Boston charter school leaders' big earnings should help reset expectations in education.

The Pay Leaders Deserve
By Frederick M. Hess
U.S. News and World Report
Aug. 7, 2017

Last week, The Boston Globe ran a front-page story on the pay of Boston's 16 charter-school leaders. Headlined "Charter School Leaders Making Big Money," it reported that most of the charter leaders earned total compensation of $150,000 to $200,000 in 2016, with three topping $200,000.

The Globe pointedly noted that Boston's superintendent, Tommy Chang, earned $272,000 last year for leading a 55,000 student district—while most of these charter schools enroll something closer to 500 or 600.

What to make of these data? One could obviously conclude that Boston's charter leaders are wildly overpaid...

But perhaps something else is going on.

It may be that terrific school leaders are underpaid...

Study: students who got vouchers did much worse than students who didn't

"They found large negative results in both reading and math. Public elementary school students who started at the 50th percentile in math and then used a voucher to transfer to a private school dropped to the 26th percentile in a single year. Results were somewhat better in the second year, but were still well below the starting point."

Dismal Voucher Results Surprise Researchers as DeVos Era Begins
Kevin Carey
NYT
FEB. 23, 2017

...In June, a third voucher study was released by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a conservative think tank and proponent of school choice. The study, which was financed by the pro-voucher Walton Family Foundation, focused on a large voucher program in Ohio. “Students who use vouchers to attend private schools have fared worse academically compared to their closely matched peers attending public schools,” the researchers found. Once again, results were worse in math.

Three consecutive reports, each studying one of the largest new state voucher programs, found that vouchers hurt student learning. Researchers and advocates began a spirited debate about what, exactly, was going on.

Mark Dynarski of the Brookings Institution noted that the performance gap between private and public school students had narrowed significantly over time. He argued that the standards, testing and accountability movement, for all its political shortcomings, was effective. The assumed superiority of private schools may no longer hold.

Some voucher supporters observed that many private schools in Louisiana chose not to accept voucher students, and those that did had recently experienced declining enrollment. Perhaps the participating schools were unusually bad and eager for revenue. But this is another way of saying that exposing young children to the vagaries of private-sector competition is inherently risky. The free market often does a terrible job of providing basic services to the poor — see, for instance, the lack of grocery stores and banks in many low-income neighborhoods. This may also hold for education...

Why should Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen operate charter schools on U.S. Military bases?

 Who would have thought that an attempted coup in Turkey would be a wake-up call about private charter schools in the US? Fethullah Gulen's religious movement, also known as Hizmet, may have taken time out from building charter schools to help foment the attempted coup in Turkey.

When moderation masks a radical agenda
By Abraham R. Wagner
Washington Times
 January 21, 2016

 No one everwants a Cosby moment, a moment when all of one’s suspected bad deeds are exposed to the world. Fettulah Gulen, the undisputable leader of the Gulen Movement was recently provided such a Cosby Moment, compliments of the FBI. Mr. Gulen, a Muslim cleric from Turkey, with an elementary education only, is a mysterious fellow.

In cables divulged by WikiLeaks, the U.S. Department of State described Mr. Gulen as “a ‘radical Islamist’ whose moderate message cloaks a more sinister and radical agenda.” He is reputed to be worth roughly $25 billion, although no one seems to know from where he earned this tidy sum. Most notably and despite the Department of State’s perspective, he espouses principles of tolerance and multiculturalism.

Yet upon deeper investigation, he is a true, dyed-in-the-wool Islamist who wishes to transform the United States and Turkey into Shariah states. Mr. Gulen lives in the United States in self-imposed exile, a seat from which he runs a vast and questionable network of charter schools and overlapping nonprofit organizations and businesses, and, as evidence presented in U.S. and Turkish courts shows, actively agitates and plots the overthrow of the democratically-elected government in Turkey, one of the few stable allies the United States possesses in the Middle East, a NATO-member and the lynchpin to defeating ISIS and to bringing peace to Iraq and Syria.

 As the proprietor of the largest network of charter schools in the United States, Mr. Gulen receives hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars. Active investigations into the financial malfeasance of the Gulen schools are ongoing in Texas, Louisiana, Illinois, Ohio and other states, this, in addition to an active investigation by the FBI. According to state and local law enforcement reports, the Gulen Movement, in collusion with various nonprofit organizations and companies directly linked to the Gulen Movement, are playing a sort of shell game with taxpayer funds. Gulen schools pay high rental fees on properties owned by Mr. Gulen, construction and renovations of Gulen facilities are performed by Gulen businesses and vast sums are spent on facilitating the entry of young Turkish men to the United States...



Why should Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen operate charter schools on U.S. Military bases?
March 31, 2016
The Hill

A secretive Islamic movement is trying to infiltrate the U.S. military by establishing and operating publicly-funded charter schools targeted toward children of American service personnel.

That charge may sound like a conspiracy theory from the lunatic fringe, but it is real and it is happening right now.  The most immediate threat is in Nevada, where Coral Academy of Science Las Vegas (CASLV) is currently negotiating with the United States Air Force to locate a charter school at Nellis Air Force Base, with classes starting this fall.  What is not widely known is that CASLV is part of a nationwide organization of charter schools and other businesses headed by Islamic cleric Fethullah Gülen, a reclusive but influential Imam living under self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania to avoid criminal prosecution in his native Turkey.

Our law firm has been engaged by the Republic of Turkey – a key NATO ally in a hotbed region – to conduct a wide-ranging investigation into the operations and geopolitical influence of the Gülen organization, which is behind the Coral Academy of Science and over 140 other public charter schools scattered across 26 American states.  Our investigation, still in its early stages, reveals that the Gülen organization uses charter schools and affiliated businesses in the U.S. to misappropriate and launder state and federal education dollars, which the organization then uses for its own benefit to develop political power in this country and globally...

Robert R. Amsterdam is founder of Amsterdam and Partners LLP, an international law firm based in Washington, DC and London.







What We Don't Know About Gulen-Linked Charter Schools, And Why That's a Problem
 Jersey Jazzman
 July 16, 2016

This week's attempted coup in Turkey will inevitably turn the spotlight on Fethullah Gulen -- the primary political rival of Turkish President Erdogan -- who lives in seclusion in Pennsylvania. Gulen is linked to a network of over 160 charter schools operating across the country, including several in New Jersey that Governor Chris Christie has recently praised...

- A USA Today investigation found that Gulen-linked organizations paid for Congressional members and staff to travel to Turkey at least 214 times. Expenses total at least $800,000, but that figure is likely understated because it does not include in-country expenses.

Given what's just happened, this lack of transparency is a real problem for our country's national security. If, in fact, Hizmet was one of the driving forces behind the attempted coup, the United States may well be complicit in allowing a charter network to grow in this country that provided de facto support for the attempted overthrow of one of our NATO allies' governments.

I don't have any expertise in Turkish politics. By most accounts, Erdogan is not a friend of democracy and freedom of the press, and that's very troubling. And Gulen denies any involvement with the coup attempt, even though Erdogan is now saying the US risks its continuing alliance with Turkey if it continues to harbor him.

At this point, we must ask: Has it been in America's best geopolitical interest to prop up Erdogan's primary political foe by allowing an aligned network of charter schools to grow across the country? Has the risk been worth what are, at best, marginal gains in test scores for student populations that, at least here in New Jersey, look nothing like the populations of their hosting public school districts?...

Julian High School District starts a non-classroom-based elementary charter school in National City

Lesson in paperwork
Robert Moreno
Chula Vista Star-News
Aug 09 2014

Two school districts are heading to court over the legal status of a new charter school in National City.

Attorney Gretchen Shipley filed a writ of mandate July 25 on behalf of the National School District alleging that the Julian Union School District illegally placed a charter school at 2400 Euclid Ave.

Shipley cites in court records that the Julian school district is in violation of section 47605 of the California Education Code for its yet-to-open charter school, Beacon Classical Academy Elementary.

Chris Carson, assistant superintendent of business for the National School District, said that the school district was supposed to be given notice of Beacon’s intent to locate within the National School District’s boundaries.

He also said Beacon was supposed to attempt to locate a facility within Julian’s boundaries, which he said they never did and therefore are in violation of an education code.

He said since the National School District was not notified about the charter, the Julian Union School District is also in violation of California Education code.

Code 47605 (a) states: “A petition for the establishment of a charter school shall identify a single charter that will operate within the geographic boundaries of that charter.”

Shipley wrote in court documents that the Julian Union School District did not identify a single charter school that will operate within the geographic boundaries of the Julian Union School District.

Instead Julian Union School District authorized the charter to operate outside its boundaries and within the National School District’s boundaries.

Shipley turned down an interview request because the case is in litigation.

Dr. Alma Van Nice, founder and executive director of the classical academy, said the education code does not apply to Beacon because it is not a school site.

“Beacon Classical Academy is an independent study charter school that was authorized by Julian Union School District,” Van Nice said.

“An independent study charter program is also referred to as a non-classroom-based program because the instruction can take place in the child’s home, the community and at the resource center.”

Van Nice said independent funding for the charter school is not based on attendance but rather on performance.

Carson said the National School District is not against charter schools, but against charter schools that don’t follow the proper rules.

“We want them to adhere to the same rules as any district,” Carson said. “We ask that the Julian school district revoke their charter on the grounds that they are violating the education code in the charter petition.”

In court documents, Shipley said that the Julian school district continues to ignore the laws of the California Education Code despite a cease and desist notice.

“Julian Union School District and Beacon have and are continuing to willfully ignore and violate the Charter Schools Act, when Beacon decided to open its school in the jurisdictional boundaries of petitioner without any notice or effort to comply with the geographic restrictions of the CSA and this action is necessary to compel their compliance with it,” she states.

“Both entities have failed and refused to comply with the law, despite notice of violations and a request for remedy by any or all of them.”

The charter school is set to open Aug. 8.

- See more at: http://www.thestarnews.com/chula-vista/lesson-in-paperwork/#sthash.oKtxQAYP.dpuf

Voice of San Diego has a great story about Thrive Charter School, a pet project of VOSD's Buzz Woolley

Caught in San Diego Unified’s Crosshairs, a Charter School Lives Up to Its Name
Mario Koran
Voice of San Diego
July 10, 2014

That charter school the San Diego Unified school board tried to kill has roared back to life.

Thrive Public School was approved by the State Board of Education Wednesday night in a unanimous decision. The school will open in September.

Earlier this year, after spending months working with San Diego Unified staff, Thrive’s founder Nicole Tempel Assisi presented the school board her petition to open a charter school.

The petition had been vetted by various district departments, and was recommended for a five-year charter – its highest vote of confidence. The petition was so convincing Superintendent Cindy Marten gave it the thumbs-up.

It wasn’t enough to convince trustee John Lee Evans, however, who first moved to deny the charter. He noted how Thrive had once simultaneously tried to open a charter in San Diego Unified and another district, and said it represented bad faith in the local community.

Assisi had been a founding principal at Los Angeles charter schools, worked at High Tech High in its early years and had been awarded a grant from the Gates and Broad foundations for the innovative model that Thrive promised.

But ultimately Thrive was shot down in a 3-2 vote. Why the board decided to move the goalposts on this particular charter school was hazy.

The vote, and a separate move by the board in which it raised the bar on which charter schools would be eligible for a slice of Prop. Z money, kick-started a new round of debate about the school board’s relationship with charter schools.

Thrive wasn’t finished. It appealed the decision to the County Board of Education. That came with a bizarre twist: The same San Diego Unified staff that once supported the petition argued the County Board should reject it.

Sarah Sutherland, an outside legal consultant who spoke to the county board on the district’s behalf, said Thrive sounds “good in theory,” but had gone through fundamental changes that undermined its chance of success.

It worked. Thrive was denied. Again.

Thrive appealed again, this time to the state. Thrive’s petition faced another review board, another round of vetting, another hearing before the State Board of Education, where it had 10 minutes to make its case. San Diego Unified had the same. And once again, Thrive faced opposition from a onetime supporter: Marten.

Even though Marten, months earlier, had vouched for her staff’s decision to green-light Thrive, she wrote a letter to the State Board asking it to deny the school, citing concerns over its support for English learners. (Read the letter here.)
But this time, Thrive won out.

Thrive is scheduled to open in the fall. Assisi said there are spots for 160 students, half of which are currently filled. Assisi has been interviewing teachers, and has a list of nine finalists – six of whom will get the nod for the fall.

Assisi will soon sign a lease for the school, she said. Even though the school will exist within San Diego Unified boundaries, it will be overseen by the state, which will monitor its test scores and finances.

The state will also visit the school twice a year, over the course of Thrive’s five-year charter.
Of course, because Thrive won’t be part of San Diego Unified, it also won’t see any of the bond money that other charter schools in the district will receive.
For Assisi, that’s a rub, but she said it’s not what matters most.
“We didn’t come to San Diego to have access to bond money,” she said. “We didn’t come to pick a fight. We came to San Diego because there’s need and kids across the city on waiting lists for charter schools – because there are students across the city living in poverty, not meeting their potential.”

Still, it was a fight – one that cost Thrive and San Diego Unified time and money.
Assisi said the process also cost them a grant that they’d won, but ultimately lost because the school’s charter hadn’t been approved on time.

Thrive has a lot of work to do before it’s ready to open in fall, but Assisi said it’s the kind of work she got into the profession to do.
“We have such an expedited timeline now, and that wasn’t necessary. It’s unfortunate that so much time and money was wasted – on both sides. It’s unfortunate that this wasn’t spent on children,” she said.

---

Kathy S

"Assisi said the process also cost them a grant that they’d won, but ultimately lost because the school’s charter hadn’t been approved on time."
In petition to the state Assisi claims....."Educational experts throughout the country have reviewed Thrive’s educational program, resulting in Thrive being selected over three-hundred school proposals nationwide to win the highly competitive Next Generation Learning Challenge; and receiving grants from the Broad Foundation, the Girard Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Public Charter Schools Grant Program and the Charter School’s Growth Fund. A primary concern of all of these reviewers and entities has been whether Thrive could provide an educationally successful program. Certainly differences of opinion can exist, but in this case, Thrive has raised over a million dollars in grants in support of its educational program and the successful administrative experience of its leadership after thorough vetting, interviews, and competitive processes."
Which grant did Assisi lose the Girard Foundation grant (Buzz Woolley) or some other one?

 

 

Mario Koran

@Kathy S oh, I see what you did there.

 

 

Maura Larkin

 
Yes, Mario, we all see what Kathy S "did there":  she listed the five organizations that had given grants to Thrive.  Then she asked a question that brought our attention to the fact that one of those five organizations--the Girard Foundation--is led by Buzz Woolley, founder and donor of Voice of San Diego.  She was being very gentle with her subtle message.  I would have been more direct.  I would have said that this is the sort of information that should be included in a "full disclosure" message attached to your story.
Also, how about you ask Ms. Assisi to tell us in one or two sentences what is the main idea of her educational philosophy?  What is it that makes her plan innovative?

Mario Koran

Sure, I could have written about Thrive's educational philosophy -- even though I did link to the presentation the school gave to the state -- but then I would've gotten away from the reasons Thrive was denied by the San Diego Unified school board in the first place. If you weren't at that meeting, you're welcome to check it out on the district's meeting archives. You'll note that Thrive's educational philosophy wasn't really a consideration in the board's decision for voting it down.

As far as your and Kathy's suggestion of my bias, I think, respectfully, it's a red-herring that distracts from the issues at play. I didn't answer Kathy's question because it sounded to me rhetorical. The Girard Foundation wasn't mentioned in the piece, and had nothing to do with my reasons for following the story. Of course, you're entitled to your opinions.

Whether every charter school that's authorized offers an educationally sound and fiscally responsible model is a valid concern. But it's a discussion the district and community should have in the open -- before a charter school is denied. Especially if the charter worked for months with the district, and the district helped shaped that very petition.

Maura Larkins

I think you have a great story here, Mario.  The about-face by Cindy Marten and the district is disgusting.  This charter had no problems until the issue moved into the political arena.

So why not trust your readers to see this?

The fact that Buzz Woolley is a bigshot at both the Girard Foundation and Voice of San Diego doesn't prevent the story from being accurately reported and newsworthy.

You could have avoided the distraction of this issue by doing a full disclosure up front.  A full disclosure is NOT a red herring.  It's an expected practice that allows readers to judge for themselves whether or not the story is biased.  Emily Alpert used to include disclosures when she wrote about Buzz Woolley. 

For the record, I do not think your story is biased. I think you did a public service by writing it.

Derek Hofmann

@richard brick That's why schools should be evaluated not on how well students score on tests but on how much they improve.

Maura Larkins

Yes, you're right, Derek, and, happily, when people talk about test score results they're very often talking about the amount of improvement by students. There is a commonly-used measure called "value-added" which gives us the average number of months or years of academic improvement by the students of a given teacher.  Here's the Wikipedia article about Value Added Modeling: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value-added_modeling

It's much easier to improve the scores of average and advanced students than it is to bring up the scores of kids who are behind.  In fact, Michelle Rhee was accused, when she was Superintendent of Washington DC schools, of focusing resources on the more upscale schools in the district, and abandoning the lowest-performing schools. I can understand that Ms. Rhee may have felt that she had to use such tricks in order to have significant increases in test scores.
I agree with Mr. Brick that the Preuss School might not look so great if it accepted any child, perhaps using a lottery system.
I'd like to offer a challenge to the Preuss School: how about you start another campus that accepts students at random, and see if you can also be successful with those kids?

Derek Hofmann

"It's much easier to improve the scores of average and advanced students than it is to bring up the scores of kids who are behind."

When you're using value-added, because it's impossible to improve a student who's at the 100th percentile as there is no 101st percentile, it can only be easier to improve the scores of students who are behind.

Maura Larkins

A student who is at the 99+%ile (there is no 100%ile) can most definitely improve. Let's say you have a third-grader who scores at a ninth-grade reading level. The next year, this child is almost certain to advance to tenth-grade or higher reading level. Of course, his (or her) percentile wouldn't change. If every single child were to improve one grade level each year, then each child would have exactly the same percentile score each year, but would nevertheless be scoring at a higher performance level. Unfortunately, a student who is two years below grade level is much less certain to advance a year or more during a school year. These students are usually not given proper instruction. They are likely to sit in class while everything goes over their heads because teachers "don't have time for the kids who are behind."

Derek Hofmann

 

 A student who scores at the top of the class one year cannot score higher than the top of the class the next year. So at best, that student can only remain at the same percentile rank from year to year. Do we agree so far?
Now let's say that being two years below grade level puts a student in the 15th percentile. Would it not be easier to increase that student's percentile rank by 5% than it would be to increase a 94.99th percentile student's rank by 5%?

Maura Larkins

 

When you talk changing percentiles, you're talking about kids going up or down RELATIVE to other kids. You're NOT talking about how much actual improvement a student makes.

In your scheme of things, a kid who gets the top score in the whole country year after year, and rapidly raises his (or her) level of performance each year, has NOT improved.

You are also saying that a child who is in a low percentile to start with, who improves a little bit--but is still far below grade level--has improved MORE than the first kid!

This makes no sense.

Percentiles only allow you to know which kids are higher and which kids are lower.

Percentiles don't give you information about what kids actually know.  If everyone makes less progress year after year, the percentiles remain the same.  If everyone makes more progress year after year, the percentiles remain the same.

We want to know whether the student population as a whole is getting better, staying the same, or losing ground. This is CRUCIALLY important.

So we're not really much interested in looking at percentiles. Your mom is interested in your percentile, and college admissions departments are interested, but society as a whole is more interested in whether students are raising their grade levels..

The fact is that we ARE able to measure the improvement of the high performers by looking at changes in their grade level, and we know that teachers don't have to put very much effort into getting the high-performer to improve their academic performance.

We are also able to measure the improvement of low performers by looking at changes (or lack of change) in their grade level, and experience shows that teachers have to put a lot more effort to get that improvement.

That's why so many people are furious that low-income schools don't have the very best teachers.  The upscale schools don't need the best teachers; the downscale schools desperately need them.

San Diego Unified: From Charter-Friendly to Charter Acquaintance

San Diego Explained: From Charter-Friendly to Charter Acquaintance
By: Catherine Green
Voice of San Diego
March 21, 2014

School board trustee John Lee Evans once called San Diego Unified “one of the most charter-friendly districts in the nation.”

And based on the numbers, he was right: From 2005 to 2012, charter students in the district jumped by about 40 percent

But all that’s about to change, thanks in part to the board’s decision to up the ante on tough requirements for charters to get funding from a $2.8 billion bond they helped get approved in 2012. The district has also been candid about making it harder to open a charter.

In this edition of San Diego Explained, NBC 7′s Catherine Garcia and Voice of San Diego reporter Mario Koran lay out the changing tides for San Diego charter schools.

Update: An earlier version of this post said San Diego Unified was second in the nation for charter school growth. That number came from a National Alliance for Public Charter Schools report. On March 26, the group said it had miscounted, and amended its report. According to the amended numbers, San Diego Unified ranks 18th for growth in charter school enrollment.

Catherine Green is deputy editor at Voice of San Diego. She handles daily operations while helping to plan new long-term projects.

COMMENTS

...Doug Porter
subscriber

Perhaps there have been some problems with charter schools that could have influenced SDUSD policies. I do seem to remember a couple of dozen tearful students and teachers pleading with SDUSD Board of Trustees a couple of weeks ago about conditions at a charter school.

Or perhaps they're cognizant of the schools around the country that have abruptly just gone out of business, leaving families in a lurch.

Or perhaps what's going on is part of broader policy change aimed at increasing the role of neighborhood schools.

We wouldn't know from this story, which just makes it seem like the big bad SDUSD Board is picking on them. (Oh, lookie! Did you see that union thug?)

I actually think charter schools have a role to play. Many of them provide unique and valuable educational experiences.

But come on.... Give us some depth.

Judge revokes state oversight of 6 Aspire charter schools

Judge revokes state oversight of 6 Aspire charter schools
July 9, 2012
Corey G. Johnson
California Watch

A superior court judge has invalidated the State Board of Education's oversight of one of the state's biggest charter school companies, giving six schools until June 2013 to gain approval from local school districts or be forced to close.

Alameda County Superior Court Judge Jo-Lynne Lee found that the board improperly awarded Aspire Public Schools rights to bypass local district oversight and open schools anywhere in California, without evaluating whether the company met the state's requirements.

Lee's ruling represents a victory for the California Teachers Association, California School Boards Association and Association of California School Administrators, which sued the education board in 2007.v State law says charters can be allowed to open schools anywhere in California if they can prove their services are a "statewide benefit" that cannot be provided by a charter school overseen by a local district. But in their lawsuit, the school groups claimed the state education board awarded Aspire operating rights without assessing whether a benefit existed.

In 2010, an appeals court agreed and sent the case back to Alameda County for a final ruling. Lee published her 29-page order [PDF] last month. The state education board also must revamp its rules on state charters, according to the ruling.

Based in Oakland, Aspire is one of the most prominent charter school management organizations in the nation and serves nearly 12,000 students at 34 schools in California.

Six Aspire campuses with about 1,900 students were overseen by the state education board and now will have to reapply to local school officials. They are Aspire Alexander Twilight College Preparatory Academy and Aspire Alexander Twilight Secondary Academy in Sacramento, Aspire APEX Academy and Aspire Port City Academy in Stockton, and Aspire Junior Collegiate Academy and Aspire Titan Academy in Huntington Park.

Under the ruling, the schools have until June 24, 2013, to gain reapproval or close.

Aspire CEO James Willcox said he is confident Aspire's applications will be approved by local school boards. Meanwhile, Willcox said the organization might decide to appeal the judge's decision.

"We are committed to serving all of our students and families who count on Aspire and want to calm any uncertainty that this decision may cause," Willcox said. "As we discussed on our recent conference call, we have applied for charters or renewals nearly 60 times since our founding, with positive results in all cases. We are hopeful that the three school districts involved will recognize the success we have had for students from their communities."

In a statement, Karen Stapf-Walters, interim executive director of the school administrators association, said the organization was satisfied with the court's decision.

“We’re pleased by the judge’s decision to ensure the State Board adopts the required procedural rules so only those charters that truly meet the test of statewide benefit status are considered in the future,” Stapf-Walters said. "It is important that all public schools and students are treated equitably.”

The court ruling also has implications on Wall Street. Last month, Fitch Ratings downgraded and placed Aspire's bonds on "negative outlook" status, concluding that the organization hadn't fully shared the implications of the lawsuit with investors. Under statewide operating status, Aspire was able to successfully acquire $93.3 million in bond sales.

The assessment from the rating agency could scare off potential Aspire bond investors and result in higher interest rates for the company.

The organization is making strides nevertheless – outside of California. Six states have recruited Aspire to turn around underperforming schools, Willcox told Education Week recently. The Tennessee Achievement School District, a state entity, hired Aspire last month to take over schools in Memphis.

Court of Appeal, First District, California.

CALIFORNIA SCHOOL BOARDS ASSOCIATION v. STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION

CALIFORNIA SCHOOL BOARDS ASSOCIATION et al., Petitioners and Appellants, v. STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION, Respondent; Aspire Public Schools, Inc., Real Party in Interest and Respondent.

No. A122485.

-- July 26, 2010

Deborah B. Caplan, N. Eugene Hill, Richard C. Miadich, Olson, Hagel & Fishburn, LLP, for Appellants, California School Boards Association, Association of California School Administrators, Stockton Unified School District.

Joseph R. Colton, Priscilla Winslow, California Teachers' Association, for Appellants, California Teachers' Association.

Edmund G. Brown, Jr., California Attorney General, Susan M. Carson, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, Benjamin J. Riley, Deputy Attorney General, for Respondents, California State Board of Education.

Paul C. Minney, Andrew G. Minney, Middleton, Young & Minney, LLP, for Respondents, Aspire Public Schools, Inc.

Detroit Charter High Schools Underperform Public Counterparts, Analysis Shows

Detroit Charter High Schools Underperform Public Counterparts, Analysis Shows
Roy Roberts
7/8/11

The majority of the Motor City’s charter high schools underperform the city’s traditional public schools, according to an analysis published Thursday by Detroit News.

The report found that just six of 25 Detroit charter schools had higher math or science proficiency rates on the Michigan Merit Exam than those in Detroit's traditional public schools. The analysis notes that charter schools only surpassed Detroit Public School performance in social studies.

"We were not surprised in that we have consistently believed and said that there are both excellent charter schools and low-performing charter schools as there are both excellent and low-performing public schools," Steve Wasko, a spokesman for Detroit Public Schools, told The Huffington Post.

Charter schools, which are publicly funded but can be privately run, have gained momentum around the country. A surge of laws passed this legislative session expanded the number of charter schools that allowed to open. According to data from the National Alliance of Public Charter Schools, 1.8 million students attended 5,277 charter schools in the 2010-2011 school year -- an increase of 11.8 percent over the previous year.

Supporters laud charter schools' flexibility and the proliferation of options for parents, while critics condemn them for sucking resources out of public schools and underserving high-need populations. Beyond those objections, the overall efficacy of charter schools is in question. The most authoritative study on the issue -- out of Stanford University in 2009 -- found that only 17 percent of the charter schools studied outperform public schools and that 37 percent "deliver results that are significantly worse" than those expected of traditional public schools.

Studying charter schools in Detroit is particularly important as the city faces a massive enrollment crisis and uses charters as a key component of its "Renaissance 2012" reform plan. Gov. Rick Snyder's recently announced plan to have Detroit's lowest-performing schools answer to a special state-run authority (run by emergency manager Roy Roberts) is still thin on details, but it is known that the new structure will have the authority to charter new schools.

"I think it raises a red flag for the district as they move toward turning over traditional public schools into charter schools," said Marytza Gawlik, who taught at Detroit's Wayne State University until this summer.
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And, outside the city, it matters because U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has called Detroit -- with its low literacy rate, low performance and mounting debt -- a "ground zero" for education reform, signaling that if performance can increase there, it can happen anywhere.

Wasko, though, said drawing a connection between the charter school analysis and the district's reform plans would be a "flawed" attempt. He said the Renaissance 2012 plan "has quality as its middle name at every level."

"We've carried through that at every step to bring us the highest quality partners who know how to evaluate charter proposals," he added.

Wasko also noted the News analysis considers Detroit charter high schools, whereas the new charters opened as part of the Renaissance plan will not be high schools.

A Battle Over Charter School Freedoms

A Battle Over Charter School Freedoms
Jun 28, 2011.
by Emily Alpert

...Charter schools aren't bound by the rules that restrict other public schools. They get public money but are run independently by their owhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifn boards, with limited oversight from school districts. They are free to choose their own school rules and educational methods. Most hire and fire employees as they wish.

They include some of the brightest stars among San Diego schools — and some of the dimmest.

The tradeoff for that freedom is that charters are supposed to be more accountable. If a charter school mismanages its money, falters academically or runs afoul of its own rules, it can be shut down.

The California Charter Schools Association has argued that the best way to keep charters in check is to beef up rules for shutting bad ones down. It has championed a bill that would ban school districts from letting charters with stagnant scores stay open unless the charters make a case to the state.

But some lawmakers want to seek more regulations to stop problems before schools must be shut down. Labor unions and traditional school groups such as the California School Boards Association have backed many of those bills, arguing that schools that get public money must be regulated more closely. They contend that classroom innovations can continue with the added rules, true to the charter dream.

"They may be laboratories of innovation, but that doesn't mean that employee rights have to stop," said Jim Groth, a California teachers union board member from Chula Vista.

Seven different bills have landed on watch lists for charter schools wary of losing their freedoms. Some are ideas that have been shot down before, vetoed under former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. But new Gov. Jerry Brown is a wild card for both sides, a Democrat who helped start up charter schools but has been dubious that they're a panacea...

Charter School Shuts Out Investigator

Charter School Shuts Out Investigator
March 3, 2011
by Emily Alpert
Voice of San Diego

I'm not the only one who has trouble getting access to schools sometimes: A San Diego Unified official who is investigating a Chollas View charter school was turned away from the school last month.

San Diego Unified has been investigating Promise Charter, where a group of parents and teachers say Principal Jose Orozco has intimidated parents who disagree with him on school decisions by barring them from campus and harassing their children. Orozco and his supporters have denied the allegations and stood behind his choices.

The school district launched an investigation into the concerns last month, interviewing parents and staff and poring through documents. In a letter to the charter school board, Moises Aguirre wrote that when he came to the school in February, Orozco demanded that he leave and escorted him out.

Aguirre, who helps oversee charter schools for San Diego Unified and is assisting the investigation, wrote that keeping him out of the school was a violation of state law and grounds to revoke the charter.

"This conduct obstructs the District's ability to meet its oversight obligations and will not be tolerated," Aguirre wrote.

Charter schools are independently run, but the school district is supposed to provide oversight because it approved the schools in the first place. Charters can be shut down if they violate their rules.

Orozco said there was a misunderstanding about how the investigation would work, pointing specifically to a section in their agreement with the school district that says that complaints about the charter school should be sent to the school. But another part of the same agreement explicitly says the district can make "reasonable" unannounced visits to oversee the charter school.

"Since then, we have been working collaborative with the School District on their investigation," Orozco wrote in an email...

Swedish For-Profit Chain to Run NYC Charter School

See all posts on for-profit education.
See all posts on for-profit college recruiting.
See all posts on charter schools.

February 9, 2011
Swedish For-Profit Chain to Run NYC Charter School
Education Week
New School Is the Network's First in the United States
By Sarah D. Sparks

One of Sweden’s largest for-profit school networks plans to gain a toehold in American public schooling by managing its first charter school in New York City this September—a possible sign of the times as U.S. educators and policymakers step up their focus on global competitiveness.

The transplantation process started with a name change, from the tongue-twisting Swedish Kunskapsskolan to Innovate Manhattan Charter School. The school’s charter is held by an independent board—a nod to the city’s restriction on for-profit companies directly owning or operating public schools—but Margaret “Peg” Hoey, the president of Kunskapsskolan USA, said the staff is working to ensure the core Swedish instructional model won’t be lost in translation.

“Even though there may just be one school here, we are really entering into a global community of practice,” she said.

Following the Swedish framework, the school will develop a learning plan for each of its 150 6th and 7th graders based on a 35-step road map for the content students are expected to know in each subject by the end of middle school. Core subjects such as reading and math are taught in multiage groups by step and reconfigured as students progress. Electives are taught by grade level.

Innovate Manhattan doesn’t yet have final arrangements for facilities, but Ms. Hoey said the city has proposed that the school be set up in part of New York City’s education department building.

The school’s future principal is taking two weeks of intensive training at one of the network’s schools in Sweden. She will continue to work with a mentor principal online when she returns to New York later this month, and will return to Sweden for two-week refresher training in spring 2012.

The charter school’s board is seeking grants to send teachers overseas, too, but so far the instructors are meeting with their colleagues via Skype, an online videoconferencing program...

Is this what SDUSD would be like if SD4 get their way? Parents Demand Investigations at Two Charter Schools

Charter board members are often chosen by other board members, not elected like a school district board. While some charters opt to have representatives who are chosen by the parents or teachers, voluntarily putting it into their own rules, it is not required by law. That means that charter boards can sometimes veer from what parents or staff want, and it can be hard to say who speaks for the school.

While Promise and Tubman are charter schools, which are publicly funded but independently run by their own boards, the school district is supposed to provide oversight because it approved the schools in the first place. Charters can be shut down if they violate their rules or perform poorly.

See all posts on San Diegans 4 Greater Schools.


February 2, 2011
Parents Demand Investigations at Two Charter Schools
Voice of San Diego
by Emily Alpert

Parents and teachers at a small charter school in Chollas View are demanding that San Diego Unified launch an investigation of their school after the principal and new board members made a string of controversial decisions.

The Promise Charter School board changed dramatically last summer after some of its existing members, including the principal, voted to eject members and later added new ones.

Parents and teachers upset with the leaders allege that Principal Jose Orozco has intimidated parents who disagreed with him on everything from scheduling to staffing by barring them from campus and telling them to leave the school, and harassed their children by questioning them about their parents.

Fourth grade teacher Vicky Toscano said after one teacher was fired and others were told to reapply for their jobs, teachers have been afraid to question irregularities at the school, such as allegedly enrolling students who are too young for kindergarten. Teachers at the school have petitioned to form a union.

Orozco said the allegations of harassment are untrue and that the upset parents and teachers have resisted "anytime anyone tries to change anything at the school." For instance, Orozco said after he introduced new rules about inappropriate touching of students, teachers overreacted and complained they couldn't even look at kids. Other parents stepped forward to back the principal.

The upset parents and teachers are calling for San Diego Unified to choose a district representative to sit on the Promise Charter board, something that school districts can do under the law, monitor the school more closely and investigate their allegations. They say that some of the changes at the school, including altering its hiring policies, actually violate their charter, a founding document that sets out school rules.

The same demands were made by teachers and parents from Tubman, another charter that has been in turmoil. Tubman teachers recently joined the San Diego teachers union and have fought the firing of a teacher, alleging she was discriminated against as a labor leader.

The two charter schools share a board member and made common cause over their concerns.

After parents and teachers from the two schools spoke up at a San Diego Unified school board meeting on Tuesday night, school board President Richard Barrera asked Superintendent Bill Kowba to look into the concerns at both schools, saying that they were serious issues.

"Charter schools cannot be mini-dictatorships that exist on the dime of the public taxpayer," Barrera said. "And we need to make sure that we guard against that."...

More fallout from the Michael Hazelton era

Deborah Hazelton, wife of Michael Hazelton. (Photo from TIP Academy yearbook.)
Michael Hazelton called up this blogger a while back, maybe two or three months ago, and tried to get her to remove Emily Alpert's stories about him from this blog. These are important stories that the public has a right to know about.

Shuttered School Sued for $37,000 Printer
Posted on December 29, 2010
by Emily Alpert

A shuttered charter school and its former principal are being sued by an Illinois financial company for allegedly failing to pay more than $37,000 they owe for a digital printer and copier.

Theory Into Practice Academy was shut down two years ago after an Encinitas Union School District investigation concluded that the school's board and administration violated conflict of interest laws and mismanaged its finances. While charter schools are independently run, they are publicly funded and usually overseen by school districts, which can close them if they violate the law, don't manage their money properly or fall far short academically.

The school played a central role in my special report two years ago on Michael Hazelton, who had led three Southern California schools in four years, each of which was crippled or closed by the time he walked away, suffering deficits or battling accusations that Hazelton improperly enriched himself or corporations he founded.

The Encinitas school was led by Deborah Hazelton, his wife, who was accused of using her influence to goad the board into hiring him.

The attorney representing the Illinois company declined to comment. In its legal filings, TBF Financial LLC states that Deborah Hazelton breached a contract she first signed more than three years ago and now owes more than $37,000 to the company. Under their agreement, the school was supposed to pay $669 a month for five years to lease the equipment.

"[T]hey have failed and refused and continued to fail and refuse to pay said sum," the lawsuit alleges.

As of earlier this month, the company had been unable to reach Deborah Hazelton to serve the complaint. The Hazeltons now work as teachers at the Academy Learning Center in Solana Beach, according to its website...



Mike Hazelton led three different charter schools in four years, each of which suffered deeper deficits or suspicions of mismanagement under his leadership.

The School Guru Who Promised Rescue and Brought Ruin
Part 1
by Emily Alpert
Voice of San Diego
Sept. 24, 2008

Juan Pablo Ladron de Guevara had floundered in a big, conventional school, but not at Cortez Hill Academy. He relished the small classes and loved chatting with his English teacher, his "all-time most favorite teacher in the whole world."

"I actually felt like coming to school," de Guevara said.

But Cortez Hill enrollment didn't keep pace with soaring downtown rents in the summer of 2006, making money so scarce at the tiny charter school that it relied on parents to help maintain the dim, aging building on A Street. Balancing the books frustrated the principal, a former counselor who could soothe troubled teens but was less familiar with finances.

Michael R. Hazelton sold himself as an expert who could help. He was soothing. Gray-haired. Nice. A Harvard University seminar topped his resume, loaded with impressive work at a national company and a school that had once aided Cortez Hill. The school hired him as its executive director to reverse its fortunes.

Instead its deficit ballooned from $16,559 to $188,187 in the single year that it employed Hazelton. When an audit revealed that he gave himself an $18,350 raise without the blessing of the Cortez Hill board, boosting the six-figure salary that had already dwarfed what his predecessor had earned, Hazelton was already gone.

Two of its 13 teachers lost their jobs as Cortez Hill struggled to pay its bills. And something else was missing, something de Guevara couldn't quite describe. Rumors about Hazelton spread and graffiti proliferated in the bathrooms. De Guevara started skipping class to hang out with friends in the library.

"Everyone found out what Mike did," de Guevara said, adding that "the school changed so much. I hated it."

Cortez Hill isn't the only charter school where Mike Hazelton promised rescue and brought ruin. In four years, he has led three Southern California schools and each has been crippled or closed by the time he walked away, suffering deficits or battling accusations that Hazelton improperly enriched himself or corporations he founded.

He was first accused of double-dipping in San Bernardino County, where deficits destroyed a bilingual school that paid him nearly $128,000 in salary and an estimated $290,000 to the corporation he founded for accounting and administrative support. The school's abrupt closure left teenagers without class credits and some struggling to graduate.

Two and a half years later, an audit concluded that his Cortez Hill raise was unapproved and the school hemorrhaged money under his watch, decimating its budget and its morale. And his most recent school, Theory Into Practice Academy, was shut down in August after a Encinitas Union School District investigation concluded that the school's board and administration, which included Hazelton and his wife Deborah Hazelton, violated conflict of interest laws and mismanaged its finances.
Deborah Hazelton, wife of Mike Hazelton, cofounded TIP Academy and served as its principal. Photo from TIP Academy yearbook

Hazelton is still in business, now planning a new private school with his wife in San Marcos. He has not repaid the thousands of dollars that the Encinitas school district and Cortez Hill say he was improperly paid. Hazelton has explanations for the mishaps: The San Bernardino school had trouble partnering with a community group. Cortez Hill was billed twice by the school district. And rivalry spurred the Encinitas school district to attack his school.

He has defenders in San Bernardino and Encinitas. Some contend that the closure of TIP Academy was a politically motivated attack on a successful charter that had drawn students away from the Encinitas schools; others voiced similar complaints about the school district that oversaw the San Bernardino school and place its problems with the local group that partnered with Hazelton.

Even his harshest critics call him nice, and struggle to reconcile his kindness with his record. When classrooms needed books he jumped to supply them. He knew each of their children by name. It seemed impossible that friendly Mike Hazelton, the man who ran school traffic duty in a goofy straw hat, meant to profit off their school. Katherine Flesh, who sent her children to the Encinitas school, was left wondering whether Hazelton was conniving or merely incompetent.

"Is he Mr. Magoo who has left a trail of destruction? Or is it a cover he's perfected?" she asked. Either way, Flesh said, "he found a gravy train."

His saga underscores the vulnerabilities of charter schools, a relatively new phenomenon in California education. Publicly funded but independently run, charters are meant to be incubators for creativity and innovation, unfettered by the rules that weigh traditional schools. They give all students a free alternative to the public schools.

But independence also has a price. Charters often shoulder the business tasks that school districts ordinarily handle for schools, such as running a payroll or financing a building. And those tasks can prove daunting to educators who are more familiar with classrooms than budgets.

Hazelton offered to handle those jobs, convincing his employers with his resume and the sterling reputation of the first charter where he worked. Exaggerated titles and job descriptions went undetected. Few employers contacted all the schools he left, or the references who said they hardly knew Hazelton or hadn't spoken to him in years. School leaders who hired Hazelton trusted him.

"I was hoping he was the professional who could turn it around for us," said Will Stillwell, board secretary at Cortez Hill Academy. "I wanted to let him lead."

Hazelton studied at the University of California, Irvine and San Diego State, and started teaching in 1975 in Oceanside public schools, where he ascended to coordinator of student services, according to his resume. He also owned private preschools in Encinitas with his wife, a recognized teacher of gifted students...

Your school's best bet for higher scores? Get Emily Alpert to profile you!

Remember That School Where … ?
Emily Alpert
Voice of San Diego
August 17, 2010

... * You might remember Montgomery High, a seemingly ordinary school south of the Otay Valley Park that had become a battleground for Sweetwater Union High School District because of its lackluster scores. It brought in a peppy new principal, changed its schedule, and tried to implement a slew of changes to how teachers teach, sometimes rankling teachers and their union.

So what happened? Well, Montgomery saw some big gains on the state test.

The percentage of students who met state goals in math, for instance, more than doubled. The share of students meeting state goals grew nearly 13 percent in English, nearly 15 percent in history and 12 percent in science. I haven't heard the official word yet, but the scores likely mean that Montgomery will avoid state takeover.

* Scores also surged at another school under siege: King-Chavez Arts Academy.

This charter school in Barrio Logan has had a roller coaster of a year. After the controversial firing of most of its teachers two years ago, the school landed on a state list of persistently low-achieving schools that are supposed to create dramatic plans to turn themselves around. But at the same time that it was being labeled as a failure, the Arts Academy saw English scores rise 14 percent and math by nearly 23 percent.

* We also profiled another school that landed on that state list of low achieving schools: Burbank Elementary. Scores jumped there, too, giving some credence to its plans to keep on with reforms it has already started rolling out, instead of reversing course.

* Finally, we stopped into San Ysidro High to see how teachers like Jessica Vargas were trying to toughen up classes to help English learners pass the high school exit exam.
In every grade, more English learners reached state goals, though it is still quite rare -- 8 percent instead of 2 percent among high school juniors, for instance...

100 percent of school's first class college-bound

I can understand what motivated Tim King to create this school. It must be a great feeling to have found young men who were circling the drain, and plucked them out of the vortex of failure. He didn't merely help the young men. He helped society as a whole.

100 percent of school's first class college-bound
By SHARON COHEN (AP)
June 28,2010

CHICAGO — For each boy, the new school offered an escape and a chance at a life that seemed beyond reach.

Krishaun Branch was getting D's, smoking reefer a lot, skipping school twice a week. His mother was too busy working to know what he was doing. He liked to fight and hang out in the streets; having relatives in gangs was his armor.

When a young man in suit and tie came to tell his eighth-grade class about a new high school on Chicago's South Side, Krishaun wanted no part of it — until he heard something tempting: Students would have laptops. Suddenly, he was on board...

And Urban Prep had a goal — one that seemed audacious, given that just 4 percent of the Class of 2010 was reading at or above grade level when they arrived at the school in 2006...

From the very start, Tim King had a grand plan.

"I wanted to create a school that was going to put black boys in a different place," says the founder of Urban Prep, "and in my mind, that different place needed to be college."

King faced long odds: Slightly more 40 percent of black male students in the Chicago public schools graduate high school; a little more than one in five earn a college degree in six years.

Still, on an August day in 2006 he gave members of the first class of Urban Prep a peek at the end of the rainbow. He took them on a guided tour of Northwestern University — just 25 miles away, but a foreign land to kids who had never visited a college or, in some instances, even Chicago's Loop...

Charter School guru Mike Hazelton claims he's not a public figure in Cortez Hill case

Photo: Mike Hazelton









It's amazing that powerful people in schools think they can take control of our money and our children, yet not be accountable to the public.

"Without doubt, the public has a legitimate interest in the activities of a school principal.."

See all Hazelton posts HERE.


An Update on the Charter Guru Case
EMILY ALPERT
August 19, 2009
Voice of San Diego

One of the former employers of Michael R. Hazelton, the charter school guru who I wrote an investigative profile about last year, is firing back after Hazelton sued a now-shuttered school and its leader.

A recap: Hazelton is an administrator who led three Southern California charter schools in four years, each of which was left suffering deficits or battling accusations that he improperly enriched himself by the time he left. One of those schools was Cortez Hill, where auditors found that Hazelton had raised his own salary without board approval. Deficits at the school jumped from $16,559 to $188,187 in the single year that Hazelton worked there. Principal Jacqueline Hicks said she had been "ripped off" by Hazelton.

You might remember that back in February, Hazelton filed suit against Cortez Hill and Hicks, alleging that the school had failed to pay him his full wages, inflicted emotional distress and invaded his privacy by allegedly sharing a letter with a parent in which Hicks "maliciously, unlawfully and for an improper purpose" said she would file embezzlement charges against Hazelton with the police.

He contended that the letter was part of his personnel file and therefore private. It resulted in "the impairment of and damage to his good name and reputation," along with lost earnings, difficulty getting a new job, and humiliation, discomfort and embarrassment, the claim states. Hazelton advertised a new learning center after the last of the schools he led was closed; the center has since expanded to support families who are homeschooling.

Cortez Hill and Hicks countered that because the accusation of embezzlement centers on his actions as principal of Cortez Hill, it's unreasonable for Hazelton to expect that any wrongdoing wouldn't be publicized. "Without doubt, the public has a legitimate interest in the activities of a school principal," it continues.

The two articles we wrote are included by the attorneys as exhibits in the case.

Lawyers are scheduled to next confer on the case in September.

Shame on Shelia Jackson for thwarting Gompers Charter High School

Gompers’ protest over district’s latest scheme
By Marsha Sutton, SDNN
June 29, 2009

“HELP US STOP SAN DIEGO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT FROM TAKING AWAY GOMPERS PROPERTY!”

The headline screamed out at me from my computer screen. Gompers Charter, the Little School That Could, needs help once more.

Against all odds, this neighborhood charter school in southeast San Diego - in partnership with the University of California, San Diego - has taken over where the San Diego Unified School District left off. And that fact apparently infuriates some school board members, particularly board president Shelia Jackson, who represents the Gompers sub-district on the board.

Gompers became a charter school in 2005 after years of chronic failure and indifference by San Diego Unified. In a move that garnered national attention, proponents rallied together and managed to persuade a reluctant school board to approve a Gompers charter unanimously.

What made this charter unique is that it transformed itself from a shell of a school battered by neglect and constrained by union-dominated policies and people, to a neighborhood charter school serving neighborhood kids’ needs with the full support and involvement of parents and the community.

Today, under the leadership of charismatic Gompers principal Vince Riveroll and an enthusiastic staff, achievement has improved, detentions and suspensions have declined, and belief in future success has replaced hopelessness and apathy.

A crumbling educational environment has been converted into a middle school that offers promising outcomes at last.

After four years of steady middle school success, Gompers and its board of directors petitioned the school board earlier this year to approve a Gompers charter high school. A unanimous school board once again voted to support the petition, so Gompers will expand this fall and open a high school that will eventually serve students in grades 9-12.

You’d think, given the unanimity of the charter vote, that all five school board members would be supportive of the school, right? Wrong.

Just after approving the high school charter, it became clear that Jackson had plans to construct a bus turn-around in the area where Gompers has its heart set on building athletic fields for its kids.

Obliterating athletic fields so integral to high school success is a back-door entry to derailed dreams and is yet another blow in a long series of attacks against the school. Even after she heard how strongly the school and community opposed the turn-around, Jackson persisted.

The desperate message from Riveroll lays out the problem:

“The San Diego Unified School District is placing buildings on Gompers sports fields starting in July 2009. We must stop this from happening! The San Diego Unified School District is placing a bus station on Gompers property. We must stop this from happening!”

As Riveroll and his board of directors see it, the destruction of the fields in order to provide a bus turn-around for a nearby magnet school that imports 70 to 80 percent of its students from outside the Gompers area is “unfair treatment” of neighborhood kids - especially when there are other viable options for the magnet school’s buses.

“The district is taking away the Gompers field of dreams and giving it to Millennial Tech Magnet Middle School,” Riveroll says.

Jackson has managed to do this virtually unilaterally, and privately. She has not brought the matter before the full school board, perhaps because not all members support her efforts to thwart Gompers’ progress...



UPDATE FROM VOICE OF SAN DIEGO
by Emily Alpert
June 30, 2009

The charter school is planning a rally Wednesday to protest school district proposals to place classrooms and build a bus turnaround on part of its site...

I finally caught up with school board President Shelia Jackson and bond czar Stuart Markey today to get their thoughts on the plans.

"I'm not sure what all the hullabaloo is about," Jackson said. "The bungalows are a necessary part of the [Millennial Tech] school. They won't interrupt [Gompers'] P.E. program." She argued that contrary to claims made by critics, she had nothing to do with the plans personally. "Whatever has been planned, has been planned by our facilities department."

School board member Katherine Nakamura begged to differ. "This is Ms. Jackson" behind the plan, she said. "And her community is coming to her and telling her in no uncertain terms that this is something they don't want. Does this need to be smack dab in the middle of the athletic fields?"

Stuart Markey, who is overseeing the facilities bond that would help to fund the new classrooms...[said] buildings would be placed no earlier than August if the plans go through. Markey said the issue will go to the school board later in July for a vote.

[Maura Larkins' comment: Usually I give Katherine Nakamura a hard time, but I believe she's on the side of the community here, and I believe she's telling the truth. Shelia, please don't sell out to sweet-talking supporters. Do what's right for the kids. All the kids.]


Read more: http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2009-06-29/news/politics-city-county-government/marsha-sutton-gompers-protest-over-district%e2%80%99s-scheme#ixzz0JxFZlhdj&C
http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/articles/2009/07/01/education/schooled/766gompers063009.txt

Charter Schools May Have Fewer Secrets and Cozy Relationships if law passes

Photo: Guajome Park Academy






Making Conflicts Law Apply to Charters
Voice of San Diego
May 5, 2009

A proposed California law would tighten rules around conflicts of interest and public information at charter schools, a change that would settle disputes over what public school rules apply to charters.

It would explicitly require charter school board members to file statements listing their economic interests, mandate that meetings be open and noticed to the public, and require schools follow the Public Records Act.

...Encinitas Union School District claimed that the charter school was subject to a state law that bans public officials and employees from participating in contracts that could benefit them financially.

Charters have long argued that the specific rule does not apply to them. They point to other protections in the California Corporations Code. The question has never been settled in court...

-- EMILY ALPERT

Green Dot charter high schools score big

US News and World Report Ranks Three Green Dot Schools Among the Nation's Best

US News and World Report ranked three Green Dot schools in 2008 as among the best in the nation. Oscar De La Hoya Animo Charter High School and Animo Leadership Charter High School both made the top 100, with Oscar De La Hoya ranking #53 and Animo Leadership ranking #94. Animo Film and Theater Arts High School made the Silver Medal list.


The New High School Rankings Are Here
US News and World Report
December 14, 2008

U.S. News has just launched its second annual list of America's Best High Schools. The analysis of more than 21,000 public high schools in 48 states is available here and on newsstands as of December 8 in the magazine issue dated Dec. 1522, 2008.

To produce the 2009 America's Best High Schools rankings, U.S. News teamed up with School Evaluation Services (SES), a K-12 education data research business run by Standard & Poor's. SES developed the comprehensive methodology that judges how well high schools serve all their students, not just those who are collegebound...

Mike Hazelton shows no remorse; he sues school that experienced $170,000 increase in deficit while he was in charge

Charter Guru Files Suit
Voice of San Diego
EMILY ALPERT
March 13, 2009

Former charter school administrator Michael R. Hazelton, who I wrote an investigative profile about earlier last year, is suing one of his previous school employers. My story documented how Hazelton led three Southern California schools in four years, each of which has been crippled or closed by the time he walked away, suffering deficits or battling accusations that Hazelton improperly enriched himself or corporations he founded.

In his complaint, Hazelton alleges that Cortez Hill Academy and its director Jacqueline Hicks broke the contract he had with the school, failed to pay him his full wages, inflicted emotional distress and invaded his privacy by allegedly sharing a letter with a parent at another of his schools, Theory Into Practice Academy, in which she "maliciously, unlawfully and for an improper purpose claimed that she, herself, would be filing charges of embezzlement against Plaintiff with the San Diego Police Department." Hazelton alleges that the letter was part of his personnel file and was therefore private.

Hicks was a school principal quoted in my story who said she and her school had been "ripped off" by Hazelton. Auditors of Cortez Hill wrote in 2007 that Hazelton had raised his own salary without board approval, was signing checks alone despite a school policy that required him to get a second signature, and noted that deficits at the school jumped from $16,559 to $188,187 in the single year that Hazelton worked there.

Hazelton alleges that as a result of Hicks sending the letter to the unnamed Theory Into Practice Academy parent, he "has suffered and will continue to suffer the impairment of and damage to his good name and work reputation, substantial loss of earnings and benefits, impairment of his ability to obtain subsequent employment due to the untrue implication that he had committed any illegal acts, as well as humiliation, discomfort, embarrassment and mental and emotional distress."

The suit, filed in late February, seeks more than $25,000 in damages.