Ex-charter school principal gets probation for theft

[mzteris]

She should get JAIL TIME!

But here's the real crime - "Hawkins, who was found guilty of embezzlement, never took responsibility for her crime, which ultimately led to the school losing its charter and closing, Krull said."


Charter school personnel are no more - nor no less - tempted to steal from their employers. Shall I list the dozens of traditional public school scandals?

I can, you know. Maybe I should list them one by one by one by one ...... would that get some recognition that this is a strawman argument?


Would they mean JACK SH*T when it comes to whether of not a school should be open or a school district closed? Should the children SUFFER because of the idiocy of some individual??

[Angry Dragon]

1. Perhaps that is what you should do

Make two lists one for charter schools and one for public schools
to show people that the abuse is greater for charter schools.

[mzteris]

2. but it ISN"T GREATER for charter schools....

that's my point!

The incident rate is much much less. Though in all fairness, there are only about 5000 charter schools in the US right now. I would venture to say, though, that the percentage is higher for traditional schools - and here's why. They have more personnel to screw up and they've been around for a whole lot longer - systems entrenched and outmoded/outdated. Charters are under pretty heavy scrutiny.

[Angry Dragon]

4. That surprises me

I am biased towards charter schools. I think there is more potential for abuse within charter schools.

[mzteris]

3. here's a short list I compiled a while back.

Criminal charges for guidance counselor who altered transcripts
July 2, 1:00 AMNorth Jersey Crime Examiner

A Fort Lee High School guidance counselor is charged with tampering with transcripts to help students get into selective colleges. . . Meller already had been suspended, along with Principal Jay Berman, after the alterations were discovered.


****

TOP STORY 2009: A Culture of Corruption
By Dave Janoski Projects Editor)
Published: December 27, 2009
s 2009 unfolded, the kids-for-cash scandal dominated the front pages and Luzerne County's "culture of corruption" was laid bare as a parade of county government and public school officials was marched into federal court on bribery and other charges



The ongoing federal pay-to-play investigation has led to charges against three public school officials:

* Wilkes-Barre School Board member Brian Dunn, 45, was charged in April with accepting or soliciting tens of thousands of dollars in return for his influence over hiring and contract decisions. Dunn's preliminary hearing, postponed three times due to scheduling conflicts involving his attorney, is now set for Sept. 17. Dunn, who is free on bail, remains a member of the school board, but has not attended meetings since his arrest.
* Former Wilkes-Barre Area School Board President James P. Height, 52, resigned from the board and pleaded guilty in May to accepting $2,000 from an unnamed school district contractor. Height, who is free on bail, faces a likely sentence of 18 to 24 months under the terms of his plea agreement. His sentencing has yet to be scheduled.
* Former Pittston Area Superintendent Ross Scarantino, 63, pleaded guilty in May to accepting $5,000 in exchange for his influence in awarding school district contracts. Scarantino, who is free on bail, would likely face 18 to 24 months in prison under federal sentencing guidelines, but the sentence could be reduced depending on his cooperation with prosecutors. His sentencing has yet to be scheduled.

Pittston Area School Board member Joseph J. Oliveri, who has agreed to plead guilty to accepting a $1,500 bribe from a school district contractor, will have a plea hearing on Aug. 25 in U.S. District Court in Scranton.

Oliveri, who submitted his resignation from the school board over the weekend, faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, but will likely serve between one and two years under the terms of his plea agreement.

Oliveri, 51, of Hughestown, is the fourth public school official charged in a federal pay-to-play investigation. He has also submitted his resignation to Luzerne County, which employed him as a sheriff's deputy for about 15 years.

Five public education institutions have been the focus of the federal pay-to-play investigation. A federal grand jury has subpoenaed records from the Pittston Area, Wilkes-Barre Area and Wyoming Valley West school districts as well as Luzerne County Community College. FBI agents also sought records from the Wilkes-Barre Area Career and Technical Center. The other school officials charged in the case are from Wilkes-Barre Area.

*******

Who Keeps Tabs On Oklahoma Public School Spending?
Posted: Mar 05, 2010 1:02 PM CST
TULSA, OK -- As a spending scandal rocks a Green Country school district, some parents are asking what they could have done to prevent it. So, who should be keeping tabs on your school's finances? With the suspension of the Skiatook school superintendent, the community remains up in arms over the waste of taxpayer dollars.

Slammed with a school spending scandal, some Skiatook citizens want to take action. Some are asking what should have been done to prevent half a million dollars worth of waste.

**********

No resolution on violence at South Philly
by Helen Gym on Feb 24 2010

It’s hard to look at the findings of the District’s independent investigation into the December 3 violence at South Philadelphia High School without significant shock and outrage. After all, this was an incident in which more than two dozen Asian immigrant students were assaulted throughout the day in multiple attacks, which sent 13 youth to the hospital at a school with a history of violence overall and against Asian immigrant students in particular.


A Frightening Analysis

The report confirms in detail widespread violence on Dec. 3, violence that began first thing in the morning and was well known to school administration.

at no point does the report question the actions of school officials. Officials escorted students to the lunchroom, ignoring the students' expressed fears of going there and where they were subsequently attacked. The officials escorted them outside where large crowds had gathered, again ignoring students' expressed fears of leaving the school -- and despite the fact that school officials “had the sense that the crowds on Broad Street were not only larger than normal, but were not dispersing quickly."

It doesn’t question why the principal would send home a letter to families the next day making no mention of the repeated in-school assaults and instead characterizing the violence as simply: “As you may have heard in the news, an incident occurred at dismissal, outside of South Philadelphia High School on Thursday, December 3, 2009.”

Nor does it ask why District officials continued to mischaracterize the events of the day in public statements; Regional Superintendent Michael Silverman referred to the December 3rd violence as a “blip” and School Safety Chief James Golden said there was only a “minor incident” with no injuries.

。。。 Instead, the report essentially absolves the District and school leadership of any responsibility. In fact, the report seems to imply that if we were to revisit that day on Dec. 3, the administration of SPHS could have made the exact same choices.

When pressed on why his findings didn’t address school responsibility, Judge James Giles said he didn’t believe in “Monday-morning quarter-backing.” Let's be clear: This was an incident which garnered national and international expressions of concern, where more than a dozen students were sent to the emergency room, and which sparked a boycott by more than 50 Asian students who feared for their safety after more than a year of relentless harassment.

//////In riveting testimony earlier this week at the School Reform Commission, the grandmother of one of the Asian student victims wept as she described the calculated efforts of school personnel who had scapegoated and unjustly forced out her grandson following a brutal assault upon him Dec. 2.

/////Adult staff also engaged in racial namecalling, the complaint said. Principal Brown herself, who started at the school in September, "has displayed discriminatory attitudes towards Asian students," the complaint said, because she called the ESOL program "that dynasty." After the attacks, she referred to the boycott and persistent efforts to address the incident as "the Asian agenda." Brown also said that attacks on Asian students on their way home were not the school's responsibility, despite District policy.

***************
Dec 9, 2009

Alini Brito And Cindy Mauro, Teachers, Caught Naked In Brooklyn's James Madison High School Classroom (VI
In the second sex scandal in as many days, Allison Mussachio, a third teacher at James Madison High School, is reportedly under investigation for having an affair with a student.
*****

Two Brooklyn Romance language teachers were allegedly caught practicing another type of romance in a school classroom.

***********

April 15, 2010

check out the new Frederick County Public Schools administration building. Even under construction, the school board's new crib has both gravitas and flair. The design is well-balanced -- blending sleek, modern lines with the red-brick history of downtown Frederick . . . Unfortunately, the financial aspects of the new central office, . . I suppose I could get over the amount of the annual lease payment: $1.2 million. But I can't seem to get past the fact that the payment will be drawn from the board's so-called reserve fund, a tidy little nest egg ($2 million) of unspent operating cash.

Unspent. I'm not sure how that happened -- or why that money was then "pocketed" by the Board of Education for the new building. In times like these, when so many vital programs and services -- and jobs -- are about to be cut throughout the school system, it seems like a scandal to hold $2 million in reserve. . . .

slashing, by more than half, the well-respected and highly successful CASS program (Community Agency School Services), which serves about 1,000 school kids each year who struggle with issues such as homelessness, hunger, and physical and mental health problems.

***********

Jul 22, 2009 6:22 pm US/Central
CPS Launches Probe Into Enrollment Practices: Targeted Schools Not Specified

Analysis of selective schools data shows poorer students have tougher time gaining admission Posted By Sarah Karp On Wednesday, March 3, 2010
The concern was that high-performing, well-off students would gain a disproportionate share of seats based on composite scores, and then get more seats through the tier process. Meanwhile, lower-performing, poorer students would only really be competitive for the 15 percent of seats reserved for their tier.

CPS officials declined to release detailed racial or socio-economic data on students who got offer letters from the nine selective enrollment high schools.




******
Oct 14, 2009

For the most part, Iowans through the years have been spared the assorted public scandals (mostly involving sex and money) they frequently read about in other states. Iowa is not entirely scandal-free, mind you, but the people of this state largely have been justified in thinking of scandals as happening somewhere else.

However, as details of what appears to be a new scandal emerge in Iowa for the third time in the last couple of years, we fear the state's reputation for honesty and character may be fraying a little at the edges.

Following closely on the heels of the Central Iowa Employment and Training Consortium pay scandal and the continuing flap over the state's film tax credit program are disturbing stories reported in recent days about the Iowa Association of School Boards. Allegations have been made and questions raised about the IASB's spending practices, the salaries of some of its employees and possible conflicts of interest.

Why, you might ask, should this concern me? Because it involves your money and impacts your state's public schools.

********

Maryland Criminal Charges - Grade-Changing Scandal at Churchill High Sparks Criminal Investigation March 6, 2010


**********

District Moves To Fire Middleton Teacher Over Graphic E-Mails
Teacher Placed On Unpaid Leave Updated: 5:23 pm PDT April 8, 2010
MIDDLETON, Wis. -- The Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District is moving to fire a teacher over accessing inappropriate content on district computers.
The Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District conducted an investigation on explicit e-mails on the district's computer servers, which led to a middle school teacher being put on unpaid leave


**********

Feb 2009

New criminal charges filed against the former Dothan High School principal allege he provided alcohol and cigarettes to a minor.

Dothan police investigators arrested Andrew Dwight Sewell, 41, and charged him with three misdemeanor counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

********

Pace High School Principal
Students, teachers and local pastors are protesting over a court case involving a northern Florida school principal and an athletic director who are facing criminal charges and up to six months in jail over their offer of a mealtime prayer.

**********


A former employee of Randolph Career and Technical Center making major accusations against two prominent employees, the school's principal and bookkeeper. The principal is said to have used thousands of dollars of school money to make home improvements. The bookkeeper is accused of using tens of thousands of dollars to help pay off a mortgage.

The principal and bookkeeper are both suspended without pay.

The bookkeeper, Eugenia Holimon, is accused of using more than $29,000 to help pay her mortgage. Her son is said to have made more than $6,000 in unauthorized purchases at Sam's Club, all on the school's account.

The school's principal, Gwendolyn Miller, is accused of running a tab of more than $640 at the school's boutique shop.

[Angry Dragon]

5. Thank you

[Hannah Bell]

6. here's an entire website devoted to: charter school scandals

http://charterschoolscandals.blogspot.com/


when the biggest charter school network in the nation (over 100 schools in multiple states) = run by turkish nationals, disciples of a turkish religious leader with intelligence connections, with majority turkish administration & teaching staff getting taxpayer funds & spending as much on visa fees as textbooks, you know you've got a problem.

[Angry Dragon]

7. Thank you too

[Tansy_Gold]

8. It should also be noted that a charter school scandal

often results in the closure of the school or group of schools. This is what happened with C. Steven Cox and his string of charter schools in California and, eventually, Arizona. http://arizona.typepad.com/blog/2008/12/weak-charter-school-laws-lax-enforcement-endangered-students-at-morningstar-academy.html

Traditional public schools also have their scandals, but rarely do they end up causing the closure of the school or the bankrupting of an entire district. There is much greater oversight of financial matters; charters often tend to have financial responsibility concentrated in fewer individuals.

It should additionally be noted that there are situations in which traditional public school systems -- whether individual schools or whole districts -- can be accused of fiscal mismanagement or just lack of good judgment. There was at one time in the 1990s (and may still be) a district here in Arizona that consisted of a single K-8 school. The principal and superintendent positions were filled by the same individual who received both salaries, totalling well into six figures. This was a small rural school with about 250 students. Was his salary justified? Probably not. Did he "earn" it? Probably not. Similar assessment could be made of Mr. Bobb in the Detroit system, but these are not on the scale of embezzlement or fraud.



Tansy Gold

[mzteris]

9. which is one of the things you guys like, right?

Closing charter schools?

There actually is NOT "much greater oversight", there is less (overall) - though granted some states still need to rewrite their charter laws to improve how their written!

The degree of scrutiny is not only greater, you have less "entrenched" abusers of the system. You don't have antiquated systems of accounting that are easily manipulated. You don't have myriad LAYERS of "management" so it's much easier to HIDE improprieties in the larger school systems.


My point is that let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Just because there are corrupt people in the world, does NOT mean the entire system is FLAWED.

[Tansy_Gold]

10. "you guys"??

I'm not sure what that's supposed to mean. I don't personally know any of the other posters on this thread. I am, as far as I know, entitled to my opinion, even if it includes closing all charter schools first thing Monday morning (which it does not), and I am entitled to express that opinion here on DU.

You happen to like and defend charter schools. Fine. When have I ever criticized you personally for that point of view? You have a right to your opinion and a right to express it here on DU and even a right to try to convince people charter schools are a better way to educate children.

The fact remains that very often the "scandals" that get reported about charter schools tend to involve embezzlement or financial mismanagement that results in the closure of the schools, often the abrupt closure that leaves students suddenly out of a classroom, and often thrown back onto the traditional public school system that was deprived of (some of) its funding by the charter. I would not ever wish that experience on any child.

I can honestly say I don't know of any traditional public school that has been closed because the principal or superintendent absconded with the funds.



Tansy Gold

[mzteris]

11. you seemed to be pretty firmly entrenched in the

"we hate charters" camp - so, yeah, "you guys". If you're not a charter hater, my apologies.

I guess I'd rather an admin embezzle funds than a teacher to abuse children - sexually and otherwise. Which is what you hear most often happening in traditional schools. But it's a matter of numbers.

There are thousands more trad schools and hundreds of thousands more trad teachers - OF COURSE there is going to be MORE ABUSE.

If there were a complete and reliable list (no not we hate charters.com) of all crimes and scandals in both systems (and hey - private while we're at it!) I'd love to do a statistical analysis. However, I have a sneaking suspicion that percentages won't be "that" far apart given human nature being what it is.

But I don't want to make this into a "teacher bash" NOR a "school bash" . . . yet I get so very tired of these INDIVIDUAL ACTS being used to tarnish an entire program!

The reason why the trads aren't closed are because people recognize that it was in individual(s) at fault, not the entire school. So should charters be closed because some ijit decided to steal from them?

The rules and regs of charters are getting better every day. It is still a relatively NEW institution and needs to have some of the kinks worked out.

For every "scandal" you hear about, how many wonder schools do you NOT hear about? For every "charter crime" committed (for which there are probably at least an equal number, if not more in a trad) - how many acts of beauty and amazement and success and kindness do you NOT hear?

[Tansy_Gold]

12. It's not a matter of "some ijit" deciding to steal from them

Usually the "ijit" who steals and/or mishandles the funds is the person or corporate personhood person who was granted the charter, as in the case of C. Steven Cox. As in the case of Edison Schools. As in the case of Imagine. These, among others, are "scandals" because the charter operators not only didn't deliver BETTER than the traditional public schools as they boasted they could and would do, but they did WORSE, and to rub salt in the wound, they bilked the public to the tune of millions of taxpayers' dollars. That individual or that corporation IS, in effect, the school. When they're ousted or arrested or file for bankruptcy, who's left in the charter to take over? No one. (If it's an individual administrator who embezzles, that's a different story. But what we're talking about here are "scandals" in which the schools' operators are at fault and the schools end up closed.)

In a traditional public school system -- whether it's a district or a single school -- there is a "public" board that oversees the operations. It doesn't make any difference if the board is elected or appointed: the point is that the board is answerable to the public. The public has the right and the capability of controlling the educational process. The school is required to meet all "public" requirements. All of this information is readily available to the "public." The "public" has oversight, and there's a clear chain of command. There are procedures for getting bids on school supplies and furniture and textbooks. There are negotiated contracts with teachers who are certified to teach, who meet publicly mandated qualifications. There is a great deal of transparency in the "public" education system that oftentimes is lacking in the individual charter operations, whether it's a single school or a corporate operation of hundreds of schools in many states.

For the most part, charters operate with a privacy screen between their operations and the public. This is especially true when non-profit charter corporations are affiliated with for-profit corporations who profit handsomely from the charter while at the same time short-changing the students.

Now, you can accuse me of being a proponent of the "nanny" state, but the fact is that I think in a complex culture such as ours, it is virtually impossible for each individual to verify each facet of her/his life. I believe we have to rely on institutions to do some of our fact-checking for us. And one of the things we have generally come to rely on is that our public school systems will set standards. Not only the standards that students have to reach in order to progress through the system, but also standards for teachers, for administrators, for playground equipment, for coaches, for lunch menus, for fire safety, and so on. As parents, we trust that the school we send our kids to will do its very best to take care of them while they are in its jurisdiction as well as educate them.

Furthermore, I believe as a society we owe each and every one of our children a quality education. I'm not saying we're doing this in all districts. I do not disagree that there are many schools and many districts where students do not come through their educational process successfully.

But I do not think that the charter school model has, at this point in its development, proven to be a good model. There are, I'm quite sure, some individual charters that have succeeded. But the model itself has not. The charter model is, essentially, a financial/business model, not an educational model, and when the "business" of schools should be education and not business, how can a business model even begin to work?

I would be willing to bet that in most of the "faiing" public school districts, there have not been studies to determine the actual reasons why students aren't learning at "grade level." I doubt it's because the teachers aren't qualified or because they belong to unions. I suspect the reasons are more likely poverty, poverty, and poverty. And in those cases where there have been studies, I'd be willing to bet that the charter operators have not come in with any suggestions for alleviating the root causes of poor student performance.

Does it help to get a limited number of motivated students with motivated parents, put those motivated students into a highly controlled educational environment and then educate the living hell out of 'em? Sure. But even that is an education model, not a business model, and it doesn't help the highly motivated kid who comes from an unmotivated family. And if it's an all-boys "academy," it doesn't help any of the sisters. Likewise if it's an all-girls school, then the boys are left out.

I am not saying all charter schools are abominations. I am not saying traditional public schools are without sin. But I am saying that I do not believe the charter school MODEL has been or can be an effective MODEL for improving the overall performance of the public education system.


Tansy Gold

[mzteris]

13. how many

charter schools have you been in?

How many charter school teachers have you talked to?

How many charter schools students do you know?

How many charter school parents have you spoken with about their experiences?


You may not "believe" that the charter school MODEL is an effective one, but I BELIEVE that YOU are wrong in your "belief".

[Tansy_Gold]

14. This is my last comment to you on the subject

and very likely my last comment to you on any subject.

1. I have been inside exactly one charter school. It didn't look a whole lot different from any other school. It's a building with classrooms and desks.

2. I have "talked to" approximately five charter school teachers, that I know of. Three of them I knew passing well, and one of those three I knew quite well. All taught at the same charter school. None of them were certified teachers by the Arizona state department of education. None of them was ELIGIBLE to be certified because none of them had earned a four-year degree; one in fact had only a high school diploma and no post-secondary education at all. None had any prior teaching experience or teacher training of any kind prior to being hired as classroom teachers by the charter school.

One I know only slightly; she had a teaching certificate from another state and had to fulfill additional education requirements before she could be certified in Arizona. Once she obtained her certificate, she applied for a job in a traditional public school and was hired. The charter school she taught at is now defunct; she said she found it to be a very unrewarding experience. I do not know why, and I'm not about to ask her.

The fifth was a recently-graduated and newly-certified elementary school teacher who took a position with a charter school thinking it would be an innovative experience. She found out it was not, and the school was bankrupt and closed before she finished her first year.

3. I don't know too many charter school students because there were no charter schools in the community where and when I raised my children. Two recent "graduates" of a local charter high school whom I do know are not exactly walking advertisements for the success of the program. It is a small school, enrolling 150-200 students in grades 9-12. Though the school is rated as achieving acceptable progress in improving test scores, the number of students passing the AIMS (standardized test) in 10th grade was less than the state average and declined from 2008 to 2009. The graduation rate is lower than the state's as well.

4. I know parents of only two (former) charter school students in terms of having talked to them about the experience. One couple was very pleased with their child's school until it abruptly closed due to "scandal." When they moved their child back into the traditional school, they found out she was more than a full grade level behind her peers after three years with "good grades" in the charter school. The other parent was a single father struggling to find a place for a son who had been with his custodial mother and stepfather until they didn't want him any more due to his behavior. After one full year in a charter high school, the boy's behavior (and eventually his drug use) worsened to the point that he was arrested repeatedly (including once on the school campus) and he is now incarcerated. The father does not blame the school for the boy's problems but does say they could have done a better job of being aware of how serious the drug use was since it was happening on the campus. It's quite possible that other friends of mine had children in charter schools but since most of us are grandparents now, we don't tend to talk about schools very much.



Now, you obviously have had a wonderful experience with charter schools and that's all well and good. I'm not denying that, and I'm not making you cite chapter and verse of how wonderful it was. But yours is not the only charter school experience, and if your glowing endorsement were the only voice heard on this forum, it would be no more accurate than, say, Fox News talking about Sarah Palin.

Your voice is in the minority, but it is still a valid perspective. It's just not one that I share nor am I likely ever to share it. You can challenge my belief all you want, but until you provide me with sufficient facts to show that the charter model is more successful than the traditional model, you're wasting your time. Your experience is anecdotal and it does not have the specific facts -- enrollment numbers, test scores, graduation rates, college acceptance rates (other than community colleges that accept all applicants), college graduation rates, and so on -- to establish the model as viable.

IF THE CHARTER MODEL HAD BEEN WILDLY SUCCESSFUL, it would have been more widely and readily adopted. It has not.

Again, I'm not interested in your personal endorsement. The model should be able to stand on its own measurable successes. I'm interested in evidence that supports evaluating the charter model as a successful one. It seems to me that there is a great deal more evidence of the failings of the charter model than of its successes.



Tansy Gold

[mzteris]

15. wow. One school. Five teachers. No kids...

yew shore dew nos alots 'bout dem dere charter schools!

:rofl:

My "experiences" may be "just one", but it certainly outweighs those who have absolutely NO FREAKIN FIRST HAND KNOWLEDGE of a system they want to destroy!

People FEAR WHAT THEY DON"T UNDERSTAND.

What I'm suggesting is that just maybe it is the lack of understanding - true understanding - of charter schools (general - not singular) - that is leading to a lot of the FEAR here.

I've posted statistics and facts til my fingers bleed. . .

Why do you think all those charter schools have WAITING LISTS?? Because they're so unsuccessful?

Why are parents around the country clamoring for charters in their districts? Why are entire school boards looking to "imitate" the charter model - with magnet schools or schools of choice - or even their own "charter schools"? I just recently read that there's a school board considering changing ALL their schools to a "independent design" model.


Here are a couple of sites - yeah they're charter sites, but where else will you find information? while they may be "biased" - they aren't untruthful. There are statistics and cold hard facts there.

http://www.publiccharters.org/aboutschools/benefits
http://www.publiccharters.org/dashboard/schools/year/2010

http://www.uscharterschools.org/pub/uscs_docs/index.htm

http://www.edreform.com/Issues/Charter_Connection/
http://www.edreform.com/accountability/



This is just NC - but it addresses the many "myths" surround charters: http://www.charterleague.org/Charter%20School%20Myth%20Busters.pdf


Here's an interesting stat for you: "When students enter UWM charter schools, they are performing seven percentage points below students enrolled in the Milwaukee Public Schools in reading and math. However, by the eighth grade, 77 percent of UWM charter students are performing at proficient or advanced levels in reading compared with 63 percent of conventional public schools. Math test scores also improve over time. On the eighth grade state test, 50 percent of the University’s charter students scored proficient or above compared to 41 percent of Milwaukee public school students.74 http://www.edreform.com/accountability/states/CER_2009_AR_Wisconsin.pdf


Some more bits of info:


# There is a direct correlation between strong laws and successful charter schools. Of those states with strong laws, 65 percent show positive achievement gains; of the weak states, only two demonstrate the same level of progress. CER's Accountability Report 2009: Charter Schools provides an indepth state-by-state review of charter school achievement and accountability.

Of those 40 laws (39 states & DC), only 13 have strong laws that do not require significant revisions. Get more information on states' charter law grade, ranking at analysis at www.charterschoolresearch.com


* Charter School Closures: Of the over 5,250 charter schools that have ever opened, 657 have closed since 1992.
- 41 percent of the nation's charter closures resulted from financial deficiencies caused by either low student enrollment or inequitable funding
- 27 percent were closed for mismanagement.
- 14 percent were closed for poor academic performance.



Charter schools across the United States are funded at 61 percent of their district counterparts. On average, charter schools are funded at $6,585 per pupil compared to $10,771 per pupil at conventional district public schools. (For some there is even a larger disparity.)

My son is now no longer a "charter school student". He graduated - the first class ever - from 5th grade. He will be entering a middle school program that the district is trying to design for us. Like you guys, the superintendent here isn't a "charter fan" - otherwise he seems nice. :) - they are, however, using our kids as their guinea pigs to develop a dual language middle school program for the district. I'm still pretty torqued that they didn't let us have the middle school charter - we had a much better program in development. :sigh: However, they have a lot riding on the success of the DLI program so they are trying to be accommodating as much as possible. Which is good 'cause I can be a VERY SQUEAKY WHEEL. (I bet yall didn't know that! ;) )

BTW - OUR SCHOOL MODEL is the one being used by the district to develop immersion programs around the district.

And just so's you know, my son personally attended two different charter schools in two states. I have friends who have children in several different charter schools in other states. I speak online to dozens of parents whose children are in charter school programs around the country.

[Hannah Bell]

16. information courtesy of groups funded by the usual suspects" walmart, gates, broad.

i really like living in a country where 3 zillionaires can fund phoney grassroots groups & determine public policy for 300 million.

multiple links but same three guys.