Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Federal Government Continues To Feed Charter School Beast Despite Auditor’s Warning

Federal Government Continues To Feed Charter School Beast Despite Auditor’s Warning:

Federal Government Continues To Feed Charter School Beast Despite Auditor’s Warning

Politicians always promise they will rid government of “waste, fraud, and abuse,” so let’s hope at least one political leader or policy maker will denounce our federal government’s new gift of nearly a quarter-billion dollars to charter schools.

The cash dump to charters, courtesy of taxpayers, is from the U.S. Department of Education. As Education Week reports, the money is going to eight states and 15 charter school networks from the Charter Schools Program, a federal government operation that doles out millions every year to start new charter schools.

This money is the latest installment of an over $3 billion gravy train the federal government has funded to help launch over 2,500 charter schools across the nation.

Regardless of how you feel about these schools, you should be concerned about how this new government outlay to charters will be used, based on the extensive track record of financial malfeasance in these schools.

Indeed, shortly after the USDE announcement, the Department’s own auditor warned that the money is very much at risk of ending up in the pockets of fraudsters and con artists rather than in the classrooms of diligent students and dedicated teachers.

Again Education Week reports, the audit by the agency’s inspector general’s office examined 33 schools in six states and concluded that because of a general lack of oversight of charters there was a “risk that federal programs are not being implemented correctly and are wasting public money.”

The risk stems from the “cozy relationships,” the EdWeek reporter’s words, between charter schools and companies that operate them, called Charter Management Organizations (CMOs).

Of the 33 charter schools the audit examined, 22 had examples, sometimes multiple examples, of how CMOs take advantage of the Federal Government Continues To Feed Charter School Beast Despite Auditor’s Warning:

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Big Education Ape: New Grants Announced: Education Department Continues to Pour Millions Into Charter School Black Hole - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/10/new-grants-announced-education.html

Big Education Ape: Education Department slammed for charter school oversight — by its own watchdog office - The Washington Post - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/10/education-department-slammed-for.html

Big Education Ape: Audit: Cronyism Between Charters, Management Groups Imperils Federal Aid - Politics K-12 - Education Week - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/10/audit-cronyism-between-charters.html

If I Were Secretary of Education – A Classroom Teacher’s Fantasy | gadflyonthewallblog

If I Were Secretary of Education – A Classroom Teacher’s Fantasy | gadflyonthewallblog:

If I Were Secretary of Education – A Classroom Teacher’s Fantasy

I will never be Secretary of Education.

Frankly, I’m just not qualified.

I’m only a classroom teacher. The powers that be don’t trust someone like me with that kind of responsibility. It’s okay to give me a roomful of impressionable children everyday, but there’s no confidence I can make sound policy decisions. For that we need someone with experience in management – not schools, pedagogy, children or psychology.

The presiding incumbent in this prestigious position, John King, somehow overcame that handicap. He had taught for three whole years at a charter school, but the bulk of his experience is in administration – administrating a Boston charter school with high suspension and attrition rates. He also was New York State Education Commissioner, where he single-handedly dismantled the state system of education and sparked one of the largest parental revolts in the nation in the state’s opt out movement.

The previous Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, was much more qualified, having never taught a day in his life. Before getting Congressional approval, he was appointed to run a charter school and later was entrusted as CEO of Chicago City Schools where he likewise blundered his way to the top with policy decisions that devastated a great system of public education.

What do I have to offer compared to all that? I only have more than a decade’s worth If I Were Secretary of Education – A Classroom Teacher’s Fantasy | gadflyonthewallblog:

CURMUDGUCATION: NEA's Concern Trolling + The Facts Problem

CURMUDGUCATION: NEA's Concern Trolling:

NEA's Concern Trolling

The NEA is concerned about bullying.

Specifically, they are concerned about the Trump Effect, which is one more name for one of the plumes of toxic smoke curling up from the dumpster fire that is Herr Donald's Presidential campaign.

There is reason for concern. Herr Donald's campaign has freed many folks from the restraint of what we could call "political correctness" or "general decent treatment of other human beings," and nothing bad ever gets loose in the general population that does not also breathe its toxic breath into the atmosphere of schools.

Anecdotes abound. The high school students who cheered "Build a wall" at their mainly-hispanic opponents. The endless supply of stories about children who are worried that the next President might deport them. There's absolutely no question that Trump's campaign has loosed some slouching beast into the political sphere, and that in turn has dropped a big bucket of ugly into schools across the country.

It's a topic worth discussing. Just not like this.

Instead of addressing the issue of bullying and the effects of our bad political discourse on the tiny humans of our nation, NEA has grabbed this issue and ground it up as campaign fodder.

A buttload of money will be spent to make ad buys in many, but not all, states, with a focus on CURMUDGUCATION: NEA's Concern Trolling:

The Facts Problem

4by Peter Greene / 1h

We've had much discussion about living in a post-fact society, but I'm not sure we really appreciate just how much trouble the whole business of "facts" is in. I don't mean the obvious public signs, like a national Vice-Presidential candidate who simply lies his way through a nationally broadcast debate . I'm n

NEW book club webinar with Jesse Hagopian | Parents Across America

NEW book club webinar with Jesse Hagopian | Parents Across America:

NEW book club webinar with Jesse Hagopian

Jesse Hagopian with PAA interim director Julie Woestehoff at a Chicago testing forum a while back (see Karen Lewis behind us?)

Our guest for this next PAA book club session is the wonderful Jesse Hagopian, Seattle teacher and author of “More Than a Score.” To prepare for this session, you can:

buy and read Jesse’s book
watch his terrific TedX Talk on alternatives to standardized testing, and/or
read some of Jesse’s articles here or here, for example.

Jesse reframes education in a way that supports all students and addresses the inherent racism in so much of current school policy and practice, including standardized testing.

This webinar discussion will take place on Zoom, a free program that you will have to download prior to the session (it’s fast and easy). Details are below:

Topic: Race, Poverty, and Education: Let’s get real about leveling the playing field
Time: Nov 20, 2016 7:00 PM Eastern Time, 4 PM Pacific Time

Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://zoom.us/j/461921348

Or iPhone one-tap (US Toll): +14086380968,461921348# or +16465588656,461921348#

Or Telephone:
Dial: +1 408 638 0968 (US Toll) or +1 646 558 8656 (US Toll)
Meeting ID: 461 921 348
International numbers available: https://zoom.us/zoomconference?m=cNIvXyon0f19pCC4qOmSA7PLkOfvL3bm

NEW book club webinar with Jesse Hagopian | Parents Across America:

Audit: Cronyism Between Charters, Management Groups Imperils Federal Aid - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Audit: Cronyism Between Charters, Management Groups Imperils Federal Aid - Politics K-12 - Education Week:

Audit: Cronyism Between Charters, Management Groups Imperils Federal Aid

Cross-posted from the Charters and Choice blog

By Arianna Prothero

A federal audit warns that cozy relationships between charter schools and the organizations that run some of them could put federal funding at risk.

Charter management organizations, or CMOs, are groups that run critical functions like finances, fundraising, communications, and curriculum for multiple charter schools.

Not all charter schools are run by a CMO—the majority of charter schools in the country are actually single-campus operations.

The level of independence between the school and the CMO varies on a case-by-case basis, and the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Inspector General, which conducted the audit, is basically saying that in some instances there is so little independence between the school and the management group that it could lead—and has led—to trouble.

The OIG audit examined 33 schools in six states and found several examples of conflicts of interest, related-party transactions, and insufficient segregation of duties—all controls designed to prevent fraud.

The lack of proper guard rails in these relationships between charter management organizations and their schools, the audit concludes, significantly increases the risk that federal programs are not being implemented correctly and are wasting public money.

Furthermore, the audit found that the Education Department did not have good enough procedures in place for monitoring the specific issues that could arise out of the unique setups between charter schools and charter management organizations, nor did it instruct state education agencies to do so.

The schools the OIG examined were picked based on their tax filings, local and state audits, news stories, and other operational characteristics, which means that this sample in the audit does not necessarily reflect charter schools as a whole.

The audit also includes both for-profit and not-for-profit charter management groups. It's important to note that the audit's definition of charter management organizations differs somewhat from general charter school parlance. Typically, charter management organizations, or CMOs, are nonprofit, while education management organizations, or EMOs, are for-profit.

You can find the full audit here. Audit: Cronyism Between Charters, Management Groups Imperils Federal Aid - Politics K-12 - Education Week:

Education Department slammed for charter school oversight — by its own watchdog office - The Washington Post

Education Department slammed for charter school oversight — by its own watchdog office - The Washington Post:

Education Department slammed for charter school oversight — by its own watchdog office

The Education Department has for more than 10 years poured in excess of $3 billion into the creation and operation of charter schools, but according to a new audit by the agency’s own inspector general’s office, it has failed in some cases to provide adequate oversight and as a result has put its own grants at risk.

The audit, titled, “Nationwide Assessment of Charter and Education Management Organizations” and conducted by the department’s inspector general (see below), looked at the relationship that several dozen charter schools have had with their own charter management organizations (CMOs). It found, among other things that there were “internal control weaknesses” related to the schools’ relationships to their CMOs that were so severe that the department’s own program objectives were at “significant risk.” And it says:

The Department’s internal controls were insufficient to mitigate the significant financial, lack of accountability and performance risks that charter school relationships with CMOs pose to Department program objectives.

The newly released report comes just as the department announced $245 million in new grantsto state educational agencies and CMOs under its Charter Schools Program, which funds the creation and expansion of charters around the country. The Charter Schools Program has invested more than $3 billion into these schools since 1995, helping more than 2,500 charter schools open. The Education Department’s announcement of the new grants says:

“Through the CSP, the Department is committed to supporting the continued growth of excellent public charter schools that are closing equity gaps and improving student outcomes, and these schools’ community engagement and public accountability.”

According to the audit, however, the department didn’t do enough to ensure that some of the charter schools it is funding have been able to reach the stated goals. It says in part:

We determined that charter school relationships with CMOs posed a significant risk to Department program objectives. Specifically, we found that 22 of the 33 charter schools in our review had 36 examples of internal control weaknesses related to the charter schools’ relationships with their CMOs (concerning conflicts of interest, related-party transactions, and insufficient segregation of duties)….

We concluded that these examples of internal control weaknesses represent the Education Department slammed for charter school oversight — by its own watchdog office - The Washington Post:

Understanding the Coming Teacher Strike (a friend writes) | Bill Ayers

Understanding the Coming Teacher Strike (a friend writes) | Bill Ayers:

Understanding the Coming Teacher Strike (a friend writes)

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I have a lot of friends across the country, and something is about to happen in Chicago that will get national attention: a strike in our public school system. This likely will be brought up by Trump or Clinton at some point. The circumstances that got us to another teachers’ strike are complex. Before someone highjacks the issue on the national stage, I thought it’d be worth a relatively short explanation. So, if you like to be informed, read on:

One part of the break between the teachers and the city is about pension payments. About 25 years ago, the city made a deal with the teachers to pay a much larger chunk of their shared pension costs in lieu of a raise.

The pension is a critical part of the pay package for a teacher in Chicago, since the city doesn’t pay into Social Security — so the teachers don’t get that — and there is no 401k savings through the city, like you’d have at most large companies. The pension is what the teachers will have to retire on, unless they’ve been able to save in an IRA out of their own pocket…So the teachers’ union isn’t soaking the city in some kind of unfair deal. There are many details I’m leaving out, but this post will be long enough…

The city, being Chicago, skipped so many payments into the pension for so many years, and it’s required by law to have a certain level of funding for the pension, that now the city can’t catch up without massive cuts or taxes. So they want to make the teachers pay much more into their pension, essentially taking away the one way teachers can retire safely. The city’s financial mismanagement is now the teachers’ problem, and the city wants to guilt them into giving more to their pension, without any additional benefit. It’s not the teachers’ fault the city blew this, and it’s not the teachers’ problem to fix. Especially because:

Chicago is broke on purpose. We have the money to fund pretty much whatever we want, but we hide it. The main scheme? The Tax Increment Financing fund, or TIF. This plan hatched way back in 1977 works like this: the city sets up a zone, a TIF district, in a “blighted” neighborhood, and Understanding the Coming Teacher Strike (a friend writes) | Bill Ayers:

Children are more than test scores: The Dissent Of A Giant: American Can Do Better

Children are more than test scores: The Dissent Of A Giant: American Can Do Better:

The Dissent Of A Giant: American Can Do Better

In my school days we began every day with these words "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." Some might call it indoctrination, but for me it planted the aspiration of justice that drives my activism today. I still remember that pledge, I still remember placing my hand over my heart. Despite every injustice in our nation today I still believe in liberty and justice for all. It drives my every action. There were giants once on our United States Supreme Court. Thurgood Marshall was one of them. Justice Marshall said: "I wish I could say that racism and prejudice were only distant memories. We must dissent from the indifference. We must dissent from the apathy. We must dissent from the fear, the hatred and the mistrust…We must dissent because America can do better, because America has no choice but to do better.”

Isn't his "We Must Dissent" from apathy, because America has can do better more relevant today than ever before? Isn't his call to dissent a moral call to action to a people who care about justice for all Americans? Isn't not answering the call the immoral choice of a people who don't care about justice for all.

We must dissent, because America,
Can do better in our public schools,
Can do better in our courts,
Can do better in our health care system,
Can do better in our policing,

Can do better for our veterans,
Can do better for the poor,
Can do better for the unemployed,
Can do better for elderly,

Can do better on race,
Can do better on economic justice,
Can do better on housing,
Can do better on keeping jobs here in America,
Can do better on ensuring a living wage for all,
Can do better on tax fairness.
America can do better, because America has no choice.

Shout on every street corner in the land, whisper it in every hamlet, bang your pops and pans, ring every bell America Can Do Better, Because America has no choice.
Call me one of Thurgood Marshall's voices of dissent,
Jesse The Walking Turner

If you like to hear the tune I was listening to on my walk this morning...its Marvin Gay's "what going on" > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-kA3UtBj4M&list=PL9990A304B567F94C&index=47 <

Children are more than test scores: The Dissent Of A Giant: American Can Do Better:

Glamorous Superintendents Who Stand On School Wreckage

Glamorous Superintendents Who Stand On School Wreckage:

Glamorous Superintendents Who Stand On School Wreckage

Confident superman in cape and mask standing on ruins

The school superintendent, called CEO after the school/business takeover, is considered the superman or woman of the school district. Sometimes they are elected, but more often they are appointed by school boards.

There are still some great school superintendents. But there are many others who seem to be less a public servant (superintendent) and more high-priced executives (CEO). They earn exorbitant salaries and lovely perks while they cut teaching positions, resources, and services.

Superintendents might now come from careers outside teaching where they have never worked in the classroom. Many attend the Broad Academy. These individuals make a different kind of leader–one who focuses on data collection, high-stakes testing, and Glamorous Superintendents Who Stand On School Wreckage:

Dinner to Honor Diane - NPE Action

Dinner to Honor Diane - NPE Action:

Dinner to Honor Diane

Join us for a dinner to honor Diane Ravitch

Start: December 11, 2016 • 7:00 PM

Petaluma • 1356 First Avenue, New York, NY 10021

Please join the Network for Public Education Action for a dinner in honor of our President and Co-Founder, Diane Ravitch.

Go Here for Details: Dinner to Honor Diane - NPE Action:

Image result for big education ape Network for Public Education Action

LA charter school refuses to release spending report

LA charter school refuses to release spending report:

LA charter school refuses to release spending report

Big Education Ape: Brown vetoes bill requiring charters to comply with conflict of interest, open records laws | EdSource - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/10/brown-vetoes-bill-requiring-charters-to.html

Embattled El Camino Real Charter High School has formally denied requests to release an investigative report by an outside firm into administrator spending and reimbursement policies.

The governing board of the Woodland Hills charter school commissioned the Chino Hills-based Oracle Investigations Group, Inc. in June to conduct an independent probe after the Los Angeles Unified School District warned the school of possible financial violations last October. Since then, LAUSD’s Board of Education has unanimously approved a “notice of violations” — the first step to potentially revoking the school’s charter. The notice alleged “fiscal mismanagement” related to administrators’ credit card spending and other issues at the school.

The report on the Oracle probe, estimated to cost $20,000, is “exempt from disclosure” under the California Public Records Act partly due to “attorney-client privilege,” according to a Sept. 30 letter to the Daily News by Attorney Kimberly Rodriguez of the Young, Minney and Corr law firm.

“As legal counsel for ECR our firm retained the services of Oracle Investigations Group, Inc.,” Rodriguez wrote. “The report at issue reflects confidential communication between ECR and our firm for the purposes of the provision of legal advice.”

El Camino social studies teacher James DeLarme called the school’s response Tuesday “really disappointing.”

The El Camino Real Alliance board “kept saying they commissioned this company...to look into it and there was going to be this report coming out — and that would give us some answers” DeLarme said. “It feels like a bait-and-switch at the end to kind of hide it.”

More than 50 teachers and community members protested outside the school last Wednesday, calling for El Camino Executive Director David Fehte, who has come under fire for seemingly liberal credit card spending, and Chief Business Officer Marshall Mayotte to be held accountable for the school’s problems — and for the school to release the Oracle report. Nearly two dozen other staff members gathered informally later that day to express their “complete support” of the administration.

Fehte has reimbursed the school for more than $6,000 in “inadvertent personal” charges made on a school-issued American Express card in the past three years while the El Camino board has updated its fiscal policies and procedures three times, including prohibiting using school funds to purchase alcohol, since the district’s 2015 warning.

Meanwhile, the El Camino board is holding an urgent closed session meeting at 4 p.m. Wednesday to discuss possible “discipline/dismissal/release” of one or more employees. It is the third meeting in which potential employee discipline has been discussed since Sept. 16. El Camino officials say that action was taken last month against one employee but that no one has been fired.

Peter Scheer, executive director of the First Amendment Coalition, said the El Camino board “can’t hide behind attorney-client privilege” because it’s the board’s choice whether or not to release the report.

“The public should press back and say, ‘we understand you have the power to withhold it but you also have the option to release it,’ — that’s how attorney-client privilege works,” he said. “If you choose to be silent, you probably owe voters an explanation.”

At least two El Camino board members, President Jonathan Wasser, and Scott Silverstein have said they support releasing the Oracle report.

The law firm’s response also stated that “the public interest in withholding those records clearly outweighs the public interest in disclosure” and cited a “personnel file exemption.”

But Carl Petersen, a candidate for a seat on the LAUSD Board of Education whose own request for the Oracle report was also denied, said he thinks the opposite is true.

“I would argue that since the public has paid for this report and it provides insight into how the public’s education funds have been (spent) there is a very strong public interest in favor of disclosure,” he said in a Sept. 23 letter.LA charter school refuses to release spending report:

Federal audit spotlights charter school CEO wrote checks to himself totaling $11 million

Federal audit spotlights charter school shortcoming:

Federal audit spotlights charter school shortcoming

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A national audit of charter school management companies by the U.S. Department of Education has spotlighted an unnamed Chester City school where, auditors say, the CEO wrote checks to himself totaling $11 million without board approval.

The report by the Office of Inspector General did not accuse the CEO of wrongdoing, but offered its finding as an example of a conflict of interest and lack of financial controls that could make the schools vulnerable to fraud.

The report cited similar issues at four unnamed Philadelphia charter schools.

In the instance of the Chester school, federal auditors reported that the CEO of the management organization wrote checks to himself in 2008-09.

According to the federal report, the school's lawyer reported that the charter had changed its policy to address the weakness in fiscal controls, including requiring the board to approve such payments. However, the audit said, the school "could not provide written procedures to support the change."

While the audit did not name the school, there is only one charter in Chester City - Chester Community Charter School.

The school, which has more than 3,000 K-8 students, is the largest brick-and-mortar charter in the state. The most recent annual report from the state Department of Education shows that the school had total revenue of $45.1 million in the fiscal year 2013.

Vahan H. Gureghian, a lawyer and entrepreneur who has been active in Republican politics, is the founder and CEO of CSMI Education Management, which manages Chester Community.

Auditor General Eugene De Pasquale repeatedly has criticized the ties between Chester Community and Gureghian's firm.

In an audit of Chester Community in 2013 and a report in August, De Pasquale questioned the $1.2 million the school received between 2008 and 2011 in lease reimbursements from the state Department of Education.

A. Bruce Crawley, spokesman for Chester Community, said Tuesday night that federal auditors did not identify any "improper payments" and added that the school wanted to clarify what its financial management practices were at that time.

He said the CEO of the management company for Chester Community "never approved or issued checks, in any amount, that had not been included in the school's annual budget and previously approved by the management company's board."

Crawley said that under a management agreement signed in 2001, the company "was responsible for all expenses of the school, including physical plant, operations, and staff and teacher salaries."

He said that the budget also was approved by the board of the school, which is a nonprofit, and that the management company provided monthly reports on all school-related expenditures.

Crawley said that under a new agreement approved in 2009, the charter school became responsible for paying all school-related expenses.

He said Chester Community's lawyer sent information to the U.S. Department of Education in 2013 that explained how fiscal responsibilities for the management company changed in July 2009.

The school, Crawley said, never received a response from the department and continues to operate under the 2009 agreement.

In all, the inspector general's audit examined 33 schools in six states to assess the risk that charter school relationships with charter management organizations pose to federal programs.

Catherine Grant, an Inspector General's Office spokeswoman, said the report did not identify the schools or the management companies "to preserve their anonymity."

She said the audit focused on oversight by the U.S. Department of Education and state and local agencies that authorize charter schools.

"It was not an audit of individual schools," she said.

In addition to Pennsylvania, the states where charter schools were reviewed were California, New York, Florida, Michigan, and Texas.

Investigators found internal control weaknesses with charter management organizations at 22 of the 33 schools reviewed. They spotted 24 cases of conflicts of interest and transactions with related parties at 17 of the charter schools.

At one of the charter schools in Philadelphia, they found several examples of conflicts of interest. Four officers of the management firm sat on the nine-member charter school board. And the charter representative who signed the school's management contract was the CEO of the management company; the management company's representative was a member of the school's board.

That Philadelphia charter school also made payments to a vendor affiliated with the management company.

In another Philadelphia case, the charter management company appointed the first three members of the school's board, and those members then selected the remaining members.Federal audit spotlights charter school shortcoming:

[email protected] 215-854-2789 @marwooda

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