Jersey Jazzman

Over the past month I've been telling the story of the misogynist rapper Pitbull, his new charter school in Miami, and his speech before the 2013 National Charter Schools Convention. I pointed out that Kevin Chavous, board chair of the very reformy group Democrats For Education Reform, apparently both embraces the values espoused by Pitbull in his music and the business practices of Pitbull's partners:


This capture from Chavous's Facebook page features Fernando "Ferny" Zulueta, the man to Pitbull's right. According to a series of reports by the Miami Herald, Zulueta runs the "richest charter school management firm" in Florida, Academica, a for-profit company with annual revenues of $158 million. Zulueta also controls, along with his brother, Ignacio, more than $155 $115 million of South Florida real estate that is exempt from property taxes as "public" schools.

Pitbull's new charter, SLAM, will be managed by Academica.

The fourth fellow in this picture is S. Joe Bruno, a man who has become increasingly influential in the charter school industry. Originally an executive in the accounting and health care sectors, Bruno started his current organization, Building Hope, in 2004. Here's how the non-profit describes its mission:

Building Hope supports high quality public charter schools in Washington D.C., Florida and other U.S. cities and states by providing technical and financial assistance for educational facilities. A non-profit organization, Building Hope supports the expansion of academically successful schools with the capacity to grow their enrollments in order to catalyze change across their local public education systems. Building Hope promotes school-centered community revitalization, and believes that excellent charter school programs and facilities will help transform economically depressed neighborhoods into places where children will thrive. [emphasis mine]

All that may be true, but it's not the complete story. Because Building Hope is also using government grants and tax-exempt foundation funds to provide capital to the for-profit charter sector, allowing charter management organizations and charter school landowners, like the Zuluetas, to maximize their profits.

Thanks to Joe Bruno, Ferny Zulueta has been able to use capital, ultimately subsidized by taxpayers, to increase the capacity at his charter schools and collect more in both management fees and rent. Here's how this plan works:


Step 1: Bruno Gathers Up a Big Pile of Money

Like a bank, Building Hope lends out funds to charter schools to help finance construction and expansion. But Building Hope needs to gather up capital to loan out to its customers. Because they are a non-profit corporation, Building Hope has access to reserves normal lenders can't tap into. Building Hope's website lists several "Investment Partners":

• The Sallie Mae Fund, the charitable arm of the student loan giant whose mission is: "to increase college access for America's students — by supporting programs and initiatives that help open doors to higher education." The fund's website documents $28 million in giving to Building Hope.
• The Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, administered by the Department of Treasury: "The CDFI Fund's mission is to increase economic opportunity and promote community development investments for underserved populations and in distressed communities in the United States." Building Hope got over $2 million from the fund in 2011, and $750,000 in 2010.
• The US Department of Education, which awarded Building Hope nearly $5 million in 2001 under the Credit Enhancement For Charter School Facilities Program: "This program provides grants to eligible entities to permit them to enhance the credit of charter schools so that the charter schools can access private-sector and other non-Federal capital in order to acquire, construct, and renovate facilities at a reasonable cost."
• The Clavert Foundation: "'Impact Investing' connects caring investors with worthy causes, delivering a social and financial return. People invest in us, making it possible for us to invest in organizations around the world that empower people living in low-income communities." Building Hope claims they are receiving funds of up to $4 million from the foundation.
• The Walton Family Foundation: "The foundation invests to infuse competition into the nation’s K-12 education system by increasing the quantity and quality of school choices available to parents, especially in low-income communities, in order to inspire all schools to improve." Tax records, available through Guidestar, show Walton had two notes receivable from Building Hope, which had borrowed over $12 million.

The rapper Pitbull gave the opening speech at the 2013 National Charter Schools Convention this past week. He came to the podium to the strains of his hit, "Feel This Moment."

Given the background of Pitbull and his partners in his new charter school, SLAM, that just didn't feel right. In the tradition of hip-hop, I therefore present this remix. Sit back, ingest a dangerous amount of caffeine, and enjoy:

Pitbull opened his speech with a joke to break the ice. 

"I know you guys might be thinking, 'What is Pitbull doing here today?' 

I'm thinking the same thing... 

But speaking of that, they told me that Bill Cosby has spoken here before, which I think is amazing. Somebody that I really relate to. I also love Jello.

Ha ha! I'm just getting started!

Bill Gates; phenomenal, incredible. I relate to Bill Gates.  We're both very... good looking. 

*wink at audience*

And Bill Clinton. You know, I really relate to Bill Clinton... (laughs from audience)  We're both musicians."

In that single joke, Pitbull equates himself with Bill Cosby's product endorsements, Bill Gate's money, and Bill Clinton's womanizing.

That really is what Pitbull is all about, isn't it?  Endorsements, money and women....

Kevin P. Chavous is the board chair of Democrats For Education Reform and a staunch reformy-type, proudly working with politicians on both sides of the aisle to bring "choice" to public schools. Chavous has written before about how concerned he is with women's rights:

Every day in this country, scores of children persevere against incredibly negative odds. Their struggles are virtually unnoticed: their accomplishments are unheralded. But they survive and many succeed. In my new book,Voices of Determination I share the stories of ten young people who endured and overcame significant challenges in order to obtain their education. Each story is heart wrenching and inspiring. And each kid exemplifies that innate human quality found in all of us: the will to do better and to be better.

Among the kids I feature is Zina, an amazing young woman from Afghanistan, who migrated to the states with her mother and siblings once the Taliban took over the country in the late nineties. The Taliban killed her father and grandfather and took away her mother's college professorship. In fact, the Taliban instantly changed Afghanistan from a country with progressive views toward women to a country in which women were relegated to sexist policies found hundreds of years ago. All of the women in the country had to wear full body burkas and none could go to school or work outside of the home. [emphasis mine]

Good on Chavous for bringing us this story of courage in the face of rampant sexism. I think we can all agree that women should not be treated as objects, right, Kevin?

Room Service
She like that freaky stuff
Two and the O, 1 in the eye,
that kinky stuff, you nasty,
but I like your type
and like T.I. its whatever you like.
Bring your girls,
its whatever tonight,
your man just left,
I'm the plumber tonight,
I check your pipes,
oh, you're the healthy type.
Well, here goes some egg whites.
Now gimme that sweet, that nasty gushy stuff,

The Anthem 

She told me that her mama's Latin, her dad Asian
Abuela está loca, abuelo Hatian
Y yo soy Cubano and I'm impatient
So do me a favor, let's skip conversation
I just wanna taste ya ASAP
Take ya ASAP, to the room ASAP
Zoom zoom ASAP, boom boom take that
Ooh, I like that when you fight back

According to Kevin P. Chavous, board chair of DFER, the man who performed these lyrics is "incomparable."

That's one way of putting it...

As I detailed earlier, Pitbull is opening a new, taxpayer-funded charter school in Miami in partnership with Academica, the company owned by another man in this picture, Fernando Zulueta. The Miami Herald ran a terrific series on Academica and Zulueta, Cashing In On Kids, detailing how he and his brother have made millions through rental and management fees paid by ostensibly "non-profit" charters, all while working a variety of political connections.

I have not been able to determine Pitbull's financial relationship to this charter, although "Mr. Worldwide" is well-known for marketing himself and endorsing a variety of products. He has worked in the past with Walmart; no surprise there, because the Walton family is one of the largest supporters of the charter "movement" in the country. In fact, DFER's sugar daddy, Whitney Tilson, admits John Walton was an "inspiration" for Chavous's organization.

Together, Pitbull and Walmart worked a big marketing campaign for Energy Sheets, a caffeine-laden product that health professionals warn is unsafe for children, even though it's sweet and resembles candy:
 Given all this, I'll ask Mr. Chavous:

- Do you think the values that Pitbull espouses in his lyrics are values appropriate for a taxpayer-funded school?

- Do you think the taxpayers of South Florida are well-served by Academica and the Zuluetas?


- In the interests of transparency, will you call for Pitbull, Academica, Mater Charter Academies, and all other involved parties to fully disclose their financial dealings and release copies of all contracts as relates to the SLAM Charter School?

DFER says they are all about "choice." Fine - but a good "choice" requires information, does it not? Shouldn't parents and students have a full accounting of the dealings behind charter schools before they make their "choices"?

ADDING: Looks like Twitter has already answered my question:

I swear, I couldn't make this stuff up:

Today, the misogynist rapper Pitbull gave the opening speech at the 2013 National Charter Schools Conference. Pitbull is "founding" a charter in Miami that will be managed by the for-profit company Academica, which has already made gobs of cash by building school facilities and then renting them to the "non-profit" charters they manage. There is no reporting on what kind of deal Pitbull structured with Academica, although he is well-known for managing and licensing his "brand."

During the same conference, the Walton family was inducted into the National Charter Schools Hall of Fame (yes, there is such a thing - oy). The Waltons, of course, owe their vast fortunes to Walmart, one of the least labor-friendly corporations in the world (their less-than-admirable employee practices, it turns out, are costing them a boatload of money). They've used part of that funding to promote a pro-charter school agenda, which includes funding the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, who, of course, gave the Waltons the award (least they could do).

Well, guess what else Pitbull and Walmart have in common?

6/29/12 -- Pitbull met with residents at a Walmart in the small (population 6,130) Alaska town today—a stop Mr. Worldwide probably never thought he'd be making until a promotional campaign with the big-box store, in which he agreed to appear at the Walmart with the most "likes" on Facebook, became the target of a concerted effort to "exile" the rapper.

But it appeared to be a win-win situation as the "Give Me Everything" rapper performed at the local Coast Guard base and posed for photos, the fans being the unwitting winners after Boston Phoenix writer David Thorpe started a Twitter campaign to get Pitbull as far off the beaten path as possible.

Yes, that's right: Pitbull teamed up with Walmart to sell "Energy Sheets." You'll remember that Pitbull's mother gave him this advice:

I would learn during our conversation that his mother advised him to look like “old money,” meaning no gaudy bling blinding you from the sparkling glare. She told him that if he decked himself out in expensive clothes and ostentatious jewelry he would look like “new money,” and the sycophants would want to bleed him dry of cash. [emphasis mine]

In recent years, drinks that combine alcohol with caffeine, such as Four Loko, have been blamed for the deaths of teens and college students. But a new epidemic involves younger children: elementary school students are drinking highly caffeinated energy drinks to catch a buzz. Even without alcohol, these drinks are dangerous to kids' health. 

"Energy drinks are gateway for elementary school kids," said Mike Gimbel, a national substance abuse educator. "They drink it like it's water. Nurses have kids coming in with heart palpitations." 

Gimbel said he has also observed a growing fascination among elementary school students with caffeinated gel strips that you place on the tongue, such as ones made by the brand Sheets.  

"One strip is equal to a cup of coffee, but kids are putting five or six in their mouth at once," he said. "You can overdose on caffeine by taking three or four." 

Overconsumption of caffeine, especially in young children who have smaller bodies, can cause seizures, strokes or even sudden death, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. [emphasis mine]

And:

The power of sports heroes is powering a new kind of energy supplement. But pediatricians say parents should be careful their kids aren't using it.

The compact 2.5 ounce "quick energy" drinks have competition and some big name competitors are pushing them.

"Anytime you use an athlete who is well known, that's obviously going to catch the attention of kids," said Dr. Dan Kraft, Riley Children's Hospital.

But should kinds be paying attention to sheets of energy strips?

Eyewitness News found them at one store for $6 a box, along with an explanation from the store clerk.

"It has a lot of B12 in it. That's a good, healthy energy and also has some caffeine. Not a lot," the clerk said.

"Two of these things have twice the caffeine of Mountain Dew," Dr. Kraft said. "You can get some palpitations, where you feel your heart is racing and there can be some side effects to that."

Encouraged by sports role models, student athletes may take the caffeine strips, not realizing they make users lose body fluid. In a game, that could mean dehydration and cramping.

The size of the strips are of concern, as well.

"They can very easily take this product at halftime, if people are not watching," Dr. Kraft said.

"I don't even like my kids drinking energy drinks. I don't know what the long-term effects are. No clue," said parent Doug Holder.

"It's not good then, especially in the heat," said another parent.

Some of the products come with specific warnings, not to take it if you're under 12 and that the strips are not FDA approved. [emphasis mine]

And:

A new form of getting that caffeine boost is an energy strip that dissolves in your mouth.

But a local health expert says they're a risk.

Sheets brand Energy Strips can be found in gas stations across Champaign Urbana.

University of Illinois Food Science and Human Nutrition professor Dr. Margarita Teran says consuming too much caffeine is dangerous.

Consuming too many of these energy strips or energy drinks can cause harm to the body, affecting sleep, mood, anxiety, gastrointestinal issues and causing severe headaches.

Each energy strip contains 100 mg of caffeine.

The Academy of American Pediatrics recommends people under 21 years old should have no more than 100 mg of caffeine in one day.

Taking 4 of the energy strips in one day puts people at a toxic level of caffeine consumption. [emphasis mine]

So let's be clear: Pitbull and the Waltons have teamed up not only to sell charter schools to the American public, but to also sell a caffeine-laden product that doctors warn could be harmful to children.

It's worth noting that Pitbull is also a spokesman for Bud Light, which can also be purchased at Walmart. Of course, that's not what the rapper himself drinks:

The watery Anheuser-Busch product is nowhere to be found on the 31-year-old performer’s tour rider. Instead, Pitbull (real name: Armando Christian Perez) requires promoters to provide him with a case of Corona beer, a product of Crown Imports.

Click here for a rider excerpt detailing Pitbull’s backstage hospitality demands.

In addition to the 24 Coronas, the rapper’s booze requirements include three bottles of Ketel One vodka, and single bottles of Patron tequila, Hennessy cognac, and champagne (either Moët Rose Imperial or Moët Nectar Imperial).

Hey, he's an adult: he can drink whatever he wants. I'm sure he and Walmart join with me and educators across America in doing whatever we can to stop minors from drinking.

Because we wouldn't want to hurt kids, would we?


ADDING: Pitbull also endorsed Dr. Pepper, another drink laced with caffeine that you can purchase at your local Walmart.

Just wondering: is there anything these two sell together that's healthy for kids?

ADDING MORE: More on Sheets and children:

Teens already consume too many daily doses of caffeine, from the morning Joe to cokes and energy drinks that can cause palpitations, anxiety and sleep disturbances, just at the age when they need their sleep for growth, experts say. 

"It's a really bad idea," said Rosalind Cartwright, professor emeriti in neurological sciences in the Graduate College at Rush University Medical Center. "One hundred milligrams is not that much. But if used repeatedly, it can cause all kinds of trouble. 

"It will give them a jolt and somewhat better focus and attention for a short while, but it has a pretty steep dropoff, and if you keep taking it, you get enormously sleepy afterwards." 

[...] 

Purebrands CEO Warren Struhl was unavailable for an interview but told ABCNews.com in an email that, "Sheets has been very clear on their packaging in terms of discouraging usage by kids under 12." 

But caffeine can be hazardous for any age in teens who are sensitive or those with heart conditions or attention-deficit disorder. 

The American Academy of Pediatrics issued a report this month recommending that teens and children avoid energy and sports drinks, which carry no benefit and some risk. That includes all caffeinated drinks, including colas and coffee. 

"Caffeine is very safe; it's used in newborns to increase arousal," said John Herman, professor in sleep medicine at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. 

"But nothing should be packaged that could appeal to children," Herman said. "It should specify dosage and instructions on how to use it and what is the maximum. A high dose of anything -- sugar or salt -- becomes harmful. 

"If it's red-colored and it's sweet, kids might take three, four or five of them and go into an anxiety attack and palpitations," he said. "Kids get anxious when they take caffeine and it could put them over the top." [emphasis mine]

Just to reiterate: the people making money from selling this stuff are now directing our education policy.

Everyone OK with that?

This time of year affords me the luxury of taking a few days to just read, write, and think. And it's at times like this that I can pull a few threads together to make a larger tapestry (yeah, the summer seems to be straining my metaphors a bit...).

Yesterday, I detailed the rapper Pitbull's foray into the wacky world of for-profit charter schooling. One thing that struck me, as I watched him make his little pre-scripted appearances in the media, is how badly the corporatized media wants us to believe that the rich and famous are doing good through their "charitable" works. Katie Couric, for instance, gushed over "Mr. 305" for "giving back to the community" by opening a charter school.

Well, how exactly is he "giving back"? His charter school, SLAM, will receive taxpayers funds for its operation. A hefty portion of those funds will go to a company called Academica, which has a documented history of enriching itself at the public trough by controlling charter school real estate, which is exempt from property taxes, while collecting rental fees from the charters it manages.

Maybe Pitbull is actually donating some money for the start-up or operations; I wouldn't know, because it appears no one in the press has bothered to ask - that includes "journalists" like Katie Couric. But if SLAM follows the pattern of other Academica schools, someone is going to make money off of this thing.

Does this sound like "charity" to you?

Today, Pitbull gave a speech at the 2013 National Charter Schools Conference, extolling the virtues of "choice" in education. At the same conference, the Walton Family Foundation is scheduled to be inducted into the National Charter Schools Hall of Fame:

Walton Family Foundation

The Arkansas-based Walton Family Foundation has provided an unprecedented level of financial support to schools and education organizations across the country over the past decade. Founded and run by the family of billionaire businessman Sam Walton, the foundation supports a wide range of causes but education organizations are its top funding priority and received over $158 million in grants in 2012 alone.
The foundation’s core strategy is “to infuse competitive pressure into America’s K-12 education system by increasing the quantity and quality of school choices available to parents, especially in low-income communities.” To do so, it spreads its education funding across three distinct initiatives: shaping public policy, creating quality schools, and improving existing schools. Charter schools have especially benefitted from the second initiative: to date, the Walton Family Foundation has invested over $300 million in start-up schools and is now the largest single funder of new charters. Additionally, the foundation has funded state charter organizations, local charter networks, national advocacy groups, teacher training programs, and research initiatives.[emphasis mine]

OK, look: maybe you're for charter schools, and maybe you aren't. Personally, I'd feel a lot better about their proliferation if the charter cheerleaders were at least somewhat honest about how they get their "successes." Regardless, I've always felt that there could be a place for charters if they are tightly regulated and if the communities they serve agree to have them.

But that's my opinion. You can agree or disagree, and that's fine; let's have the debate. But when did we decide that spreading the Walton family's opinion about charters was a "charitable" act? 

If the Waltons want to fund credentialed scholars to engage in high-quality, peer-reviewed research in public policy, I can see that as charitable giving. But giving money to think tanks and advocacy groups - like NAPCS - isn't funding policy development; it's promoting an agenda. It's really no different from giving money to a political candidate because he or she will vote the way you want on issues - and, yes, that includes issues that may not affect you directly. It really doesn't matter much why the Waltons want more charters; it's enough that they do, and that they are willing to spend gobs of money to get them.

Does this sound like "charity" to you?

Bill Gates has been pouring millions of dollars into educational "research." One of the groups he funds is the National Council on Teacher Quality, which, amazingly, put out a report recently that shores up his belief that something is very wrong with the way we train teachers. It doesn't much matter that just about every prominent education policy scholar has ripped this piece of hack-junk to shreds, including:

• Jack Hassard*
• Bruce Baker
• Linda Darling-Hammond
• Richard Allington
• Aaron Pallas
• Jon Eckert
• Sherman Dorn
• Michael Feuer
• Diane Ravitch
• Ed Fuller

The prosecutor, who was a woman, made a statement during sentencing about me not doing any charity work for a number of years during my ‘exile.’ A) Charity work is not a requirement, but something done because someone wants to. I was clearly doing charitable works way before other people were even thinking about it. And B) Even the judge had to comment that she, meaning I, was both having and raising children during this period. As if that was not challenging enough to do. She sounded like the echo of the grotesque slave master, who expected women to give birth while in the field, scoop the Baby up, and then continue to work. Disgusting.

Yeah, OK, that last part's a bit over the top for me - your mileage may vary. But I think Hill's got a serious point here: since when did "charity" work become a "Get Out of Jail Free" card (either actual or metaphorical) for the rich and famous?

We see this all the time: athletes, pop stars, actors, business titans - all happily smiling in front of the camera as they go about their "charitable" works. Except we rarely, if ever, get a true look at what exactly those "works" are. Yes, we get some nice press releases and photo-ops that, as Hill points out, can be quite valuable when the star is in trouble with the law or building his brand. But is what they are doing properly defined as "charity"?

When Mark Zuckerberg fell victim to an embarrassing movie, he rushed on to Oprah Winfrey's show and declared that his new "charity" would be education "reform" in Newark.


Does this sound like "charity" to you?



* This is actually a critique of a 2012 report on teacher preparation put out by NCTQ. I regret the error.

“Featuring a one-of-a-kind curriculum and unmatched experiences, the school will serve as a catalyst for other sports leadership and management charter schools throughout the nation,” SLAM principal Alex Tamargo stated in a news release.    

That program will include internships with Marlins executives on game days and events, such as shadowing executives during pre- and post-game entertainment, parking and customer service.

Marlins executives have quite a track record to teach students about: building a stadium partially on the public dime, hiring a foul-mouthed manager, holding the least successful opening season in a new stadium in decades, and trading away star players.

The team recently said that its season ticket base has fallen to less than 5,000.

Maybe the SLAM students could teach the Marlins’ executives a thing or two. [emphasis mine]

The irony here is rich indeed. First: SLAM's founder, Pitbull, and the Marlins' staff share a predilection for salty language (please try to clean this up around the kids, folks). Second: both SLAM and the Marlins organization are textbook cases of private enterprises feeding at the public trough, raking in obscene amounts of money.

The story of Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria's rip-off of Miami's taxpayers has been well documented:

The ballpark financing agreement "sparked an SEC investigation and is considered so one-sided that almost no rhetoric sounds too extreme: The team will pay for $160 million of the $634 million facility, and compounded interest and balloon payments on one $91 million loan will end up costing the county $1.1 billion when it is paid off in 2048." 

Miami mayor Thomas Regaldo [sic] said the Marlins owners "insulted the taxpayers, and then they insulted the fans ... It was: We did it to you—and screw you." Regaldo has opposed the deal, which uses various taxes to fund the stadium, since the beginning.

"Miami has a history of bad deals, but I would rank this Number 1," Regaldo said. "The residents of Miami were raped. Completely." [emphasis mine]

As we'll see below, Mayor Regalado is a bit of a hypocrite when it comes to protecting South Florida's taxpayers. But before we get to that, let's first turn our attentions to SLAM, the charter school that will be imparting the values of both Pitbull and Loria to the youth of Miami.

SLAM is part of the Mater Academy family of charter schools, a prolific network that has expanded throughout South Florida. Mater's schools are ostensibly non-profit; however, all are run by the for-profit charter management organization, Academica:

Academica’s reach extends from Florida to Georgia, Texas, Nevada, Utah and California, where the company also manages charter schools. But Academica is best known for managing four prominent school networks in Miami-Dade and Broward counties: the Mater Academies, the Somerset Academies, the Doral Academies and the Pinecrest Academies.

In the 2010-11 school year, these four chains had 44 South Florida schools with about 19,000 students.

Each network of schools is run by a nonprofit corporation, which in turn is run by a volunteer governing board. These boards set policy for the schools, and also approve the management contracts and property leases — including the land deals with the Zulueta companies. While the teachers and principals work for the nonprofits, Academica routinely vets personnel and recommends principals from within its stable of schools.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/12/13/v-fullstory/2545377/academica-florida-richest-charter.html#storylink=cpy

That's from a blockbuster series of reports by the Miami Herald from back in 2011. The story starts with a description of corporate culture at Academica that sounds like it came straight from one of Pitbull's music videos:

PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas On a sun-drenched weekend in September, a group of South Florida charter school principals jetted off to a leadership retreat at The Cove, an exclusive enclave of the Atlantis resort. A Friday morning meeting gave way to champagne flutes, a dip in the pool and a trip down a waterslide. The evening ended at the casino.

Zulueta had reason to cheer. During the past 15 years, Zulueta and his brother, Ignacio, have built Academica into Florida’s largest and richest for-profit charter school management company, and one of the largest in the country. In Miami-Dade and Broward counties, Academica runs more than 60 schools with $158 million in total annual revenue and more than 20,000 students — more pupils than 38 Florida school districts, records show.

Academica’s schools consistently get high marks for academic achievement, with some schools earning national recognition. Mater Academy Charter High in Hialeah Gardens is considered among the nation’s best high schools by U.S. News & World Report, and recently won the College Board Inspiration Award.

And despite recent cuts in state funding for public and charter schools, Academica’s schools have prospered financially: One of its chains of nonprofit schools has assets of more than $36 million, the company says.

Academica’s achievements have been profitable. The South Miami company receives more than $9 million a year in management fees just from its South Florida charter schools — fees that ultimately come from public tax dollars.

But the Zuluetas’ greatest financial success is largely unseen: Through more than two dozen other companies, the Zuluetas control more than $115 million in South Florida real estate — all exempt from property taxes as public schools — and act as landlords for many of Academica’s signature schools, records show.

These companies collected about $19 million in lease payments last year from charter schools — with nine schools paying rents exceeding 20 percent of their revenue, records show. [emphasis mine]

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/12/13/v-fullstory/2545377/academica-florida-richest-charter.html#storylink=cpy

I have yet to confirm that SLAM is using the same real estate tactics as the rest of the Mater network; however, given the school's close ties to Zulueta and Academica, it's quite likely SLAM will follow this model. In any case, Academica will certainly reap big management fees from SLAM, just as they do from the other charters in their networks.

If you haven't read the Herald's complete series, Cashing In On Kids, you really should: even if you don't live in Miami-Dade, it's a terrific guide to the sleazy strategies used by the charter industry to manipulate politicians into shoveling buckets of money into their coffers. The Zuluetas, for example, are lucky enough to have a Fernando's brother-in-law, Erik Fresen, serve on the Education Committee in the Florida House:

In October, Fresen was cleared in an ethics investigation sparked by a complaint that his vote this spring on the high-performing charter schools legislation was a conflict that should have been disclosed. Fresen said he consulted with an attorney in the House of Representatives before making the vote, and he later disclosed his ties to Academica.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/12/14/2545708/company-cultivates-links-to-lawmakers.html#storylink=cpy

It's no surprise Fresen's fellow legislators let him off the hook: charter industry money flows like orange juice around Tallahassee. Thanks to intensive lobbying and targeted campaign contributions, the Florida charter lobby recently scored $91 million in construction costs, all coming from the Public Education Capital Outlay fund, which collects revenues from "the state's gross receipts tax on cable, electric and land-line telephone bills," a highly regressive form of taxation.

So Academica benefits from its political connections - but that's not the only key to its "success." As the Herald reports, South Florida charters, like Academica's, enroll very few poor or special needs students, which serves the dual function of bumping up tests scores while keeping costs low. Miami's charters also appear to engage in targeted marketing:

In 2009, a Miami-Dade school district study of middle-schoolers found that while black students and poor students were less likely to transfer to charter schools, those who were classified as gifted or had earned high marks on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Tests were more likely to choose charter schools.

The report also found that advanced students were nearly twice as likely to transfer to schools in the Mater and Doral networks of schools as to continue in their home schools.

“It is unlikely that the effects seen for these particular schools can be explained by direct marketing techniques, which are typically ineffective, given that these effects are not seen in other charter schools,” the report concluded. “This raises the possibility that specific students were targeted in some way.” [emphasis mine]

That's particularly interesting regarding SLAM, which has specifically billed itself as a sports-oriented school. The charter just signed up Rich Hofman, a renowned private school baseball coach, as its Athletic Director. I've reported before on the growing national trend of sports-oriented charters, many of which are engaging in unethical recruiting practices; I'd suggest that SLAM needs to be watched very carefully in this upcoming season.

In any case, Academica has developed a bit of a problem: while the schools continue to make gobs of money, they are attracting unwanted publicity - and that's keeping the Florida charter industry from getting everything they crave. The "parent trigger," a mechanism to expand charters, has gone down twice in the Florida Senate, and that $91 million in funds for charter construction isn't recurring, which is what the charter industry desperately wanted. For the Zuluetas and their compatriots to take even more taxpayer funds, they have to splash some perfume on the charter school pig.

Enter Pitbull. It's safe to say the rapper is one of the most image-conscious performers in hip-hop: he's carefully cultivated an persona that gives him "street cred" while remaining palatable to mainstream America:

I remember it well. It was eight years ago, nighttime, and I sat inside an empty banquet hall at the Radisson Hotel in Dallas. Rapper Pitbull sat in front of me. The room was dimly lit. A couple of things about him immediately struck me. His only piece of jewelry was a watch. A nice watch, but hardly anything fancy or shiny. I would learn during our conversation that his mother advised him to look like “old money,” meaning no gaudy bling blinding you from the sparkling glare. She told him that if he decked himself out in expensive clothes and ostentatious jewelry he would look like “new money,” and the sycophants would want to bleed him dry of cash.

Pitbull still heeds mama’s words. Today he has international fame and total assimilation into the Anglo world of hip-hop, which he’s parlayed into product endorsements, TV and film appearances and recorded featured spots on singles by Jennifer Lopez, Enrique Iglesias and Taio Cruz, among others. Pitbull’s image, however, remains all about simple yet elegantly tailored suits, sunglasses and that’s it. Still no obnoxious bling. [emphasis mine]

It speaks volumes about our culture that a man who writes the lyrics Pitbull does can remain in the mainstream of American culture. But he has, and it's paid off in a series of product endorsements:

He’s one of the most aggressive celebrity product and brand endorsers, having struck deals with Kodak, Dr. Pepper, Sheets energy strips, and several other brands. Guided by brand manager Daymond John, the founder of the FUBU clothing line and the star of the ABC Show “Shark Tank,” Pitbull actively searches out companies to align with, often with the goal of endorsing products in exchange for equity in the companies. He receives stock for some endorsements and gets upfront cash payments for others.

“It all depends on how you look at a deal and break it down. Different deals get struck differently,” Pitbull said. He said the equity deals tend to come about when a company is looking for the recording artist to help launch a relatively unknown product that needs a boost from a celebrity. In Pitbull’s case, his penetration into international markets has been an asset in the negotiations for new deals. [emphasis mine]

You can see why charter industry types like the Zuluetas would want to partner up with Pitbull, a shameless self-marketer who appeals to political conservatives (Pitbull is passionately anti-Castro) and is tied into South Florida's youth and Hispanic markets. And so Pitbull has been making the rounds and promoting the proliferation of charters in Miami-Dade. Here he is taping a television special at a Mater Academy school in Hialeah Gardens:

Here's Pitbull selling his story and SLAM to Katie Couric:



Here's "Mr. Worldwide" selling his brand and SLAM on the Today Show:




You'll notice that none of these media appearances mentions Academica, the Zuluetas, or the money the South Florida charter industry is scooping in at the expense of Miami's public schools. What we get instead is a prefabricated Horatio Alger story designed to tug at our heartstrings:

You might think the biggest moment in Pitbull’s life would be getting signed to a label or his first record hitting stores, but Pitbull said neither are his biggest moments. Getting the key to the city, said Pitbull, was the biggest moment of his life.

“It is always a big day for a Cuban to get a key and I got the key to the city,” Pitbull joked.

And who gave Pitbull the key to Miami? Why, none other than Mayor Tomas Regalado: you remember, the same fellow who now complains Pitbull's partners in SLAM, the Miami Marlins, "raped" the taxpayers. Regalado has himself been a promoter of Miami's charters, especially the Mater Academy schools.

Public money for the wealthy to build sports stadiums and get even richer? Outrageous! Public money for the wealthy to build charter schools and get even richer? Meh...

Let me hasten to add this: in all my research, I couldn't find any indication that Pitbull himself is making a dime off of SLAM. He may well be doing this out of the goodness of his heart (although it certainly isn't hurting his image, which is how he makes his money). There has also been scant little reporting about the financial structure of SLAM - we simply don't know how Academica, the Zuluetas, Mater Academies, the Marlins, and Pitbull have structured their deal.

Which is precisely the problem. This entire enterprise is using taxpayer money to fund a school affiliated with people who have already made piles of money from the Florida charter industry. And yet - save for the outstanding work of the Miami Herald - a sycophantic press has not given us any insight into the finances of SLAM.

What does it say about Joel Klein and Arne Duncan that they will share the stage this week with Pitbull and push the gospel of charter school salvation, even as the deals that fund these charters don't meet the simplest standards of transparency?

What does it say about our press that they are so taken with celebrity journalism that they refuse to do their jobs and look into the backgrounds of schools like SLAM - schools that are enriching operators like the Zuluetas to the tune of millions?

And what does it say about our culture that we hold up a beer salesman like Pitbull as an exemplar of our education system?

For a moment there, I considered calling for Pitbull to step down as a speaker at the National Charter Schools Conference. But it's clear to me now he is the best possible spokesman for the charter "movement." Pitbull is, indeed, the very personification of everything charter schools seem to stand for.

Let him stand on that stage and represent the charter industry; I really can't think of anyone who would do a better job.