Updated February 11, 2017 10:45 AM EST:
We mistakenly left the name out of SA 1 Principal Danique Loving as one of the three yenta teachers. What is updated is in red.

Earlier this afternoon The Crack Team got some compelling news from an impeccable, above reproach source concerning, how shall we say, irregularities about Success Academy that left The Crack Team just aghast and sickened.

As many of us already know, Success Academies decided yesterday that Eva's ego comes first and that their students were forced to attend school braving blizzard conditions during the children's commute to school. What better way to open a few seats and to ensure that those who do not meet Eva's demonic standards don't return. At Success, if a few struggling students get killed or maimed being in a blizzard the attitude must be "so be it." Talk about Creaming.

So back to the compelling news that came to The Crack Team. The source informed The Crack Team that at Harlem's Success Academy 1 yesterday, some students were involved in what can be called "Bible study."

The source shared that three SA teachers staff members including SA 1 principal Danique Loving  were yapping it up early this morning at about 7:15 AM, sharing what they had done yesterday when one of the teachers shared, whilst smiling and almost bragging, that some students were sitting through the readings of Bible verses during the snowy school day.

Now ordinarily we here at SBSB have no problem how one wants to conduct their religious beliefs as long as said beliefs don't infringe on anyone else's belief or non-beliefs of religion and/or deities. However, children, especially those at the near underworld fortress like Success Academy, are a captive audience and have no recourse other than to be force fed religious beliefs of someone else. Moreover, Success Academy is funded with public monies paid by John and Jane Q. Public and is therefore a public school, though a public school that limits access to the public, and falls under the US Constitution's Establishment Clause. But this is Eva. Rules and laws are meant for someone else. Never her.

But this violation, though egregious, pales in comparison to the what else the three SA yenta's were cackling about.

Apparently these three just principal Danique Loving, while the other two listened and laughed, all African-American, decided that their time at 7:15 AM was better spent mocking and deriding a young boys first name. A young boy who is a native of Africa.

How dare these "teachers" principal Danique Loving mock anyone's name! How dare these "educators" think that they are so above it all that the only way they can make themselves feel bigger and more important is to mock a defenseless child! How dare these "people" for one minute think that they are educators!

Can you imagine the shit storm that would incur if this happened at a REAL NYC public school and Eva found out about this? Oy Gevalt!

We here at SBSB immediately call for a proper investigation into these dreadful and unprofessional allegations by an independent investigator post haste. No stone should be unturned into the lack of professionalism by these three SA teachers and whomever decided to turn a snowy NYC day into Bible study.

We here at SBSB also call for the removal of SA 1 principal Danique Loving for turning a blind eye to what has transpired for mocking a students heritage and ethnic background!

The behavior at Success Academy 1 is appalling and must not be tolerated. Looking the other way is akin to accepting such behavior.

You know who are the biggest losers in this opt-out movement? The so-called "(de)reformers" and their faux grassroots organizations like StudentsFirst, Education Reform Now, Success Academy, Educators4Excellence and Democrats for Education Reform (DFER).

The irrelevance and slow death spiral of DFER was seen by all last week when DFER New York director Nicole Brisbane was quoted in the Journal News as saying;

"Schools are one of the biggest differentiators of value in the suburbs. How valuable will a house be in Scarsdale when it isn't clear that Scarsdale schools are doing any better than the rest of Westchester or even the state? Opting out of tests only robs parents of that crucial data,"

It really is quite simple. Look at SAT scores. Number of students going on to 4 year colleges. Number of students going to Ivy League colleges. Visit the school. Ask neighbors. Graduation rates. Teacher turnover. Home values. Really, there are so many reasons. In fact Nicole fails to grasp what did Scarsdale do before there were high stakes exams?

But please, don't listen to Nicole. Nicole claims she was somewhat misquoted and only using Scarsdale as an example, that her real thoughts were in a blog post on DFER that she had written ;

"Part of the draw of the suburbs is the high performance of local schools. How will suburban communities maintain their draw if there isn’t a measure of how the schools are actually doing in comparison to those across the state?"

Nicole, see above. But we here at SBSB suggest to Nicole that if she is really concerned about how others can measure up to one another to take Chevy Chase's advice.

Nicole does decide to deride the parents of not only Scarsdale, but of all affluent communities as well when she says on the DFER blog;

"The same parents are opting-in for other standardized tests like the ACT (not mandatory), the SAT (also not mandatory) and the Specialized High School Admissions Test (also not mandatory but absolutely necessary if you want your kid to go to a “choice” high school in New York City). Affluent parents aren’t opting out of optional tests, so why opt out of the state exams? Maybe it’s because the results aren’t what they wanted to hear."

See Nicole does not understand something here (And of course we can go into the the multitude of flaws with testing but we shan't tonight). These tests are a choice one makes for their child. These tests are not forced upon parents by a bully governor, a clueless chancellor of the Regents, or a faceless bureaucrat. The parents have ownership of their child's education. Such as my son made a choice to continue his Jewish education after his bar mitzvah after telling me and my wife for years he will stop once he became a bar mitzvah. HE HAD OWNERSHIP!

However after the missed opportunity at a testing analogy Nicole decided that it would be best to charm the parents of Scarsdale and all affluent communities by sharing;

"That their kids, or their kid’s teacher or their beloved (Emphasis by The Crack Team) neighborhood school isn’t performing as well as they expected."

What Nicole fails to realize, as the Journal News as reported, is that the vast majority of affluent communities (For this post will use Westchester County), Scarsdale, Chappaqua, Irvington, Bronxville, Ardsley, had quite low opt out numbers. WAY TO WIN OVER PARENTS NICOLE! KUDOS!

If you are left wondering who is this expert in education that is gracing the pages of this award winning blog we will share what The Crack Team has learned.

Nicole Brisbane is a former teacher, now a lawyer, and shared with The Crack Team that she was a reading specialist for 5 years at Allapattah Middle School in Miami.

Oddly, according to this link she only taught two years at Allapattah before entering law school. Only two years? Well, if you read the headline of that link she was with Teach for America.

So how can we believe anything she says, even when she told The Crack Team she won Rookie Teacher of the Year at Allapattah and in fact raised the grade level of her students (Who were 4 grades behind at the time of her ascension at Allapattah 2.5 grades in the very short time she was there?

We can't believe her even though we requested several times for some kind of verification or conformation to her outstanding teaching and her award. Is her story truth or fiction?

But according to Nicole, the affluent, or shall we stray into reality, the "regular people",  or strating from the test because,

"The people who are opting out of tests are largely those who already feel like their child has access to a high-quality education, and are doing so in a way that directly harms poor and minority students throughout New York. We should be supporting students and teachers throughout New York, whether they are in Scarsdale or the Bronx, and making sure all students have a fair shot at a quality education. Rather than maintain the status quo where wealth determines a quality education, data can and should highlight where the gaps are so we can invest in schools that need it the most. High property values shouldn't determine the quality of education for the neighborhood--and the way we are going to change that is through access to data that will allow us to make investments where they are needed"

 And she shares some links here, and here. Big deal. Hey Nicole, let's see how the students from Success flame out when they hit college, much the way they flamed out on tests for the NYC specialized high schools.

Nicole this is why the opt out movement is picking up steam. We are fed up. We are fed up with Albany and Washington DC deciding what is best for our children and our school districts. We are fed up with millions going to testing companies like Pearson. We are fed up seeing our babies go through 8 hours of testing when a bar exam is only 3 hours. We are fed up seeing our children stress out. We are fed up with the narrowed curriculum. We are fed up with teaching to the tests. We are fed up with our narrowed curriculum. We are fed up with Common Core. We are fed up with a governor that pockets $4.8 million from DFER and others like it instead of fixing our poverty and having the state pay its fair share to ALL school districts.

Mostly we are fed up with people of your ilk. You and yours are the modern day carpetbaggers, just this time it is education that you and yours needs to control. You truly believe that since you taught for two years this gives you some kind of street cred when it comes to education and the welfare of our children. You feel that you must share "stories" on how you raised students 2.5 grades and were Rookie of the Year. Guess what? Joe Charboneau was AL Rookie of the Year in 1980. What did it mean in the long run? Nothing. At least Charboneau can prove he was ROY.

Put your skills to good use. Sell Amway.

Wow, Eva Moskowitz made news today. In a short article by Aaron Short of Success Academy's official newspaper the New York Post, it's being reported that  Eva having said in an interview on WYNC that she does not;

"...accept midyear transfers from regular middle and high schools because their students don’t keep up with their charter counterparts."

This statement has left The Crack Team in a state of confusion, mass hysteria, and a general sense of malaise.

For years, we (The general public) have heard that charter schools are just like public schools---even though we all know that charters are really private schools. In traditional public schools if a student and their family has to change schools, or a student is not doing well and needs a change of scenery, he or she is can enroll in a school no matter what their abilities are. That's just the way it is and should be.

Yes, it is difficult no matter how strong or weak the student is to acclimate themselves to the new neighborhood, class, school, routines, etc... but they are welcomed. By law we have no choice.

But why does Eva get a choice, especially after the sweetheart deal her "special friend" Governor Andy gave her last year?

Eva shared these words of wisdom as well;

“Until the district schools are able to do a better job, it’s not really fair for a seventh-grader or high-school students to have to be educated with a child who is reading at a second- or third-grade level,”

So Eva is assuming that the student that enters a Success Academy mid-year is so far behind that it will be a disservice to the other students to have that struggling student amongst them? Would it not be beneficial for students that are so far behind Eva's wunderkind, no that's not the word. Hmm, her 21th-century genetically engineered children designed to create perfect students? No, that is not what we are looking for. Her T-1000's? Her scholars?

Anyway, it would be beneficial for these students to work with students that are ahead of them. Students when challenged academically will most of the time be able to bring themselves up academically as well.

But what this really seems like is pre-creaming and proving more to the point that Eva is only interested in Eva and only wants the best of the best to advance her cause and herself. Kind of like charter school eugenics.

This really doesn't come as a shock considering the shenanigans that  Eva has pulled in the past when it comes to who can stay and who can leave at Success.

Of course Eva does have an altruistic side to her as she shared with WNYC when she said that Success has an;

“...obligation to our parents in middle and high school.”

Isn't there an obligation to the students? Haven't we've been hearing from you for years that the students come first? Haven't we heard for years that you and Success can educate any student, any tine, any where? Eva claims that Success is a public school yet her words and actions speak as Success is a closed off exclusive private school. So why then are public monies going to Eva and Success?

Let's come back in 10 years, maybe less, and see where all the great "scholars" of Eva are at that point. Let's see how they do in college once they are on their own and not having every decision made for them and not forced to conform anymore. Let's see how Eva's students do in the outside world where they will have to make decisions on their own without getting rewarded.

Eva's smoke and mirrors are slipping out.

What a whirlwind couple of days it has been!

Tonight, I had the pleasure to listen to Diane Ravitch speak at my alma mater Purchase College and yesterday I got to read this written by Juan Gonzalez and see how Governor Andy really operates.

Really, is anyone surprised?

This man has accepted, taken, pocketed, call it what you wish, $4.8 million from hedge fund managers as they lobby Governor Andy to see it there way and raise the cap on charter schools in New York State.

Remember last year when Cuomo threw DeBlasio under the bus in regards to limiting Success Academy's co-locations? It just so happens that a pal of Eva's,  the Chairman of the Board of Success Academy, Daniel Loeb, has "given $62,000 to Cuomo." ***COUGH COUGH*** Something smells fishy here. ***COUGH COUGH***

Would it not behoove our better judgement to believe that the same hedge fund managers that Juan Gonzalez mentioned in in column have also deeply--as well as softly--whispered in Governor Andy's ear to change tenure to five years, base 50% of evals on tests, incorporate the stupid 35% eval on an outside entity, and all the other craziness Governor Andy has proposed?

How can we as teachers compete against Governor Andy and $4.8 million?

That's what we thought at an emergency meeting of The Crack Team which was convened last night at the Candlelight Inn in the Edgemont section of Greenburgh. 

We put our heads together. We had to come up with a way to grab Governor Andy's attention and be assured he gives us what we want in the same method the hedgies have co-opted him. But, and we all agreed, $4.8 million is somewhat out of the reach of ordinary teachers.

So we had to improvise, adapt, and overcome.

We came up with some great ideas. For instance a great idea was sending a Hickory Farms gift basket to the Executive Mansion. Or perhaps a Vermont Teddy Bear, or a dozen red roses (We nixed that, we thought he might get the wrong idea), some Omaha Steaks, or some nice jewelry from Kay.

But when it came down to following through we just couldn't Yes, Govcrnor Andy would be appreciative of such gifts, but they are just gifts. As we collectively rubbed our chins we had to think what is it that would get all the teachers of New York State into his office.

We figured it out. Cold. Hard. Cash. In small bills equaling $4.8 million.

Yes, that is what it will take, we believe, for Governor Andy to leave the Dark Side and do what the teachers and families of New York State want.

So The Crack Team has set up a Go FundMe page and between today and March 30 we hope to raise $4.8 million for Governor Andy's PACs. If we do not raise the money it will be returned or if the giver wishes, donated to charity.

Donations are to be only $1. We want to ensure all New Yorkers to contribute.

Let's do this for Andy. He needs us more than ever. 

This looks like good news, but Newsday is reporting that; 

"A proposal to allow charter schools to receive state funds for building has been dropped."

 Yippee!!

The above was what I was in the process of writing until I saw what Reality-Based Educator wrote and what I read in the New York Rag, er, Post. 

I have had many a thought on all this shrillness brought on by Eva and her minions of the last few weeks. I just never could find the right words or right structure to share here on the blog. Still just can't, but will try using an old writer's trick. I'm just going to write whatever pops into my mind. Kind of like a stream of consciousness.

First, charters are not public schools. I don't care how you slice it, and you dice it, and what spin one puts on it, but charters in no way are public schools. A public school is accountable to the public. Charters are accountable only to their boards and their moneyed sugar daddy's.

Let's see a public school pull what Eva pulls. Let's see any public school in NYC ask parents to pull their children out of the school if they are a behavior problem. Let's see what happens with a NYC public school if their only way of discipline is to suspend or make a 5 year old march military style for 30 minutes through the building. Let's see a NYC school with the high turnover rate that reeks through Success Academy schools, both students and teachers.

So the above 3 paragraphs are what I wrote until I my jaw dropped. So let's move on from the stream of consciousness onto the stream of outrage.

So as the Post reported;

"Charter schools will get an increase in per student operating aid and for the first time will receive government facilities funding to cover rent or building costs.

The agreement also calls for Mayor de Blasio to find alternative space for all three of Eva Moskowitz Success Academy charter schools he booted from city facilities for the fall.

 Under the agreement, the city must offer new charter schools or those wishing to expand space in public school buildings — or reimburse them for rent in a private facility."

Who made these agreements? Were there hearings? Public comment? Were other legislators involved? No, just three men in a room. Cuomo, and the stooges Silver and whoever is Senate majority leader.

In the world I come from, the governor is the governor of all the people, not just a select few, especially those that whine and kvetch the loudest and have the biggest wallets. Cuomo is adding to the adage, "What Eva wants, Eva gets."

Cuomo is impressed that there were 11,000 people at the staged rally in front of the State Capital building 3 weeks ago? How many people would he think would be protesting in Albany if the NYC public schools were allowed to shut down for the day and bus the parents, the students, and the staff to Albany to protest closing of OUR SCHOOLS? Over 100,000?

But 100k people supporting public schools in Albany would not have mattered to Cuomo for if NYC public school community did assemble en masse in Albany they would be missing one important thing. Dollars to shower upon Governor Andy. The public school community is not funded and bought off as Cuomo and Eva are by DFER and Students First and astroturf groups like Families For Excellent Schools.

Eva and her ilk had the hundreds of thousands of dollars to bus their students and families to Albany and back and provided lunch. How difficult would it to be to take that money, and all the other monies that Eva tosses around, to pay a modicum of rent?

All we hear time after time about charters is choice, choice, choice. Obviously school choice adheres to the tenets of capitalism, no? But when De Blasio is trying to impart the lessons of Adam Smith on charters to pay rent and not to live off the government dole, what happens? Eva has a coniption fit and says, "I want, I want!! I take, I need, I want!!"

We know part of the reason Governor Andy is doing this. He wants to run for president in 2016. He wants to do what Daddy never did. He wants to make his Daddy proud. Well, his Daddy would never do what he has done to education in this state. Do we really need another president with daddy issues?

Here's news. Andy, you are never, ever going to be president. No way, no how. You're not even going to get the nomination. And there are several reasons.

You have the Cuomo name which is still deemed too liberal in the rest of the country. You are a putz. You're a phony. And most of all, Hilary is going to run in 2016 and she will get the nomination over you in a heartbeat. But there is one more reason I believe you won't even get the nomination.

Governor Andy is going to be in the fight of his life this November. From what I see, this entire state, except the 2 of the 5 boroughs (Queens and Staten Island) and possibly Albany County (Just guessing) has had it with you and your education policies, among other ineptitude brought on by you.

Western New York, and what a great bunch of people they are (I lived in the Southern Tier for a year what a blast), are ready to riot. Long Island in my opinion is ready to secede, and Westchester, well Westchester likes Astorino and not you. You might win, but there will be no mandate. And after just reading where Astorino stands on charters, it looks like educators should get behind Howie Hawkins.

Cuomo and his enablers in the legislature could have at least have waited to see what the rents would be. I doubt it would have broken any charter schools bank and I am sure the rents would have been nominal. If anything to help with the upkeep of the plant.

Isn't it ironic? If Elliot Spitzer were able to show some self-restraint we might not be in this predicament?

Cuomo, he's got to go.

Where is the march on Albany by New York State teachers and parents? We can do better than 11,000 people!

OK, go back to what you were doing. The stream of outrage is over.

OK, time to get things straight about all this charter school hullabaloo.

Yes, Uncle Mike pushed through co-locations and approval of charter schools at the October PEP. Nineteen of these co-locations were charter schools. As DNAinfo.com reported; 

De Blasio axed Moskowitz's plan to move into the August Martin High School complex in Jamaica, Queens, and Murry Bergtraum High School in Lower Manhattan, sources said. He also froze a plan to expand Success Academy Middle School to P.S. 149 in Harlem, officials said.

That's three schools out of seven that were reversed leaving Eva with 4 schools along with 8 other charters that are being co-located throughout the city. So Eva is batting .571. How many Yankee fans would have accepted that average for A-Rod in any post season series? Even Thurman Munson batted only .529 in the 1976 World Series!

But while we are on the Yankees, let's not forget that a new mayor overturning agreements made by the previous mayor is not unprecedented.

In the fall of 2001 Rudy Giuliani promised both the Yankees and the Mets brand new stadiums built partly at the city's expense totaling  $800 million, plus interest in bonds. Uncle Mike then became mayor and put the kibosh on it, as it was his prerogative.

Did the George Steinbrenner and Fred Wilpon throw hissy fits? Did Steinbrenner and Wilpon protest, get busloads of fans to protest? No. What did they do? They eventually financed their own stadiums, built with their money (Yes, the city threw some cash in and we see the disaster that has become the parking garages at Yankee Stadium with the city backed bonds) and sucked it up and acted like men. It is time Eva acts like a mensch.

We here at SBSB have nothing against charter schools. Open all the charter schools they want. Where we draw the line is at charter schools receiving public monies and free space, especially at the expense of traditional public schools they are co-located with.

How much money cash on hand does Eva have? Somehow one can assume a lot. She can't afford rent? Her schools need to be co-located? Why not pump the money cash she has on hand and pump it back into the communities she claims she cares about? Put Success Academy in store fronts or office buildings. Why must the co-located traditional public schools suffer, and they do, at the expense of what Eva wants?

Yes, Eva must be very proud of herself and her protest yesterday in Albany. Taking the Success students out of school for a day and schlepping them to Albany along with are other charter school buddies.

She must have been beaming that 11,000 students, parents, and teachers were there are the capital steps along with new BFF Governor Andy while only about 1,500 unionists showed up for their rally, according to the New York Post. But funny, FoxNews reports there were only 3,000 charter supporters in Albany yesterday.

But can NYC public school teachers just take the day off to protest in Albany? Can busloads of NYC public school students be bussed to Albany? Doubtful.

But what about this number? Mayor De Blasio ran on the fact that he would charge rent and put a moratorium in new charters. He just didn't squeak by in the election, it was a landslide, a MANDATE. So why the shock when De Blasio is doing what he promised and the voters OK'd it?

As for Governor Andy. So he can just decide to use our taxes to benefit his new BFF? Is this OK with the taxpayers of Columbia County? Of White Plains? Of Monsey? Corning? Elmira?

He claims that there are 200 failing schools throughout the state. He has been Governor for  over 3 years. Why then are they still failing if he claims to be the "lobbyist for children"? Haven't we had enough of his incompetent meddling in education?

But we know who Governor Andy serves. Whitney Tilson knows the truth;

 "...a HUGE shout-out to Gov. Cuomo, a great friend of Democrats for Education Reform." 

Yep, that just sums up Governor Andy, Eva, Whitney, and all the deformers.

This past Thursday as I was hanging out in my favorite post-work coffee house I began a conversation with another human being about the state of education in this country. Even though this person is somewhat new to teaching, this person was not drinking the Kool-Aid of the deformer and
was very bright and quite perceptive.

As we talked, I learned that this person, who shall henceforth be known in this posting as Cher, was a former employee of the Success Academy charter schools which are led by the irascible Eva Moskowitz. We both smiled and told the barista to brew up another pot of Guatemala-Antigua Original Medium Roast and soon Cher was dishing dirt on Success.

Cher had been what is known as a "associate teacher" at Success at the salary of $50,000. As an associate teacher, Cher did all the grunt work for the head teacher or as she said of what an associate teacher is nothing more than a "bitch for the teacher."

The associate teacher makes all the photo copies, writes the lessons and homework on the boards, if a child is misbehaving, the associate teacher takes that student for a walk. In fact speaking of walking, Cher shared that not only are individual students singled out for not walking correctly in the hall but entire classes as well for the smallest of infractions.

Funny how students need to practice walking in the hall. As Cher mentioned, the first month of school is spent on discipline. How to walk in the halls, how to sit down, when to sit down. In fact she shared with me how the little children are forced to sit quietly for hours at a time.

One thing Cher shared, and I did not know this, but the teachers at Success do not have to write lesson plans. WOW! The lesson plans are already pre-packgaged and given to the head teachers at the beginning of the month and all that needs be done is to copy these plans to a planning sheet.

Cher told me how that the official work hours for staff are from 7 AM-5 PM. The problem is that faculty meetings are called to start at 4:45 PM and this inevitably leads to teachers staying at the school way past 5 PM and not getting paid. Worse for teachers is the Wednesday after school training held as the plush Success offices in Harlem.

I asked Cher about the naughty dirty rumor that Eva and Success counsel students out who do not pass muster. Being a person of high moral quality Cher was only able to discuss what she had seen personally and felt she was unable to speculate on the rest of the school. When I told The Crack Team of Cher's ethics they all gave her a thumbs up.

Cher told me how a student in her class was consistently misbehaving. The parents were called in time and time again. The behavior was not changing and at one point the powers that be at Cher's school finally said, "There is nothing more that we can do." The student, who was from Africa, was let go. Put on irrevocable waivers.

This seems to be part and parcel of what happens to special education students at Success. Cher told me that while Success does accept special education students, that IEP's are ignored and no modifications are given special ed students and that Success has the same expectations of special ed students as they do for general ed students.

While we applaud at putting the bar high for special ed students and we can't think of one teacher that doesn't, the bar should always be set at levels for special ed students that are attainable and which correlate to their IEP's. Never should expectations be set so unreasonably high solely to make a crazy headmistress of a charter school chain look good, oh, and to make some money.

Students have their lunch recess planned out for them with activities. No being a child and just spazzing out in the yard.

Students in 2nd grade start getting prepped for the exams in 3rd grade.

Staff is told that there are to be no interactions with the co-located school at all.

One thing Cher told me that is somewhat puzzling. Many of the teachers in her Success Academy are current TFA'ers. I was always under the impression that TFA can't place teachers in charter schools. But oh well, most of the rest of the staff are former TFA'ers. Go figure.

Ever wonder how some of the money is spent at Success? Check out the Happy Hours that Success splurges on for it's staff. No 6 foot heroes, only the best bars with top shelf booze and quality food. The Crack Team wonders if Eva gets snockered at these.

That's pretty much what Cher shared with me. Hopefully Cher will share (pardon the pun!) more.

It is interesting to hear this stuff about Success first hand. The more and more that I hear about the evils of Success and Eva the more I come to realize that Eva is in it for herself, that she believes that only white people know what is best for the boys and girls of color, and that her time is coming to a end soon.

What a day yesterday was! The new phone books arrived, I, with other education bloggers, got to engage in a video conference with Diane Ravitch, and I found out that not only had Whitney Tilson finally make some sense, but he confirmed that he is in education for the moolah and lying hypocrite as well.


So Whitney, in a obvious display making up for some Freudian shortcoming shows just how smart
and investor he thinks he is. Remember, this is the guy who shorted Netflix.

I know the company and the space well (K12’s primary business is running online charter schools in 33 states and DC), and it’s a VERY high conviction short (meaning the funds I manage will profit if the stock price declines). I think that the company has run amok in many, many ways, inappropriately targeting the most at-risk students, with dismal academic results, off-the-charts student turnover, coming under increasing scrutiny. K12 reminds me of the subprime mortgage lenders and for-profit colleges when they were flying high – and the ending will be similar I believe.

Funny how this email was sent by Whitney at 9:32 PM, many hours after the official release of Diane's book. My bet is, and I doubt I am incorrect or Whitney can be that smart, is that Whitney read what Diane wrote in "Reign of Error" about K12 and decided to short K12 based on Diane's unveiling of their incompetency. We here salute Diane and her stock portfolio acumen.

Whitney goes on in a blabbering manner; K12's aggressive student recruitment has led to dismal academic results by students and sky-high dropout rates, in some cases more than 50% annually;

I wouldn't be short K12 if it were carefully targeting students who were likely to benefit from its schools – typically those who have a high degree of self-motivation and strong parental commitment

But K12 is instead doing the opposite; numerous former employees say that K12 accepts any student and actually targets at-risk students, who are least likely to succeed at an online school

But K12 is instead doing the opposite; numerous former employees say that K12 accepts any student and actually targets at-risk students, who are least likely to succeed at an online school

One former employee said: "K12's recruitment of inner-city and at-risk "last resort" students had another benefit – these students used up less of K12's educational and teaching resources while permitting K12 to collect full funding from the states."

Hmm, this sounds so familiar. This might not have been Diane's exact words about K12, but what Whitney has written is pretty much the gist from "Reign of Error." Plagiarism, Whitney? Copyright infringement? For shame

The Crack Team has commanded me to suggest Diane put a call into my brother in law who is a crack Copyright and Trade Dress attorney. He is a fine attorney, but he is suspended from the bar and hiding out in Thailand due to back child support and  teaching English. 

In fact The Crack Team believes that Diane has action for a lawsuit against Whitney for publishing an excerpt of  "Reign of Error" with out hers or Salon's permission. That excerpt does not fall under Fair Use.

More spewing from Big Head; There have been so many regulatory issues and accusations of malfeasance that I'm convinced the problems are endemic. Enrollment violations, uncertified teachers, conflicted relationships with nonprofit charter holders.

Gosh, diddly darn Whitless, you have just about described 90% of charters including your favorite run by the Sith Lord, Eva.

I have been looking for years and have not found a single K12 school that is free of scandal and posting even decent (much less good) academic results.

Guess who been saying that for years Whitless? Guess. That echo Whitney hears in his head are all the education bloggers and real teachers throughout the country.

 States (and the IRS) are waking up to what K12 is doing and the company is coming under increased scrutiny, which is beginning to impair K12's growth – and I believe this trend will accelerate

Oh please send the IRS into Success, Bronx Classical Charter, KIPP, Whitney Tilson's hedge fund, his palatial 5th Ave home. It is time to see the truth. Time the IRS goes after the charters instead of Mike Tyson or Jerry Koosman.

Face it Whitney, the jigg is up. It's time to find another toy in your Hamptons sandbox to play with. You have been exposed.

Whitney just exposed himself in that he is all about the money, has no loyalty, and really does not want those with learning issues anywhere near KIPP, Success, him, or anywhere lest he gets a case of hedge fund managers remorse.

For those who are not aware, Whitney has written some pretty mean and misogynistic stuff about Diane. He even created a website for the sole purpose of attacking her. Last night, I wanted to tease Diane that Whitney is her nemesis, her super villain. Then I thought better. Whitney does not have the brains or the class to be in the same league as Lex Luthor, or Bane, or Scarecrow, or Dr Octopus. He's just a street level stick up man, if that. Yeah, or a thug.

 Eva Sie haben es wieder getan. Sie haben Ihr wahres Gesicht und die wahre Methode, die Success Academy erfolgreich ist in deinem Geist gezeigt. Wie? Oh bitte Eva, die Wahrheit heraus bereits. Ja, Sie loszuwerden, die lästigen Heilpädagogik Studenten zusammen mit den Schülern mit Verhaltensauffälligkeiten. Gib es zu, das ist, wie diese Testergebnisse durch die Decke gehen, nicht
wahr?

Oops, excuse me. I lost my head for a moment. I was writing personally to Eva in her native German, then I remembered not all readers of SBSB speak German. So The Crack Team decided to add the translation;

Eva you have done it again. You have shown your true colors and the real method that Success Academy is successful in your mind. How? Oh please Eva, the truth is out already. Yes, you get rid of those pesky special education students along with the students with behavior problems. Admit it, that is how those test scores go through the roof, right?

After reading Juan Gonzalez' column today in the Daily News on the suspension rates at Success Academies and reading such instances such as;

has for years used a “zero tolerance” disciplinary policy to suspend, push out, discharge or demote the very pupils who might lower those scores — children with special needs or behavior problems.

the fast-growing network has failed at times to adhere to federal and state laws in disciplining special-education students.

I met someone online a week or so ago. My Jewish parents would have been proud. He is a very wealthy man that fights for the rights of little boys and girls of color. Who is this man? He is Gideon Stein, board member of Success Charter Whatevers (click to see Gideon listed under "Our Leaders") and el presidente de Future Is Now Schools. Thanks to his largesse the poverty stricken have a friend.

I met, or rather a started a tweet relationship with Gideon through mutual friend The Frustrated Teacher. Both TFT and myself have fun with Gideon as he continuously, yet thoughtfully, gets caught in both our direct and quite pointed questions put to him. But, and this happens quite a bit, when pressed, when truly made to stick up for what he claims, Gideon seems to do what King Arthur's men did in Monty Python's The Holy Grail.

Now what endears me most about Gideon is how he, from the UWS gilded ivory tower in which he lords down upon those to 125th St, has all the answers. Or does he?

This past Friday, Gideon guested on TFT's radio show. I listened with bemusement as Gideon went through the great teachers, poverty is no excuse, blah, blah, blah, and thought of something. Yes, all children can learn, but can all children excel? And this is what I asked Gideon the following day through a little differently worded.

Gideon replied;

assuming a basic level of cognitive ability, then yes, virtually all students can perform at high levels.

Now of course not only myself, but 99.99% of teachers truly want what is best for their students. All 99.99% do what they can, want to, and wish to have each of their students reach their full potential. But, can all students excel? It is just statistically impossible and a quite broad statement. But again, excel has not been defined. What is a high level? I was just as smart, if not smarter than those I graduated high school with that got the 1500 on their SAT's, went to the Ivy League schools, etc... I didn't "excel."However, I believe that what Gideon means is that all will do well on standardized tests if students are continuously taught to the test which will keep that Title I money flowing into the coffers.

Yet I continued in the garbleness. I asked Gideon;

So all pitchers can pitch like Koufax, singers can all be Pavorotti, all drummers can drum like Neil Peart?

Gideon's answer was awesome,

 @SoBronxSchool @tfteacher you're being silly. all kids should be able to perform at high levels, go on to college or good career.

I fail to see the silliness. Using Gideon's logic, a child should be able to attain these goals. In fact all three of the above mentioned did not graduate college. But I digress.

My 10 1/2 year old son plays travel baseball. He trains year round. Should he be able to perform at high level of baseball and go on to play at the very least minor league baseball or get a scholarship to a Division 1 college? If this does not happen, do I blame the coaches and/or training he has had throughout the years, myself, he DNA?

Gideon went on to explain  that all will not get into Harvard (still missing my point) but rather will be able to get into college (just like all those remedial students thanks to Uncle Mike) and have a career. Now one must wonder does he mean career like when I was in my 20's and my short, Jewish great aunt would chide me time and time again to go to trade school so I can learn a good trade? Or does perhaps Gideon mean a career in which one's collar is blue and which his type of done everything to be rid of good blue collar jobs in this country.

I had one last question for Gideon. I was not college ready at 18 when I graduated high school. Why, I asked Gideon who seemed to have all the answers wasn't I college ready? Gideon, much to my surprise did not have the answer. He couldn't even surmise or speculate. Even Raegen Miller, a guest I had on my show with Leonie Haimson back in May at least speculated that if I had a teacher who had graduated from the top of their class I would have done better in high school.

What does college ready mean? What does it mean to excel? I was far from college ready when I graduated high school. I got an 800 on my PSAT's taken in my junior year. I know for a fact that nothing that my school would have done would have made me a better student in high school, nor prepped me to go to college.

I graduated in from high school in 1982, between that year and 1991 I played musical colleges, as well as musical majors. Once school I went to was where my girlfriend at the time went. I got serious in 1991 at the age of 27. I graduated from a run of the mill SUNY school in which I felt comfortable at. Is someone who had graduated Harvard smarter than me, or more capable? I barely cracked a book the last two years before I graduated and got nothing but A's and B+'s. Is that how one can be college ready?

Maybe it was my mother when I was 4 years old and taken to the speech therapist who told my mother that I would never be able to read at grade level. God damn, she did not like nor accept that answer. She, made me read and read and read.

This is why I am what I am with this blog and my many opinions. I identify with our students that we all see everyday. The students who each and every day in school is a struggle. I see how the system is day in and day out screwing them royally. Guess what? I don't think, I KNOW what needs to be done to help these kids. I KNOW what they don't want. I have lived it all to well.

I know what it was like to know the subject matter like the back of my hand but when confronted with a test froze, became terrified, acted out, projected, etc... We, not we but rather THEY, the deformers, those that live above it and have not experienced education are the ones that are hurting these children each and every day that they are allowed to bogart there way, their thoughts, their so called "birthrights" into our students.

They must and need to be stopped before any further damage is done.

Gideon, please tell me, why wasn't I ready for college?

Oh poor little Eva Moskowitz. I feel so sorry for her. I am sure right now she is pouting, whining, wondering why no one, except her emasculated husband Eric Grannis loves or cares for her.

Anna Phillips, since she is now in the employ of the New York Times and actually doing reporting and not aggregating, reported this past Wednesday, October 19, that Harlem Success Academy 3 has lost more than a third of its staff to resignation in the last several months. In fact, the attrition rates as reported by Anna at HSA 1 and 2 is about 19 percent since this past June.

Poor Eva, with those pouty lips, the forlorn expression on her face fired off an email informing all her minions that working and basking in her glory "is not a gig." That staff members are breaking their commitment to their schools, the families, and acting unethically.

Funny, I can swear, I can bet my life, that her former boy toy Joel Klein and her sugar daddy, Uncle Mike have done everything in their power to discourage not only one seeking out education as a career, but to do damage to those who have already decided and been in education long enough to have a career in education.

Heck, what was it that one of the disciples, the Queen of Mean of the education deform movement, Michelle Rhee said back in March about those who wish to make education a long and fruitful career?

"I worry about people going into the job with longevity as one of the goals. I’m not a big believer in longevity."

Is Eva contradicting Michelle? If so, the deformer thought police should discipline Eva post haste. I mean geez Eva, what do you think Teach For America is? It's a gig, a gig to enrich liberal white guilt and to enrich those resumes for law school. 

But this is what education has become. I like to call it the McDonaldlization of education. Not only do McDonald's and education share the one size fits all mentality but in education, like McDonald's, as an employee you are not expected to be in it for the long haul.

I can go into my local McDonald's and see 90% new faces, other than the managers, about every six months. The same is happening now, and expected, in charters. Maybe not every six months, but at least every September. McDonald's and Eva both see employees as interchangeable. There is no difference.

Why? Because this keeps salaries and benefits down. Also, by staying on too long in a "gig" such as HSA one would soon develop sentient life and see that they are being railroaded by Eva. Would Eva truly want someone on board that is able to think for themselves, a teacher that sees Eva for the evil that she is?

What has cracked me up the most about Eva's whiny email is her specious attempt to drag in the lack of ethics on the part of the teachers that resigned. Is this not the same Eva that had her love emails exposed to boy toy Joel Klein in the Daily News? Is this not the same Eva that manipulates the lotteries for her schools? Is this not the same Eva that did what she could to destroy a 5 year old boy's love for school? Is this not the same Eva that believes that only a rich, white, Jewish woman knows what is best for boy and girls of color?

I laugh at Eva Moskowitz and her cry of ethics. Everything I have read, everything I have heard of Eva Moskowitz smacks, in my opinion, of a truly unethical woman who is in education solely to enrich herself, both for financial gain and to ultimately to known as the benign plantation owner.

One curious point. Since Eva and HSA receive federal and state money, isn't HSA supposed to adhere to all federal and state labor law, such as giving its employees due process? We should all think about it.

Not to beat a dead horse, but I think the more we shine a light on Eva Moskowitz and her dubious practices, the more she will scurry towards the baseboards and hopefully her, and her movement will just wither and go away. But Eva must not be the only one accountable. So should her sycophants and enablers, and by this I mean the board members of all her schools, and in particular, Harlem Success Academy 3.

As you all recall the New York Times reported on the plight of Karen Sprowal and her son Matthew at the hands of HSA 3 in September of 2008. My two cents were added here and here, as well as Ms Sprowal's fascinating retelling of the horror that Matthew endured on my radio show. But, should we just me content to hold Eva responisble? I say no.

The board members of HSA are just as responsible for the corporal punishment that Matthew Sprowal endured. According to Chancellor's Regulation A-420;

Corporal punishment is prohibited. Disruptive behavior by a student must never be punished by use of physical force. Such behavior usually reflects underlying problems that require guidance intervention. School personnel should take steps to identify the problem(s) and, working closely with parents, help the student receive maximum benefit from the educational program offered at the school.

Surely, as a charter school, HSA3, and all of the Success Academy school adhere to Chancellor's Regulations. What is troubling is that according to the New York Times story and Mrs Sprowal none of the above mentioned steps were taken.

Regulation A-420 defines corporal punishment as;

Regulations of the Commissioner §100.2(I)(3)(i) defines corporal punishment as any act of physical force upon a pupil for the purpose of punishing that pupil.

Matthew was punished with physical force. Walking the halls for thirty minutes because he acted out is physical, he is being made to walk.

So we here at SBSB got to thinking. Wouldn't the board members of HSA 3 be aghast at what transpired to little Matthew? We thought naturally so.

So we contacted hedgefund manager Daniel Nir, he who summers in East Hampton and is CEO of Gracie Capital, and who probably has never met or dealt with a minority in his life, too put it to him directly. Will he condemn the corporal punishment inflicted upon Matthew Sprowal?

Mr Nir refused unequivocally to condemn corporal punishment inflicted on a 5 year old. Too make sure, he was asked again and still refused to condemn such behavior brought on by adults on a 5 year old boy. When asked if he would condemn corporal punishment on his own children, he hung up the phone.

One can only conclude that Mr Nir has no problem in what transpired with Matthew Sprowal. Why else would he not condemn it? Surely, as a super duper rich man, Eva needs him more than he needs Eva.

The question of whether or not corporal punishment upon Matthew would be condemned was also put to the chair of HSA 3, Joel Greenblatt CEO of Gotham Asset Management and adjunct professor at the Coulmbia University Graduate School of Business. Mr Greenblatt failed to condemn what happened to Matthew. Again, the same conclusion must be surmised.

Ben Appen CEO of Magnitude Capital was contacted as well as Bryan Binder, portfolio manager at troubled SAC Capital, which for some reason is headquarted in Anguilla. Both refused to condemn the treatment inflicted upon Matthew.

So of the 10 board members of HSA 3, four members, or 40% of the HSA 3 board refuse to condemn corporal punishment. Sad. I guess when one is living a gilded life they see only what they wish to see and admit to what Eva will allow them to.

It seems that we have made a mistake here at SBSB. At afternoon tea, the crack team realized that it had more information regarding Eva Moskowitz's recruitment party from last Thursday night, March 24. To our loyal readers, hang our heads in shame and apologize. We do hope that forgiveness will be forthcoming.

Eva's headquarters looks like a business office. There are many cubicles with HR assistants working the office. They send the recruits into this small conference room to watch a promo video. Their promo video involved a lot of garbage about HSA, some things that caught attention: success is because children read 2 hours a day, 26 books a month, and their program is 'rigorous' (whatever that means),they are also deeply in the arts.

Now we here at SBSB are all for students reading. We believe that there is nothing better than a good book, and that reading unlocks so many doors. However, is it reading for reading's sake? Are these appropriate books? Are these books leveled? Are the two hours reading in addition to homework? If so, what is the average amount of time of the homework the students are assigned? At 26 books a month, this appears to be a book a day. How are students expected to be kids if they have this much work per day?

Also in the promo, it said that every 7 students apply for 1 seat in her school. The goal is eventually making it to 40.

Why they need for "overbooking?" Is this to create buzz? For the schools? For Eva? How does Eva intend to go about this? In fact, how much money will be spent to create 40:1 ratio of applications? Here are the two big questions that need to be answered. Is it ethical? Is it legal?

After the promo video, came the mingling with the other prospective employees and HR assistants. An HR assistant, was asked if HSA was considering constructing their own schools since they co-locate. Her response, "They are not interested in constructing their own building because it takes 5 or 6 years and we still will no longer be there. It takes too long and more energy to construct a building and they know that the public schools are not holding at full capacity anyway. So this is why we co-locate.

Is it me or does something not seem right about this?

The HR person was also asked about specific curriculum choices in HSA and she could not give me a clear and descriptive response. She just mumbled off jargon from the promo video I just watched. After I speaking with the HR rep, our source met with 2 new principals from Bronx SA1 and Bronx SA2 who are very young.

Young? How young? Michele Caracappa at BSA1 is about 30 years old. Oh, and of course a TFA grad. And Vanessa Bangser, another TFA grad is about 30 as well. What was perplexing to our mole at the recruiting party is why the leaders of the SA schools in the Bronx are not representative of the community in which they serve.

Since the two new SA schools in the Bronx are K-1, and are planning already to expand, the principal of BSA 1, Michele Caracappa was asked, about the curricular for young children and inquired if children get a chance to move around learn through movement. Caracappa replied, "Its very difficult to follow this kind authentic curriculum with the current standards for education."

What are you talking about Willis? Children 4,5,6 years old do not get a chance to learn through play? To learn to activity? Is it getting them ready for a test that they will take in 4 years?

It was mentioned to Caracappa that even though the current standards are a challenge, there are many fun and active ways to get children to learn their sight words or learn how to read through movement. Caracappa referred to the block program in which the children play with blocks for 50 minutes and are guided by a block consultant.

A block consultant? Knowing Eva, she hired this block consultant directly from Fisher-Price in return for buying all the blocks from FP. So one of the most imaginiate, creative, and independent things a child can do in school is "guided," or is it controlled, by a block consultant? This is just, well, obscene.

HSA, BSA, are not schools. They are some type of weird money making, thought control, adult controlled, bizzaro, alternate universe nightmare. How anyone would want to work there, send their children to school there is beyond the pale. Every time I read about Eva and her philosophy of education and how she treats children I can't help but think of Joan Crawford and Mommie Dearest.

Eva needs to be exposed for what she is. This is just a start.