, after have written a biography of Michelle a Rhee.

Would you put your child in a school like this?

Categories Charter Schools, Education Industry, Privatization

Laura Chapman: The Great Vampire Reform Squid with Many Tentacles

By dianeravitch
December 29, 2017 //
10

Laura Chapman writes here about the beast that wants to Destroy Public Education, which has many names:

Many of these schemes are part of the Education Cities initiative. I may have commented about this before.

About Education Cities: FUNDERS Laura and John Arnold foundation, Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, and Walton Family Foundation.

PARTNERS

“Education Cities works with leading organizations to help our members achieve their missions.”

“Bellwether Education Partners works with Education Cities on research and capacity building projects. Bellwether is a nonprofit dedicated to helping education organizations—in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors—become more effective in their work and achieve dramatic results, especially for high-need students.”

In Cincinnati, Bellwether was the recruiter for the “Accelerate Great Schools,” initiative that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, pushed by high profile local foundations and deep pockets in the business community—all intent on marketing the need for “high quality seats” meaning you close and open schools based on the state’s weapon-ized system of rating schools. You also increase charter schools and hire TFA. (We have a TFA alum on the school board). The CEO of Accelerate Great Schools recruited by Bellwether was a TFA manager from MindTrust in Indianapolis. He lasted about 18 months and accelerated himself to a new job. http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/education/2017/01/24/ceo-quietly-quits-school-accelerator/96997612/

“Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) at the University of Washington partners with Education Cities to analyze and identify policies that create the conditions that allow great schools to thrive. Through research and policy analysis, CRPE seeks ways to make public education more effective, especially for America’s disadvantaged students.”

CRPE should be regarded as an operational arm of the Gates Foundation. It marketed the Gates “Compacts.” These are MOUs (memoranda of understanding) designed to create a “make-nice-with-your-charter schools who want to have you for lunch.” The MOUs mean that districts agree to give central office resources to charters (e.g., deals on meals and transportation) with charters promising to share their “best practices” and other nonsense. The bait to districts included $100,000 up front with the promise of more money to the district if they met x, y, z, terms of the MOU. Only few districts got extra money. Many reasons, some obvious like the departure of the people who signed the MOUs.

“Public Impact” partners with Education Cities (and Bellwether Education Partners) on research and capacity building projects. With a mission to dramatically improve learning outcomes for all children in the United States, Public Impact concentrates its work on creating the conditions in which great schools can thrive. The Opportunity Culture initiative aims to extend the reach of excellent teachers and their teams to more students, for more pay, within recurring budgets. Public Impact, a national research and consulting firm, launched the Opportunity Culture initiative’s implementation phase in 2011, with funding from The Joyce Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.” Current work is funded by the Overdeck Family Foundation and the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation.”

Get past the self-aggrandizing rhetoric and you see that Public Impact is marketing 13 school turnaround models, almost all of these with reassignments of teachers and students to accommodate “personalized” something. One arm of the “opportunity culture” website is a job placement service for teachers. In prior USDE administrations, Public Impact and Bellwether worked together to get federal support for charter schools.Both have political clout.

“Thomas B. Fordham Institute partners with Education Cities to analyze and identify policies and practices that create the conditions that allow great schools to thrive. The Thomas B. Fordham Institute works to advance educational excellence for every child through research, analysis, and commentary, as well as on-the-ground action and advocacy in Ohio.”

Well, we have a pretty good idea in Ohio of how all of that pontification worked out.

Here are the cities in the foundation-led move to eliminate democratically elected school boards and fold public schools into a portfolio of contract schools that receive public funds but are privately operated. At one time the number of Education Cities was 30, then 28, now 25.

Albuquerque, NM, Excellent Schools New Mexico
Baton Rouge, LA New Schools for Baton Rouge
Boise, ID Bluum
Boston, MA Boston Schools Fund, Empower Schools
Chicago, IL, New Schools for Chicago
Cincinnati, OH, Accelerate Great Schools
Denver, CO, Gates Family Foundation, Donnell-Kay Foundation
Detroit, MI, The Skillman Foundation
Indianapolis, IN, The Mind Trust
Kansas City, MO, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
Las Vegas, NV, Opportunity 180
Los Angeles, CA, Great Public Schools Now
Memphis, TN, Memphis Education Fund
Minneapolis, MN, Minnesota Comeback
Nashville, TN, Project Renaissance
New Orleans, LA, New Schools for New Orleans
Oakland, CA, Educate78, Great Oakland Public Schools Leadership Center, Rogers Family Foundation
Philadelphia, PA, Philadelphia School Partnership
Phoenix, AZ, New Schools for Phoenix
Richmond, CA, Chamberlin Family Foundation
Rochester, NY, E3 Rochester
San Jose, CA, Innovate Public Schools
Washington, DC, Education Forward DC, CityBridge Education

These cities have been targeted by national and local non-profits for capture by promoters of choice, charters, and tech. This is a national effort designed to make school “reform” look like it is a local initiative, inspired by generosity and driven by civic values and “partnerships” in combination with “forward thinking” associated with a chamber of commerce campaign. Look at the names of these initiatives; New Schools, Education Forward, Comeback, Renaissance, and so on. Marketing market-based and corporate managed education is the aim and it is sought by pushing the idea that established public schools are failures

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Education Reform, Privatization

Leonie Haimson: Why Success Academy Should Not Be Allowed to Expand Its School in Cobble Hill

By dianeravitch
December 28, 2017 //
12

In this post, Leonie Haimson calls on the charter committee at the State University of New York to reject Eva Moskowitz’s request to enlarge her charter school in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn.

If she expands, she will cause overcrowding and larger class sizes, Says Haimson. Cobble Hill is a mainly white, middle-class-affluent neighborhood, which is the target for expansion of a chain that prides itself on educating poor black and Hispanic students.

Success Academy has a bad habit of getting their foot in the door, then encroaching on their neighbors, eventually making a grab for the entire school. sA redefines the meaning of the term “the camel’s nose inside the tent.” Before you know it, the entire camel is inside, and everyone else is pushed out.

Categories Charter Schools, Class size, Harlem Success Academy, New York City
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