After digging deeper, the independent folks in Maine came to the right decision.
http://www.pressherald.com/2012/09/01/virtual-schools-in-maine_2012-09-02/
Monday, July 7, 2014
Secret to a good school? School boards?
Cui Bono (who profits)
A recent article indicates that a good school board make the difference in performance.
http://national.deseretnews.com/article/1350/The-secret-to-good-schools-might-surprise-you.html#kmFZI51zT3Df3rPj.03
"The report also found that when board members were professionalized, underwent professional training and in some cases even earned a salary, students performed better. "
It suggests that the timing of elections matter. "It matters, for example, when elections are held. Holding elections at the same time as state and national-level elections, the authors found, correlates to standardized student proficiency test scores 2.4 points higher than a comparable district that has off-cycle elections."
Compare this to the system now employed by Ohio charter schools. Who appoints the boards? The sponsor or the charter school. There are no elections! Simplifies your board selection and business model.
What is the main focus of the board? I would suggest that it is selected for self-preservation of the school management and the jobs and profits it generates for its management. It is an unpaid job. The charter schools can and do act like a personal, but funded by taxpayers, business.
SO how does this work in practice? A recent prime example of this in action. The Horizon and Noble academies were recently raided by the FBI. Who selected the board?
"A chain of 19 publicly funded Ohio charter schools, founded by Turkish immigrants, is taking the position that the United States lacks a qualified pool of math and science teachers and is importing perhaps hundreds of Turks to fill the void.
The schools are run almost exclusively by persons of Turkish heritage, some of whom are not U.S. citizens — a new twist in Ohio’s controversial charter-school movement.
In addition, the Horizon and Noble academies, run by Chicago-based Concept Schools, are related through membership, fundraisers and political giving to the nonprofit Niagara Foundation, which provides trips to Turkey for state, local and federal lawmakers.
Among those touring Turkey has been State Rep. Cliff Rosenberger, a Clarksville Republican on the powerful finance and appropriations committee and considered to be a leading candidate for House speaker next year. He was joined on the trip by at least four other state legislators and local government leaders from his area in southwest Ohio.
There have been other trips from Ohio, and in Illinois, there are allegations that state officials who took trips showed favoritism in disbursing public dollars to Concept schools.
Public records show that since late 2009, the U.S. Department of Labor has allowed 19 of these schools in Ohio to hire 325 educators almost exclusively from Turkey.
However, as early as 2002, state audits found thousands of public dollars “illegally expended” to finance the U.S. citizenship process for Turkish employees — some fresh out of college with no classroom experience and broken English. Help with legal and immigration fees also extended to their children and families, including the spouses of directors.
The auditor also cited suspect wire transfers, totaling $36,000, and checks made out to “cash” to repay personal loans issued by individuals in Istanbul, Turkey."
Complete article here:
http://www.ohio.com/news/break-news/ohio-taxpayers-provide-jobs-to-turkish-immigrants-through-charter-schools-1.501940?localLinksEnabled=false#.U7ngdZ1rYfM.facebook
Quote from Denis Smith from an earlier blog post.
http://dianeravitch.net/2014/03/25/denis-smith-of-ohio-who-governs-charter-schools/
“All control and direction for the school comes on high from corporate, and such constructs as school governing boards and local governance amount to distractions. Clearly, local control is an oxymoron to the Dennis Bakkes of the charter school industry.
The memo also makes it clear that no autonomy is expected of the boards which are chosen mostly by the company’s regional managers. While the best of our nation’s schools usually feature a collaborative model where teams of teachers work with school administrators, privatization of public schools that are operated by national chains seems to come only with a top-down approach, and any semblance of a governing board to provide guidance and oversight for the school’s operations is not to be tolerated in Bakke’s world.
In Ohio, the Revised Code treats a charter school as a school district, with its own treasurer, chief administrative officer, and governing board. But state law also allows great latitude regarding the operation and governance of the school, and current law requires that each school have a minimum of five board members, with no other qualifications stated in the law.”
Raymond Lambert School Leader of the Year by the Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools (OAPCS) and now with Ohio Connections Academy, formerly with WhiteHat once had this to say about boards.
This is an expensive experiment.
A recent article indicates that a good school board make the difference in performance.
http://national.deseretnews.com/article/1350/The-secret-to-good-schools-might-surprise-you.html#kmFZI51zT3Df3rPj.03
"The report also found that when board members were professionalized, underwent professional training and in some cases even earned a salary, students performed better. "
It suggests that the timing of elections matter. "It matters, for example, when elections are held. Holding elections at the same time as state and national-level elections, the authors found, correlates to standardized student proficiency test scores 2.4 points higher than a comparable district that has off-cycle elections."
Compare this to the system now employed by Ohio charter schools. Who appoints the boards? The sponsor or the charter school. There are no elections! Simplifies your board selection and business model.
What is the main focus of the board? I would suggest that it is selected for self-preservation of the school management and the jobs and profits it generates for its management. It is an unpaid job. The charter schools can and do act like a personal, but funded by taxpayers, business.
SO how does this work in practice? A recent prime example of this in action. The Horizon and Noble academies were recently raided by the FBI. Who selected the board?
"A chain of 19 publicly funded Ohio charter schools, founded by Turkish immigrants, is taking the position that the United States lacks a qualified pool of math and science teachers and is importing perhaps hundreds of Turks to fill the void.
The schools are run almost exclusively by persons of Turkish heritage, some of whom are not U.S. citizens — a new twist in Ohio’s controversial charter-school movement.
In addition, the Horizon and Noble academies, run by Chicago-based Concept Schools, are related through membership, fundraisers and political giving to the nonprofit Niagara Foundation, which provides trips to Turkey for state, local and federal lawmakers.
Among those touring Turkey has been State Rep. Cliff Rosenberger, a Clarksville Republican on the powerful finance and appropriations committee and considered to be a leading candidate for House speaker next year. He was joined on the trip by at least four other state legislators and local government leaders from his area in southwest Ohio.
There have been other trips from Ohio, and in Illinois, there are allegations that state officials who took trips showed favoritism in disbursing public dollars to Concept schools.
Public records show that since late 2009, the U.S. Department of Labor has allowed 19 of these schools in Ohio to hire 325 educators almost exclusively from Turkey.
However, as early as 2002, state audits found thousands of public dollars “illegally expended” to finance the U.S. citizenship process for Turkish employees — some fresh out of college with no classroom experience and broken English. Help with legal and immigration fees also extended to their children and families, including the spouses of directors.
The auditor also cited suspect wire transfers, totaling $36,000, and checks made out to “cash” to repay personal loans issued by individuals in Istanbul, Turkey."
Complete article here:
http://www.ohio.com/news/break-news/ohio-taxpayers-provide-jobs-to-turkish-immigrants-through-charter-schools-1.501940?localLinksEnabled=false#.U7ngdZ1rYfM.facebook
Quote from Denis Smith from an earlier blog post.
http://dianeravitch.net/2014/03/25/denis-smith-of-ohio-who-governs-charter-schools/
“All control and direction for the school comes on high from corporate, and such constructs as school governing boards and local governance amount to distractions. Clearly, local control is an oxymoron to the Dennis Bakkes of the charter school industry.
The memo also makes it clear that no autonomy is expected of the boards which are chosen mostly by the company’s regional managers. While the best of our nation’s schools usually feature a collaborative model where teams of teachers work with school administrators, privatization of public schools that are operated by national chains seems to come only with a top-down approach, and any semblance of a governing board to provide guidance and oversight for the school’s operations is not to be tolerated in Bakke’s world.
In Ohio, the Revised Code treats a charter school as a school district, with its own treasurer, chief administrative officer, and governing board. But state law also allows great latitude regarding the operation and governance of the school, and current law requires that each school have a minimum of five board members, with no other qualifications stated in the law.”
Raymond Lambert School Leader of the Year by the Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools (OAPCS) and now with Ohio Connections Academy, formerly with WhiteHat once had this to say about boards.
“I wonder why people sit on Boards? Is it a cheap self esteem boost?”
“ I often think the many Boards I have seen are lead around by the nose anyway.”
This is an expensive experiment.
Friday, June 27, 2014
Follow the money... Weak boards result in $420,000 loss and indictments
Cui Bono (who profits)
I wonder who set up this board? I wonder who was the treasurer?
By Laura A. Bischoff and Mark Gokavi Dayton Daily News
I wonder who set up this board? I wonder who was the treasurer?
By Laura A. Bischoff and Mark Gokavi Dayton Daily News
Columbus bureau
Columbus —
Monday, June 23, 2014
Cashing in on kids
http://cashinginonkids.com/
Another website following who is cashing in on the charter schools and how creative but unethical companies operate on this billion dollar business.
Another website following who is cashing in on the charter schools and how creative but unethical companies operate on this billion dollar business.
Friday, June 20, 2014
Ohio Public Schools vs. Charter Schools, results
Results Matter!
All Ohio educators knew this test was coming and presumably were working hard to prepare. Hopefully not at the expense of the other students.
1/3 Failure rate for Charters is terrible. Profiting from this failure is shameful.
14% of public schools is nothing to be proud of either.
ECOT
ECOT's third grade students passing percentage for the third grade reading guarantee was 52.9%
ECOT over a decade has received $691 million in taxpayer money for a failing charter E-school empire, which is 10% of all the money the state of Ohio has ever spent on charters. $270 million of that has been received in the past three years.
Since Gov. Kasich took office in 2011, Lager, the founder of ECOT has returned the favor to his political benefactors by contributing $658,225 to pro-charter school office holders and candidates, and in true “pay-to-play” fashion, has seen a greater three-year funding increase than in any other three-year period since ECOT opened in 2000. Contributing $658,225 in return for access to $270 million in funding represents an extremely handsome return on Mr. Lager's investment, all coming at the expense of quality schools for Ohio children.
ECOT's failure for the third grade reading results are not alone. From the Columbus Dispatch.
Charter schools didn’t fare as well, in general. Nearly 29 percent of students in charters statewide that serve elementary kids and had enough scores to publicly report didn’t meet the minimum. Among central Ohio’s elementary charter schools, 33 percent fell short.
Results matter.
ECOT over a decade has received $691 million in taxpayer money for a failing charter E-school empire, which is 10% of all the money the state of Ohio has ever spent on charters. $270 million of that has been received in the past three years.
Since Gov. Kasich took office in 2011, Lager, the founder of ECOT has returned the favor to his political benefactors by contributing $658,225 to pro-charter school office holders and candidates, and in true “pay-to-play” fashion, has seen a greater three-year funding increase than in any other three-year period since ECOT opened in 2000. Contributing $658,225 in return for access to $270 million in funding represents an extremely handsome return on Mr. Lager's investment, all coming at the expense of quality schools for Ohio children.
Despite ECOT’s continued support from Ohio officeholders after funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars into campaign coffers, ECOT’s online charter schools rank among the worst schools in the state. Specifically:
- ECOT’s graduation rate on the latest report card was 35.3%. The average for traditional school districts is 91.4%. The lowest traditional district is 49.7%.
- ECOT’s Performance Index score of 68.1 was worse than even the lowest rated of Ohio’s 613 school districts.
- When looking at the Third Grade Reading Guarantee, a signature policy under John Kasich, charter schools, like those run by ECOT, greatly underperform traditional public districts, despite receiving 89% more per pupil than traditional public schools
ECOT's failure for the third grade reading results are not alone. From the Columbus Dispatch.
Charter schools didn’t fare as well, in general. Nearly 29 percent of students in charters statewide that serve elementary kids and had enough scores to publicly report didn’t meet the minimum. Among central Ohio’s elementary charter schools, 33 percent fell short.
Results matter.
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
1 Billion Dollar Diversion
From Stephen Dyer's Blog: 10th Period
Ohio's School Choice Funding Scheme Costs Public School Kids
Ohio's School Choice Funding Scheme Costs Public School Kids
Now that Ohio's sending more than $1 billion this year to privately run Charter Schools and Private Schools through Vouchers, it is important to examine the impact of those decisions made in Columbus have on the 92% of Ohio's kids that do not attend Charters or Vouchers.
The impact is profound. Like asteroid or comet profound.
Looking at the January #1 payment (school districts get paid twice a month by the state), Ohio's new funding formula had allotted $6,666,455,622 to educate 1,713,587 children. However, when the $887,880,706 sent to Charter Schools is subtracted, along with the $143,494,178 in the state's Voucher programs, it leaves $5,635,080,738 to educate Ohio's children who remain in traditional public schools. Subtracting the 123,497 children in Charter Schools and 19,577 taking vouchers from the 1,713,587 listed earlier leaves 1,570,513 children to share in the $5,635,080,738.
Prior to the Charter and Voucher deductions, Ohio provided $3,890, on average, to the state's 1,713,587 children. However, after Charters and Vouchers remove their money and students from the formula, Ohio's kids are left with $3,588, on average. That is a difference of $302 per pupil, or 7.8%.
What does that mean? It means that because of the decisions made in Columbus, the 1,570,513 Ohio schoolchildren in traditional public schools get 7.8% less state money, on average, than the state formula says they need. Four years ago, that number was 5.9%. So Ohio's kids have lost, on average, 2% (a 33% increase) of their state revenue the last four years just because the state has decided to put more money into mostly underperforming Charter Schools and Voucher schools that also do not, on the whole, outperform the public schools.
And don't forget that's on top of the overall $515 million cut traditional districts have seen through the state formula and reimbursements over the last four years, leading to a record number (and cost) of local school tax levies to seek new revenue cover these state funding losses.
My question is this: at what point do Ohio's parents say, "Enough!"?
I get and am sympathetic to the argument that kids need opportunities to escape struggling schools. And I have little problem with the few really excellent school choice options that are out there that genuinely do give kids opportunities to achieve their potential.
But when the vast majority of those opportunities aren't any better (and are usually much worse) than the struggling school, and paying for these mostly worse options means the kids who remain in the struggling public school have far fewer resources with which to achieve, or the school to improve?
Well, I'm sorry. I just don't get that.
The impact is profound. Like asteroid or comet profound.
Looking at the January #1 payment (school districts get paid twice a month by the state), Ohio's new funding formula had allotted $6,666,455,622 to educate 1,713,587 children. However, when the $887,880,706 sent to Charter Schools is subtracted, along with the $143,494,178 in the state's Voucher programs, it leaves $5,635,080,738 to educate Ohio's children who remain in traditional public schools. Subtracting the 123,497 children in Charter Schools and 19,577 taking vouchers from the 1,713,587 listed earlier leaves 1,570,513 children to share in the $5,635,080,738.
Prior to the Charter and Voucher deductions, Ohio provided $3,890, on average, to the state's 1,713,587 children. However, after Charters and Vouchers remove their money and students from the formula, Ohio's kids are left with $3,588, on average. That is a difference of $302 per pupil, or 7.8%.
What does that mean? It means that because of the decisions made in Columbus, the 1,570,513 Ohio schoolchildren in traditional public schools get 7.8% less state money, on average, than the state formula says they need. Four years ago, that number was 5.9%. So Ohio's kids have lost, on average, 2% (a 33% increase) of their state revenue the last four years just because the state has decided to put more money into mostly underperforming Charter Schools and Voucher schools that also do not, on the whole, outperform the public schools.
And don't forget that's on top of the overall $515 million cut traditional districts have seen through the state formula and reimbursements over the last four years, leading to a record number (and cost) of local school tax levies to seek new revenue cover these state funding losses.
My question is this: at what point do Ohio's parents say, "Enough!"?
I get and am sympathetic to the argument that kids need opportunities to escape struggling schools. And I have little problem with the few really excellent school choice options that are out there that genuinely do give kids opportunities to achieve their potential.
But when the vast majority of those opportunities aren't any better (and are usually much worse) than the struggling school, and paying for these mostly worse options means the kids who remain in the struggling public school have far fewer resources with which to achieve, or the school to improve?
Well, I'm sorry. I just don't get that.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)