Atlanta Preparatory Academy

“Atlanta school board considers own police force.” Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA), 1/14/2013

“... The board on Monday also decided the fate of Atlanta Preparatory Academy, voting 8-1 (Byron Amos dissenting) to follow Davis’ recommendation not to renew the charter of the school. APS executive director of innovation Allen Mueller told the board the school has underperformed academically and has financial problems.

According to Mueller, the K-8 school with about 450 students ranks in the bottom 20 percent of schools statewide in academic performance; its enrollment is 45 percent lower than originally projected; and it owes $801,384 to for-profit education management company Mosaica Education, Inc.

Atlanta Prep board members and Mosaica co-founder and president Gene Eidelman said afterward the school will take its case to the state charter commission, which was approved by voters last November in part to consider charter proposals rejected by local school boards...”

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“Atlanta school facing loss of charter.” Atlanta-Journal Constitution (GA), 1/2/2013

The Atlanta school board will hear arguments in January whether to renew the charter of Atlanta Preparatory Academy or follow a staff recommendation to terminate it in June...

The dispute over renewal illustrates the dynamics and nuances of charter school relationships with local school boards, especially charters run by for-profit management companies that collect taxpayer funds from the district and extract hundreds of thousands of dollars in management fees.

Allen Mueller, APS’s executive director of innovation, told the board Dec. 3 the case against Atlanta Prep’s renewal is clear-cut and the school’s failings manifold. Atlanta Prep ranks in the bottom 20 percent of schools statewide in academic performance; its enrollment is 45 percent lower than originally projected; and it owes $801,384 to for-profit education management company, Mosaica Education, Inc., he said.

Mosaica has agreed to restructure the loan to eliminate a $568,000 balloon payment due in June, said Mueller. But the financial arrangement is still “untenable” because it’s a potential threat to the autonomy of the board, he said. The state of Georgia recommends charter boards have the independence to overrule their management companies...

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“Charter Founder Profits; Students Struggle.” East Atlanta Patch (GA), 12/11/2012

...In December 2006, Mosaica’s President Gene Eidelman filed a charter petition to open the Atlanta Preparatory Academy (APA).  The charter application indicates that non-profit APA intended to contract with for-profit Mosaica to provide all services.

Unlike Grant Park’s community-based Atlanta Neighborhood Charter School, APA was not founded by a group of local parents seeking better options for their kids. Instead, Gene Eidelman was joined by a team of three outsiders, none of whom live in the community where APA planned to operate its school and none of whom send children to the school...

The application acknowledged a conflict of interest as APA’s President was also the founder, owner, and President of Mosaica.

Undeterred by this conflict, the APS Board of Education approved the application...

Since the Board of Education approved the school’s charter five years ago, APA has been a revolving door for board members who join then leave the organization... None of the individuals who have served as CFO appear to have earned a degree in finance or accounting...

This instability and lack of financial experience stands in stark contrast to the consistent financial leadership seen at Atlanta’s successful charters...

Much like Mosaica’s other schools, APA’s students rank among the bottom of the pack on Georgia exams...

Importantly, the school’s highest performing students are 7th graders who received their K-4 educations elsewhere, prior to APA opening...

In addition to the charter’s dismal academic achievement, a review of APA’s financial statements raises questions about whether the school has been a good steward of public resources...

The Management Agreement between APA and Mosaica calls for a fee of 12.5% of per-pupil revenue received by the school, which in 2012 amounted to $577,716. It goes on to say that this fee “will not preclude the payment of additional consideration,” paving the way for Mosaica to charge more for any services not covered under the Management Agreement...

Only 36.2% of APA’s revenue for the year ended June 30, 2012 actually went toward instruction. This was the lowest percentage of expenses allocated to instruction among all of Atlanta’s charter schools...

To date, APA has spent close to one million dollars of public money on a site which in no way contributed to education...

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Mosaica Education

“Charter Founder Profits; Students Struggle.” East Atlanta Patch (GA), 12/11/2012

From its headquarters one block south of Wall Street, Mosaica Education claims to operate with a simple mission: “To empower students to learn and achieve – every child, every day.”

This for-profit charter management company was founded in 1997 by Sandy Springs resident Gene Eidelman and has since expanded to a network of 90 schools, generating more than $125M in annual revenue.  For several years, Inc. Magazine has ranked Mosaica as one of the fastest growing companies in urban America.[i] 

Unfortunately, students attending schools managed by Mosaica have not seen their educational trajectories rise with the management company’s revenue.  Instead, Mosaica’s students around the country consistently underperform their peers...

During Mosaica’s short tenure on the national stage, it has found itself immersed in a series of scandals across the country.

The Lafayette Academy Charter School opened in the fall of 2006, paying Mosaica $773,000 for the first year of a five-year management contract. Less than 10 days into the school year, the charter’s governing board started “noticing problems.” In a lawsuit filed against Mosaica, the governing board alleged that the management company failed to align its curriculum to Louisiana standards, failed to establish an after-school program for struggling students, and failed to properly organize transportation to and from the school.  On September 14, 2007, an arbitrator awarded the governing board a $350,000 judgment against Mosaica and upheld the school’s termination of its management agreement.

Two years later, Mosaica’s Howard Road Academy in D.C. was embroiled in a cheating scandal when a student announced to her exam proctor that she knew all the answers to the DC-CAS standardized test because she had been given the test to practice the day before.  The Washington Post later reported that Mosaica administrators distributed tests prior to exam day for “extra practice

In April 2012, Mosaica’s STEAM Academy of Winston-Salem, North Carolina faced revocation of its charter for financial problems and low academic performance. Just before annual exams were to be administered, The Winston-Salem Journal reported that Mosaica hired Susan Willis to run the school.  Prior to landing this job, Ms. Willis was fired by her previous employer when an investigation found that she conspired to boost test scores as the principal of William Flemming High School in Roanoke, Virginia.  Mosaica claimed to be “aware of a testing irregularity,” when hiring Ms. Willis, but “didn’t think it was anything significant.”...

Just last week, the Detroit News reported that Mosaica’s newest school in Muskegon Heights, Michigan has struggled to maintain a stable staff during its first year of operations. The principal quit before classes started, and just three months into the school year, 25% of the teachers have also left the school. ...

A comprehensive analysis conducted by Arizona State University lists the first 36 schools founded by Mosaica since it began operating in 1997.  Twenty seven of those schools have since been shut down by local authorizers or have extricated themselves from Mosaica’s management.

Of the nine which survived, eight can be classified as categorical failures...

The only possible beacon of success among Mosaica’s first 36 education attempts is the Columbus Preparatory Academy. Founded in 2004, until recently, the school has struggled...saw its performance undergo a meteoric rise to the 81st percentile on the state’s 2011 tests.

Even if this single-year increase is an accurate reflection of lasting student growth at Columbus Prepartory Academy, Mosaica has demonstrated no capacity to duplicate the success elsewhere. Instead, the organization seems willing to accept a certain level of school closures, focusing instead on a strategy of opening new schools. During the time the network watched 27 of its first 36 schools close, it was able to open more than 75 new schools. As long as Mosaica opens more schools than it sees closed each year, its revenue can continue to grow...

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STEAM Academy

“STEAM Academy of Winston-Salem relinquishes charter.” Winston-Salem Journal (NC), 4/4/2013

... The State Board of Education on Thursday accepted the voluntary relinquishment of the operating charter that allowed the STEAM Academy of Winston-Salem to operate.

The Winston-Salem school has seen its enrollment plunge by more than 70 percent over the last seven years while the school's debts skyrocketed. Its operators are voluntarily giving up the charter.

Last month, it was reported that the school's general fund was more than $700,000 in debt. Reports from as far back as April 2011 show the school was in financial trouble.

The school had a funded average daily membership, or enrollment, of 102 students, compared to 153 in 2010-2011 and 379 in 2006-2007...

About four dozen charter schools have been disbanded since the mid-1990s, when they started operating free of many of the rules governing most public schools.

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“STEAM Academy in financial trouble.” Winston-Salem Journal (NC), 3/11/2013

A Winston-Salem charter school is once again in hot water with the State Board of Education.

State officials are questioning whether downtown’s STEAM Academy has enough money to keep the doors open for another year. A report presented to the board last week shows the school’s general fund is more than $700,000 in the hole. The school added more than half a million dollars in debt in just the last year.

According to the state board’s report, there is substantial doubt about the school’s ability to continue. The school has been placed on disciplinary status for financial noncompliance. It is the most serious stage of financial warning. According to state board policy, schools may be dictated to undergo corrective action or even have their charter revoked...

It’s not the first time the STEAM Academy’s finances have been called into question. Concerns about academic performance, governance and financial solvency have plagued the school for several years. State Board of Education reports from as far back as April 2011 show the school struggling financially. A sharp drop in enrollment is causing many of the school’s problems, Medley said...

The STEAM Academy opened as the Downtown Middle School in 1997. Its charter was renewed for another 10 years in 2007. The school changed its name to the STEAM Academy, emphasizing its curriculum focus on science, technology, engineering, the arts and math in 2011 as an attempt to rebrand and combat declining enrollment. The school originally did not report the name change to the State Board of Education and was put in governance noncompliance for not seeking approval first. The name change was subsequently approved, as was a contract with the Mosaica, a national company brought in to oversee the school.

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Troubled school's principal fired previously over testing scandal.” Winston-Salem Journal (NC), 4/9/2012

The principal of STEAM Academy, a Winston-Salem charter school facing a do-or-die set of standardized tests this spring, was fired in 2009 after a Virginia state investigation blamed her in a testing scandal there...

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Howard Road Academy Public Charter School

“Cheating on DC-CAS Costs Charter School.” Washington Post (DC), 8/12/2009

The teacher at Howard Road Academy Public Charter School suspected something was seriously amiss in April when a student taking the math portion of the DC-CAS standardized test announced that she was finished -- way early.

"You can't be finished. Go back and check your work," the teacher said.

"We did this yesterday. I know all of the answers," the student said.

The scene comes from a report by school officials detailing the investigation of a cheating scandal at their G Street campus in Southeast D.C. When the probe was done, an administrator and two teachers were dismissed and 27 fourth- and sixth-graders had their test scores invalidated...

When the teacher looked at the student's exam, she found that the problems were identical to those in a packet of practice questions distributed to students a few days earlier. A colleague had a similar experience, and they shared their concern with the school's leadership.

According to a statement from an unnamed school official, copies of the test were "distributed strategically to two new teachers who have never administered a DC-CAS before and didn't know what they looked like. The pages were copied without covers and distributed to them as extra practice for the kids."

Security was also lax, according to another staff member's statement. Copies of the exams were sitting in an unlocked cabinet for three weeks prior to testing week.

The administrator who leaked the test, and two teachers who knew of the cheating but did not report it, were dismissed, according to the report.

The report also strongly suggests that school politics may have helped create an envionment [sic] in which cheating could take root. It includes a letter of "reprimand" and another of "admonishment" to two unnamed Howard Road employees from Mosaica Education Inc., the company that operates Howard Road and charter schools in eight states.

One of them, who was apparently in a senior position, was cited for a failure of leadership because the teachers who suspected the cheating "did not feel comfortable" coming to him/her. "Had they not seen you as so personally close to [name redacted] they would have brought this issue directly to your attention."

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