Failing charter schools in Ohio aren’t a new story. Especially for-profit ones.
But this story from The Vindicator reveals a whole new level of mismanagement and neglect on the part of a for-profit charter school operator.
According to the article, the school is looking for VOLUNTEER “electricians, painters, carpenters” to help refurbish their gymnasium.
Let me repeat: this is a FOR-PROFIT charter school- which means they are a private company that is given tons of taxpayer cash (usually in the millions) by the state and federal government to educate our children.
And this PRIVATE COMPANY – that runs on TAXPAYER DOLLARS – is looking for VOLUNTEERS to help them finish the school gym.
Is it just me or is something is seriously wrong here?
The school is run by Mosaica Education Inc- a company founded in 1997 by financier Gene Eidelman.
According to their website:
Mosaica Education, Inc. is one of the nation’s leading private operators of K-12 public schools bringing the benefits of competition and private sector efficiency to the public school system. Mosaica-managed schools have yielded superior academic and financial results to date by utilizing a unique school design, which combines a proprietary curriculum called Paragon®, with state-of-the-art technology and sound fiscal practices.
Ah yes. I see now.
“Sound fiscal practices” and “private sector efficiency” mean coercing free labor from local volunteers while keeping all of the money for yourself.
I’m sure the stockholders are very pleased by your methods, Mr. Eidelman.
Unfortunately, your methods are basically screwing your students and ripping off Ohio’s taxpayers.
Sure it bothers me that Mr. Eidelman is a huge Republican donor who is especially generous when local opposition to his for-profit schools arises (like in PA in 2000).
But I really wouldn’t care if his schools could provide a quality education to our kids while ensuring our tax dollars didn’t go the waste.
But if those schools have to resort to volunteer labor to fix up their gym, then obviously these schools have only one purpose: to make money.
And that is just not acceptable.
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Cincinnati’s NBC station is reporting that Willard Wilson, former head of a Cincinnati charter school, has been indicted on more charges. This time it’s theft by deception and two counts of forgery.
Wilson was previously indicted on charges of stealing tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars by “inflating the enrollment at the W. E .B. Dubois Academy in Cincinnati to receive additional state money” as well as applying to start four other magnet schools in ohio and keeping some of the state money for himself.
Does anyone still think Ohio’s charter school system doesn’t need more oversight?
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If charter school advocates are serious about continuing with their brand of ’school choice’ in Ohio then they better get on board with some new legislation being proposed by Sen. Tom Roberts.
SB 331 would hold community schools to the same standards for student accountability and teacher qualifications as public schools. It would also require community schools to collect and post information about pupils that enroll in public schools after leaving charter schools.
SB 332 would extend current public records and audit regulations that apply to charter schools to the entities’ sponsors and operators.
Finally, SB 333 would permit local communities to partner with school districts for economic development opportunities, while repealing the requirement that charter schools have the first right of refusal on unused school buildings.
Without this type of transparency and accountability, Ohio’s charter schools will continue to waste our tax dollars and fail our children.
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In a recent interview with the Columbus Education Association, Governor Strickland discussed his plans to improve Ohio’s educational system.
The first goal of his plan is “to strengthen our commitment to Ohio’s public schools and public education.” With this commitment comes “increased accountability measures for charters.”
But the Governor admits this won’t happen while Republicans control the legislature. Because, as I’ve mentioned many times before, for-profit charter school operators are HUGE campaign contributors.
So until we can win back control of the General Assembly, we’re going to have to suffer through more and more stories like this:
The state auditor’s office says a charter school in Akron is impossible to audit because of incomplete records.
Phoenix Village Academy-Primary 1 must tell the state within 45 days how it will assemble the documents for an audit. Its sponsor, Ashe Culture Center Inc., is prohibited from opening new community schools while its finances are considered unauditable.
The school, which emphasizes African history and culture, was investigated by state education officials last year for serving drinks tinged with gin to sixth graders. The school said the class’ graduation ceremony was modeled after a Ghanian rite of passage.
A message seeking comment was left with the school Tuesday.
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In Ohio, all schools receive funds from the state based on the number of enrolled students.
With the rise of charter schools in Ohio, public schools have lost many of their students and, in turn, much of their funding to these new, often for-profit charters.
While most local public school districts have rules requiring students to live within that district, charter schools often don’t have such restrictions. Students who attend Ohio’s online schools, for example, can live in any school district.
As a result public schools are put at a disadvange having to compete for students and funding with other schools that get to play by a different set of rules.
Now one public school district is trying to fight back.
Instead of raising local taxes to cover a possible budget deficit, the School Superintendent in Austintown, OH has proposed offering open enrollment to all of the township’s schools.
Personally, I like the idea of local public schools serving their local communities. All schools should have the funds they need to provide high-quality education to all of their students without having to fight for students and funds with other schools.
But until the state smartens up and fixes our school funding mess – which includes shutting down for-profit charter schools that have scammed Ohio’s taxpayers out of millions of dollars – these are the kind of hard choices local public school districts are going to have to make.
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In case you haven’t heard, Columbus-based Skybus Airlines shut down yesterday.
Almost immediately Matt over at Naug Blog jumped at the chance to rip on Mike Coleman and Columbus’s Democrats for helping bring the airline to town.
We shouldn’t mourn for the loss of a crappy airline service that had sloppy business model. But we should pity those abused taxpayers who will continue to be forced to hand over money to politically-connected private businesses.
The problem with his argument, and that of the Buckeye Institute as well, is that little if any tax money went to SkyBus directly. Certainly nothing near the $50 million they both are quoting.
According to the article they both cite, only $14 million was supposed to come from the city and that was in the form of incentives like tax credits and abatements.
The rest – $26 million – came from the Columbus Regional Airport Authority (CRAA)- not the city or state. And this money was not given directly to the airline either. Instead, it was spent on “airport improvements such as additional restrooms and expanded security checkpoints” – something that will help all of the airlines and passengers traveling through CMH.
More importantly, NONE of the CRAA investments came from tax payer dollars.
According to the CRAA’s Financial Report, 100% of the funding for development projects comes from user fees payed by the airlines and passengers NOT FROM CITY OR STATE TAX DOLLARS.
If you guys really want to help “abused taxpayers” who are “forced to hand over money to politically-connected private businesses”- might I suggest focussing on for-profit charter schools?
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What the hell is up with this???
The Ohio Federation of Teachers wants the IRS to investigate charter school operator White Hat Management, contending the private company has violated the terms of the tax-free status assigned to many of its schools.
The union alleges that at least 25 Life Skills Centers and Hope Academies operated by White Hat don’t qualify for tax-exempt status because many of them share board members, trademarks and contracts.
Under IRS rules, to keep a tax exemption board members need to be unaffiliated with the management company and have authority over their own budgets, curriculum and staff.
The teachers union outlines its complaint in a letter to the IRS.
Federal guidelines also prohibit a for-profit management company from deriving private benefit from the publicly funded schools it runs.
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. White Hat’s David Brennan and the rest of the for-profit charter school operators are huge GOP contributors.
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The Dispatch ran a well written and quite thorough opinion piece on Saturday that really sums up the situation with Ohio’s screwed up charter schools.
The piece was written by Thomas M. Stephens who is professor emeritus at OSU and the author of many books on schools, teaching and education.
Stephens points out that charter schools are promoted as a ‘panaceas for intractable education and social problems’ but the way the system is set up in Ohio pretty much guarantees their failure and leads ‘to questionable promises and practices.’
Last year Ohio’s 310 charter schools recieved $532 MILLION in state funds. And what did we get for all that money?
- 57 percent of charters were in academic watch or academic emergency.
- 38 percent of charters in urban areas that enroll at-risk students are in academic emergency – compared to only 19 percent of public schools in those same areas.
The reason?
Charter schools lack “seasoned teachers, experienced leaders, comprehensive offerings and good physical facilities.”
They also lack oversite from the state.
Initial evidence seems to show that charter schools are not providing quality educational options and are not any better- and sometimes worse – than public schools. But fear not. The good professor has a solution…
First, place a moratorium on charter schools until a research-based system is in place. Then create an oversight body free of politics, with teeth, which has specific standards based on empirical evidence. Provide on-site inspections through the Ohio Department of Education under the direction of the independent group. Require schools that are out of compliance to make corrections before funding is resumed. And don’t lift the moratorium until evidence shows that the existing ones are at least as good as traditional programs.
Hmm… that sounds a lot like Governor Strickland’s plan. The same plan that was rejected by Ohio’s Republican-led (and for-profit charter school funded) legislators.
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I’m almost starting to feel bad for David Brennan- he just can’t seem to catch a break.
Even Mary Taylor, our Republican State Auditor, who received tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the Brennan family, is beating on Brennan and his for-profit charter school business…
State Auditor Mary Taylor slapped 19 community schools operated by White Hat Management in Akron for abusive business practices.
A spokesman for her office said this was believed to be the first time a for-profit charter school in Ohio had been cited for abuse in an annual audit.
The audit complained that some board members who sat on the board of more than one White Hat school were paid multiple stipends for the same meeting if their school was discussed.
[ Full Story ]
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I was out of commission yesterday, and most of the good stuff was already picked up in the rest of the Ohio ’sphere, including this nugget, which is way too important for a Central Ohio blog to neglect to mention.
Bill Todd got 22% of his current funds for his Mayoral campaign from one David Brennan. You remember David Brennan, right? You should – we’ve talked about him quite a bit.
In case you are too lazy to look it up, Brennan is the Chairman of White Hat, the Akron-based charter school company. And Brennan is a good friend to Republicans, splashing out lots of cash. Little wonder he likes Bill Todd; Todd wants to institute charter schools in Columbus under the laughable assertion that it’s about providing “choice” to parents. These initiatives aren’t about choice – they are about privatizing education and turning into a profit-based industry, rather than a child-centric one, and lining the pockets of contributors like David Brennan.
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Matt uses Bill Todd’s recent “tear down that mall” comment as a jumping off point to toss veiled racism around. Aside: can we stop with the Ronnie pimpin’ already? Bill is jumping up and down and blaming Coleman for the demise of City Center and is using the blame game to score political points. Matt does as well, and tosses in a bit of veiled racism:
For those of you who haven’t had the displeasure of being inside the City Center Mall, you should be glad you haven’t wasted your time. Well over half of the stores inside are closed down… And the few shops that are open include a tattoo parlor and clothing stores full of ghetto chic oversized clothing. I honestly don’t feel safe inside that mall, and business owners would be foolish to try to set up shop inside of that environment.
LOL. Baggy pants Matt. BOO!
The five months I spent at Progress Ohio I ate lunch probably every other day at the mall. Didn’t even get shot. You figure with concealed carry Matt might feel safe everywhere he goes, but the word probably hasn’t gotten out to the baggy pants yet. What Matt is really saying is that there are lots of black people in the Mall that scare him. There are also a slew of statehouse peeps who take lunch there as well. Sure, you can score some bling if you are so inclined, but you can also score some vitamins from GNC, some flowers, and some books from Waldenbooks. Those books are privatized even, not the evil library kind!
Now, here’s the thing that Bill Todd won’t mention and neither will Matt. Care to guess what was on the third floor of the City Center Mall until recently? Harte Crossroads – a charter school that cost the taxpayers $3.3 million dollars before finally closing down last month. I remember seeing the kids in the mall and thinking it was an odd space for a learning environment. Turns out it was much, much worse than I thought.
So charter schools are in part to blame for a vacant City Center…and Matt is scared of the very people he thinks charters schools might help. You owe it to yourself to read the entire article. It will leave you like Matt in a TV interview – speechless:
Dead schools’ debt mounts
Matt’s Scary City Center Guide in the extended… [click to continue…]
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In 2000 the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow (eCOT), a Columbus based charter school, became “the first electronic charter school in the nation to graduate students”. That same year Coletta Musick, superintendent of eCOT, was paid $124,233 and forced to quit her job because of extremely poor performance.
Jump ahead to 2005 and Ms. Musick is back- now as a
major contributor to Ohio Republicans: $2,500 to the Ohio House Republican Campaign Committee and another $2500 to Speaker Husted.
In 2006 she gave even more: $5K to the Ohio House Republican Campaign Committee, $2.5K to Jim Petro, $2.5K to the Republican Senate Campaign Committee, $2K to Mary Taylor and another five hundred bucks to Husted.
How, you may be asking yourself, is this failed school superintendent able to contribute so much money to Republican politicians in Ohio?
Good question- and also relevant, since it leads us back to the Virtual Community School (VCS) of Ohio , the so-called cyber-charter-school mentioned in my earlier post.
Reviewing the financial statements for VCS reveals even more interesting facts like:
1. The Superintendent of the Virtual Community School of Ohio is Mr. Donnie P. Musick- husband of Coletta Musick.
2. During fiscal year 2006, VCS paid a company called eSchool consultants $3,673,257 (yes, that’s over THREE AND A HALF MILLION DOLLARS!!!).
3. Coletta Musick is the president of eSchool Consultants!
Now- I’m not saying anything inappropriate or illegal is going on here- but is certainly does seem fishy…
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No wonder the kiddos were out in such force! The week before was National Charter Schools Week. Silly.
George says:
Because they are not bound by many regulatory requirements, charter schools have the flexibility to innovate in ways that will best meet students’ academic needs.
Yes. Innovations. Some of these innovations include the ability to cart kids down to the statehouse and use them as political pawns. It also apparently includes – if I’m hearing right – assigning letter writing campaigns to kids as homework. Letters that, uh…support “school choice” of course!
I’d really like to see proof of all these results charters schools are supposedly getting. All I hear is the opposite. Won’t be the first time GWB lied through his teeth.
This week we thank educational entrepreneurs for supporting charter schools, and we honor all those involved in charter schools for helping their students reach high expectations.
Translation: I hope the likes of David Brennan with White Hat Management continue to make a killing so they can contribute to Republicans with dollars that shoulda gone to traditional public education. This racket rocks!
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via email from PFAW:
Although Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland (D) has said he wants to eliminate the state’s troubled private-school voucher program, the Republican-controlled state House yesterday passed a budget maintaining the program, and the state Senate is apparently poised to do the same. The Columbus Dispatch reports on one parochial school that fails to meet the lowered requirements for private schools to receive state money: Harvest Preparatory Academy, operated by televangelist Rod Parsley’s World Harvest megachurch.
They quote a Dispatch article, which has this gem from a school spokesperson:
“(The school) has the utmost confidence in both the qualifications and the Christian character of its teaching staff,” Corder said. “It would be misleading to suggest that there is a problem to rectify.”
Let’s see. 28 of 36 teachers are not licensed. One doesn’t have a college degree and is teaching English and Science. Yes. Nothing to see here. Please move on…
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