Ricardo Flores Magon Academy

“Marcos Martinez, head of Ricardo Flores Magon Academy, resigns his post.” Denver Westword (CO), 3/8/2012

Marcos Martinez, the controversial founder of the Ricardo Flores Magon Academy and subject of our cover story "A Hard Line," has resigned. So, too, have two other employees whom the school's board of trustees asked to take a paid leave while they investigated complaints against them. The school is now searching for a new leader.

Meanwhile, it seems that Martinez is making moves in Wyoming.

Liberty's Torch, a monthly newspaper in Cheyenne, recently ran a story about Martinez's efforts to start a branch of the Ricardo Flores Magon Academy there.

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“Charter school chief rules with iron fist, say teachers.” Denver Westword (CO), 11/29/2011... 

Board minutes show that fifteen staff members — a good portion of whom were fired by [Marcos Martinez, the head of Ricardo Flores Magón Academy charter school in Westminster] for "not being a good fit" — left in the first four years of the school's existence.

Some of them say Martinez favored male staff members and those who were Hispanic. They say he also created an uncomfortable working environment.

Mitchell is suing Martinez and the school in U.S. District Court. She believes Martinez discriminated against her because she has a disability — asthma — that exacerbated her illness. Further, she believes Martinez treated her differently than other employees because although she herself is Latina, she's married to a white man.

Another former teacher filed a complaint with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, claiming she'd been discriminated against because she was a woman, especially during and after her pregnancy. She settled with the school.

RFMA's problems don't end there, however. The school, which moved to a new location this fall, has also been criticized by state education officials for its high teacher turnover rate and its use of Che Guevara as a role model for young children. It has been slapped on the wrist by the county health department for not having hot water or a food-service license at its old facility and is embroiled in a lawsuit with its previous landlord...

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Delhi Charter School

“ACLU targets anti-pregnancy rule at Louisiana charter school.” Associated Press, 8/7/2012

The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana threatened Tuesday to sue a northeastern Louisiana charter school if it doesn't change rules that keep pregnant students out of the classroom and require girls under suspicion of being pregnant to be tested. The four-paragraph "Student Pregnancy Policy" in Delhi Charter School's policy manualsays that if a suspected girl refuses to take a pregnancy test, she can be removed from class or the school.

That violates the U.S. Constitution and federal laws against sexual discrimination, state ACLU executive director Marjorie R. Esman said...

The pregnancy policy, on page 130 of the manual, says pregnant students who want to stay in the school must study at home.

"If an administrator or teacher suspects a student is pregnant, a parent conference will be held. The school reserves the right to require any female student to take a pregnancy test to confirm whether or not the suspected student is in fact pregnant," it states. The school can also choose which doctor the student will see.

Students who refuse to take a pregnancy test must either study at home or find another school.

The requirements are part of "an environment in which all students will learn and exhibit acceptable character traits," it says.

Title IX, the section of the 1972 federal education law requiring equal opportunities for both sexes in education, mandates that "pregnant students are entitled to an education free from discrimination," Esman wrote. She said it allows home instruction for pregnant students, but "participation ... must be completely voluntary and comparable to those offered to non-pregnant students."

It violates the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause because "boys who are expecting children -- or who are suspected of having engaged in sexual activity -- are not similarly treated," she wrote...

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