Adelaide L. Sanford Charter School

“With Adelaide L. Sanford Charter School closing, Newark families must move on.” The Star-Ledger (NJ), 6/25/2013

NEWARK — Bobby and Troy Shanks saw the handwriting on the wall last year with the Adelaide L. Sanford Charter School in Newark when federal officials filed a lawsuit against the school...

The embattled charter school, opened in 2007 by longtime activist Fredrica Bey, had been on probation for more than a year. The school is also facing a complaint by the U.S. Attorney’s office which contends Bey took $345,325 in federal grant money earmarked for programs to keep "at-risk" youths off of the streets and instead used it used it to pay bills for the Women In Support of the Million Man March, a non-profit community group she started in 1995.

The state also expressed concerns about the conflicts of interest between the school’s leadership and the school’s agreement to lease space from WISOMMM...

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“Special report: Born in hope, Newarkcharter school now embroiled in controversy.” The Star-Ledger (NJ), 5/5/2013

NEWARK — Linda Newton enrolled her 8-year-old son at Adelaide L. Sanford Charter School to shield him from the ills that afflict many of Newark’s regular public schools.

She has regretted that decision every day since.

Last summer, nearly all of the troubled school’s two dozen teachers resigned, and students were hastily relocated to a downtown building that parents say is not equipped for their children. Some students climb five flights of stairs to reach their classrooms in the hulking former church.

Other kids have no classrooms at all, sharing space in a vast multipurpose room where academic instruction is often interrupted by the clapping and stomping of a dance class some 50 feet away.

Parents and teachers complain of a shortage of textbooks, an insufficient heating system and a lack of discipline for rowdy students, leading to fights and bullying.

At least half of the 339 kids enrolled on the first day of school have left, though some have been replaced with new recruits, the parents and teachers said. Test scores are among the bottom 10 percent in the state...

But a Star-Ledger examination of the school and its leadership reveals a faltering institution that provides bare-bones learning facilities while using millions of dollars in state and federal aid, bolstering a real estate fiefdom controlled by the school’s founder, Fredrica Bey.

A fiery community activist with political pull, Bey has come under intense scrutiny by both the state Department of Education and the U.S. Justice Department, which accuses her of fraud in a civil suit. That case, unrelated to Adelaide Sanford, is expected to come to trial later this year, barring a last-minute settlement.

The Star-Ledger review found that school officials — including Bey’s daughter and longtime friends — approved hugely inflated rental payments to Women in Support of the Million Man March, a community group Bey founded, for space the school doesn’t use. An attorney who specializes in nonprofit law said the arrangement smacks of a "sham transaction."

At the same time, investigators with the state Education Department determined Bey may have broken the law by using a possibly invalid school lease as the bedrock document to obtain an $8.27 million loan. The investigators recommended that the Division of Criminal Justice look into the matter.

The newspaper’s examination — encompassing court records, Education Department reports, financial documents and dozens of interviews — also found a pattern of recalcitrance by Bey and school officials, who repeatedly ignored state directives, according to documents obtained under the Open Public Records Act.

In particular, the state has accused Adelaide Sanford for more than a year of refusing to comply with regulations, turn over records or eliminate clear conflicts of interest, chiefly the dual roles Bey held as executive director of both the school and her group, known in the community by its acronym, WISOMMM...

Revered by some and feared by others, Bey, 68, has built a reputation as a powerful figure in New Jersey’s largest city, with friends in political, cultural and activist circles, along with a direct line to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.

But she has also periodically drawn scrutiny from law enforcement officials investigating allegations of fraud. Most recently, the U.S. Attorney’s Office last year sued Bey and WISOMMM, alleging violations of the False Claims Act...

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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...

[READ THE WHOLE PIECE]

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Marcus Garvey Leadership Charter School (Oklahoma)

“Charter school teacher accused of molesting student.” KOCO (OK), 2/26/2013

OKLAHOMA CITY —A teacher at a charter school in Oklahoma City has been accused of molesting a 14-year-old student, according to court documents.

Pascal Wayne Jones, 42, of Edmond, has been charged with 10 counts of forcible oral sodomy, five counts of rape by instrumentation and 10 counts of lewd acts with a child under 16 years old.

The girl told Oklahoma City police detectives that the molestation started in Nov. 2011 when Jones "touched her breasts" while she was a student at the Marcus Garvey Leadership Charter School located at 1537 NE 24th St.

The victim told detectives that she performed several sexual acts on Jones until May 2012.

During the course of the investigation, detectives said, Jones was arrested on suspicion of stalking the victim at her new high school.

According to court documents, the charter school's principal held a meeting with staff to discuss the allegations in 2012. Police also conducted a failure-to-protect investigation into the school...

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“Oklahoma City School Board votes to close charter school.” The Oklahoman (OK), 5/13/2013

... District administrators allege poor academics and financial mismanagement. An attorney for the school said that's not the case. Both sides called foul on the other's interpretation of test scores...

Hunt presented state testing numbers comparing Marcus Garvey to the other charter schools with similar demographics. Some numbers were similar, but others were drastically different...

Kwame Mumina, an attorney speaking on behalf of Marcus Garvey, said the statistics weren't fair...

School officials don't follow state law when it comes to tracking and paying for school expenses, said Jean Bostwick, a controller in the district finance department.

The school district was paying for meals at the school, but the school was also receiving federal funds for those same meals.

Instead of using the federal funds to pay the school district back, the school kept the money. When district officials pointed out the problem, the school eventually paid it all back. But it didn't have all $92,000 on hand.

Board member Phil Horning said that points to misspending...

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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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The Project School

Bank foreclosing on former charter school property.” Indianapolis Business Journal (IN), 2/25/2013

Old National Bank is suing the operator of a charter school that closed last summer in Indianapolis, claiming it failed to pay off the $1.8 million balance on its mortgage.

The Project School in August lost a court battleto stay open after Mayor Greg Ballard revoked the school’s charter due to poor test scores and financial issues...

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“Ballard moves to shut down The Project School.” Indianapolis Business Journal (IN), 7/17/2012

It looks like there will be no back to school at The Project School, a charter school just northeast of downtown.

Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard announced Tuesday evening that he intends to revoke the charter that gives The Project School the authority to operate. Ballard cited poor test scores and “recently discovered financial problems.”

The four-year-old school, which is publicly funded, has never seen more than 30 percent of its students pass both the math and reading portions of the state standardized ISTEP test...

A notice of revocation sent to The Project School paints an ugly picture of the school's finances. It claims the school has run a deficit in each of the last three years and now has nearly $5.3 million in debt. The notice also states that The Project School delayed paying its staff this month by one week because it had so little cash on hand.

The notice of revocation also cited a report by the Indiana State Board of Accounts, which found that The Project School had improperly used more than $63,500 in federal facilities and planning grant money to pay salaries and operational expenses...

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Midlands Math and Business Academy

“After appeals process, Midlands Math and Business Charter will close.” WIS TV (SC), 3/20/2013

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - The Richland One School Board voted three years ago to revoke the charter of the Midlands Math and Business Academy. During the appeals process, the school has been operating without a charter. Now the courts have sided with the district, forcing the school to close next week...

The school is tucked inside an old shopping center with 72 students in grades 4 through 8...

The Richland One School Board voted to revoke the school's charter in 2009.

"There were several violations that included academics as well as some staffing issues," said Richland One Superintendent Percy Mack.

Mack says the school did not fulfill the goals set forth in its charter. The district sent in resources to help the school rebound, but Mack says there has not been enough progress...

Parents have less than a week to decide on a new school...

The district says it will stop all funding to the school next Tuesday March 26. The school does have the right to file another appeal but has not made a decision yet.

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Mary L. Dinkins Charter School

“Revoked Charter School Remains Open, SLED Investigating.” WLTX (SC), 3/18/2013

Sumter, SC (WLTX) -- Classes continued Monday at a Sumter school with a revoked charter and a restraining order.

Now SLED says it is also investigating the school for impropriety.

The South Carolina Charter School District says whatever is going on at the Mary L. Dinkins Charter School is not a recognized function with the state, and it plans to take further action against the school Tuesday...

A court cited low test scores and irregularities in its decision to revoke the school's charter.

Dinkins-Robinson says the school has since improved and their appeal of the decision allows them to remain open...

According to [Clay Eaton with the South Carolina Public Charter School District], the school received no materials for upcoming statewide tests and no funding for the month of March. He says parents should move their students to a recognized school setting...

He says the district will head to court Tuesday asking to make their temporary restraining order against the school permanent.

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Benjamin Mays Preparatory School

“Ben Mays families lament loss of community as charter is pulled.” The Lens (LA), 2/14/2013

[Benjamin Mays Preparatory School] is one of four charters in transition this year. The state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education voted in December to strip the school of its charter because of low academic performance. Three other charters, Pride College Prep, Crocker Arts and Technology School and Intercultural Charter School, also were not renewed. But other operators agreed to run those schools, giving enrolled students priority. Though another school will be at the Mays site next year — Akili Academy — Akili is moving from its former location, not expanding, and it will enroll its own students first. That means Mays’ students will be dispersed to schools across the city...

Critics, such as education advocate Ashana Bigard, argue that shuttering schools for any reason uproots families and can be traumatic.

“The whole model of closing and replacing a school is the opposite of stability,” which is key to a child’s success, Bigard said...

Mays principal Shanda Gentry sees the school’s closure as unavoidably disruptive for its enrollment of about 360 students, many of them low-income residents of the nearby Desire neighborhood...

RSD officials, as well as representatives from Akili and other nearby schools, were on hand to answer questions at a Feb. 5 school fair catering to Mays families, but the event was sparsely attended. Kids who don’t make the cut at Akili will face sometimes lengthy commuting times — and in some cases, so will their parents, those who have cars...

“Our population … we’re just as bonded to them as they are to us,” she said. Parents sometimes even ask teachers for help with a utility bill. “ ‘My lights are off. Can you help me? My water’s off,’ ” [Jasmine Graves, who has been a middle-school teacher at Mays] said...

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NorthStar High School

“Sentinel Watchdog: Failed charter school paid principal's husband $460K.” Orlando Sentinel (FL), 12/1/2012

The failed Orange County charter school that gave its principal a payout of $519,000 in taxpayer dollars after closing in June also paid her husband more than $460,000 during a five-year period, audits show.

The payments to Steven A. Young, which averaged more than $80,000 a year, were for performing "certain management services," according to annual audits paid for by the school. The total included about $41,000 for services to be performed after the school closed, according to one of the audits.

Young, husband of NorthStar High School Principal Kelly Young, helped establish the charter school 11 years ago and was its first board president. He resigned from the NorthStar board in August 2008, the same month he was arraigned on charges of soliciting prostitutes while on duty as an Orange County sheriff's commander. He was ultimately adjudicated guilty of three charges and lost his law-enforcement job. He is now a divorce attorney.

The payments to Steven Young appear to violate state law prohibiting public officers and employees from doing business with family members, according to legal and charter-school experts. The law states that no employee or officer may purchase services "from any business entity of which the officer or employee or the officer's or employee's spouse or child is an officer, partner, director, or proprietor."...

Between 2010 and 2012, the school also paid at least two of its five board members a total of $48,000 to do clerical and administrative work for the school. Those payments also appear to violate state law and conflict with NorthStar's contract with Orange County schools, district officials say...

Under Florida law, charter schools are run by independent governing boards. Although the schools use public money, state and district officials have little to no control over how the money is spent. According to an August report by the state auditor general, a third of state charter schools had accounting problems, legal violations or other problems in their 2011 audits...

According to former teachers, the school should have been shut down years ago.

Some classes were taught by uncertified teachers, several former staffers said. Scott Simmons, who taught history and art at the school from 2002 to 2007, provided a document showing that the school submitted class schedules that made it appear that only certified teachers were being used. It showed Simmons teaching health, a class he never taught.

The school had inadequate books, overcrowded classrooms, no library and a cafeteria without food service.

Simmons also said the principal routinely forced out troublesome students after they were counted for funding purposes...

Simmons said he reported problems, including cheating on a Stanford Achievement standardized test, to the administrator who oversaw charter schools for Orange County in 2006, but the complaints never led anywhere. The school's charter was renewed in 2007. The Orange County school district was poised to close down the school for poor academic performance and other issues when the NorthStar board voluntarily closed the school this year...

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“Principal's Golden Parachute Infuriates Lawmakers.” Associated Press, 10/28/2012

A failed Florida charter school's principal is getting a $519,000 departure payment, and that has some state lawmakers outraged.

An evaluation by the Orange County School District shows NorthStar High School's directors paid Principal Kelly Young more than twice as much as they spent on teachers and students in the 2011-12 school year.

The Orlando Sentinel reported that Young received $824,000 in taxpayer funds. That includes the departure payment but not money she's still getting for winding down the school's operations. Meanwhile, the school spent $366,042 on instruction, including teacher salaries last year...

"I have never seen an act that egregious in 15 years of working with charters," said Rep. John Legg, a Port Richey Republican who's a charter school business administrator.

A recording on Friday said the phone number listed for the school had been disconnected.

While Young was getting a handsome salary, the school, made up of concrete portables, lacked computers, a library or a cafeteria for some 180 mostly at-risk and underprivileged students...

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“$500,000 payout to charter principal sparks outrage, call for probe.” Orlando Sentinel (FL), 10/24/2012 

The principal of a failed Orange County charter school took home a check for more than $500,000 as the school closed down in June and is still being paid thousands of dollars a month to wrap up the school's affairs.

The check for $519,453.36 in taxpayer money was cut to Kelly Young, principal of NorthStar High School, two days after the Orange County School Board accepted the school's plan to close in lieu of being shut down for poor performance.

The payment, which was authorized by the charter school's independent board, appears to be legal...

Young's payout was based on a contract that called for her to be paid about $305,000 per year through 2014, even though the school's contract was up for renewal in 2012. She was paid 85 percent of her remaining contract.

Her yearly pay and bonuses to run the school, which served about 180 largely at-risk students in east Orange County, was higher than that of Barbara Jenkins, superintendent of the 181,000-student Orange County Public Schools...

Because charter schools do not have to report their principals' salaries in Florida, it is unclear how many might have contracts or salaries similar to Young's...

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“Struggling NorthStar charter in Orlando is closing.” Orlando Sentinel (FL), 3/2/2012 

NorthStar High School in Orlando will close at the end of the school year, a move Orange County school administrators recommended because of declining student achievement.

The charter school's principal said it has decided to shut down voluntarily.

Orange staff recommended NorthStar not be renewed when its current contract ends this year because student test scores and graduation rates have dropped since 2008 and the school's grade has not been better than a D...

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ScholArts Preparatory and Career Center for Children

“ScholArts charter school to close today.” The Columbus Dispatch (OH), 2/28/2013

A charter school in the Milo-Grogan neighborhood is giving up its legal fight to stay open and will hold its final day of classes today.

ScholArts Preparatory and Career Center for Children dropped its appeal in Franklin County Common Pleas Court yesterday...

The school has received “F” ratings for student performance from the state Department of Education for the past five years. The closing ends legal wrangling that began in October when ScholArts’ sponsor, Kids Count of Dayton, told the school that it would be terminating its sponsorship.

ScholArts owes the state at least $740,000 because the school overstated the number of students enrolled and failed to pay employees’ contributions to the state retirement systems...

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“Charter school gets 30-day reprieve.”The Columbus Dispatch (OH), 11/30/2012 

A struggling Columbus charter school got a one-month reprieve to stay open, but it still might be forced to close just before students return from winter break.

ScholArts Preparatory and Career Center for Children initially was told it wouldn’t be allowed to operate after today. But its sponsor, or overseer, extended the closing date to Dec. 31 after the school offered evidence that it had enough money to stay afloat for another 30 days.

Kids Count of Dayton, the school’s sponsor, decided last month to stop working with ScholArts because of poor financial management...
The school also had not paid its contribution to the state School Employees Retirement System for the 2010-11 school year.

Ohio law requires charter schools to have a sponsor. The only way ScholArts can stay open is if it finds a new one, something that is particularly difficult to do mid-year. In addition to its financial troubles, ScholArts struggles academically...

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“Charter School Trying To DetermineHow $250,000 Disappeared.” 10TV (OH), 9/21/2012

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Officials at one Columbus charter school were trying to figure out how nearly $250,000 disappeared.

The money was supposed to have been paid into two retirement systems on behalf of teachers and staff at the ScholARTS Preparatory and Career Center for Children, located on East Lexington Avenue.

The charter school is affiliated with the Brookwood Presbyterian Chruch.

Consumer 10 notified ScholARTS’ former treasurer that a police investigation was under way.  On hearing the news, the man told Consumer 10 that he felt “physically ill.”

He said that the money that should have been paid into the retirement funds was used to pay other bills instead...

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Crown Ridge Academy

“San Bernardino charter school shut down.” San Bernardino Sun (CA), 9/19/2012

SAN BERNARDINO - More than 100 students who had been attending a charter school for at-risk children stayed home Wednesday, and they won't be going to Crown Ridge Academy ever again.

Neither will the school's teachers, all of whom the charter school director says are owed months of pay without a clear path to collect that money.

The board of the San Bernardino City Unified School District, which allowed the school to open in 2009, revoked the charter Tuesday night after determining that there was no realistic way for the school to dig itself out of a deep financial hole...

A big chunk of the school's problems came from spending a large grant twice, [board president, Steven Bielinski] said, and officials made other mistakes, but those people have been replaced...

It might be worth taking a risk on money coming in if the school were producing good academic results, but its test scores are far below those of other district schools that also serve English-learning students, said board member Judi Penman.

Crown Ridge is the latest charter school in the district to face potential shutdown.

Casa Ramona Academy lost 100 students beginning in the 2010-11 school after complaints of physical problems, inadequate instruction for English learners and classes that didn't qualify students for admission to state universities.

And the Public Safety Academy faced years of complaints about fiscal mismanagement and cronyism until that charter school's founder was removed from the board.

The district approved five-year extensions to the charters of both schools this spring.

[Board member Margaret Hill] worried this could be another stain on the reputation of the district and the city...

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Tennessee Virtual Academy

“TN virtual school draws criticism.” The Tennessean (TN), 9/10/2012

As state officials lambaste the Tennessee Virtual Academyfor low achievement scores and discuss new oversight methods, the school’s management company is facing an investigation in Florida, overcoming a list of citations issued in Georgia and recovering from reports of poor results in many of its schools.

The virtual academy allows students in grades K-8 to take all their classes online, monitored by a certified teacher. It is managed by K12 Inc., a publicly traded for-profit company that has contracts for differing levels of involvement with at least 2,000 other schools across the nation.

In its first year, the Tennessee academy ranked among the bottom 4 percent of districts in the state on a measure that shows student progress from year to year.

State Rep. Joe Pitts, D-Clarksville, called the school “a risky experiment that blew up in our face.”...

However, Tennessee is not the only state where the management company has been criticized.

A research paper published in July by the National Education Policy Center at the University of Colorado Boulderrecommended national education officials slow down the approval of virtual schools while examining effectiveness and cost. The study showed achievement scores of K12 students were not on par with those of traditional schools.

A class-action lawsuit against K12 is pending in a U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Virginia claiming the company made inflated claims about its student achievement in an effort to inflate stock prices...

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More at http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2012/09/tennessees-k12-inc-virtual-school.html?spref=tw

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Idaho Virtual Academy

“Idaho for-profit online students lag in math and reading skills.” Deseret News (UT), 7/21/2012

BOISE — A new report takes aim at the nation's largest for-profit online education provider and finds students taking K12 Inc. classes in Idaho and four other states are falling more behind in math and reading than their traditional school counterparts...

The latest report looked at schools managed by Virginia-based K12 in Idaho, Arizona, Arkansas, Ohio and Pennsylvania and found that on average, they had a consistently lower proportion of their students meeting or exceeding state standards in reading, according to 2010-2011 test scores.

The report also said math scores were lower compared to the state average. The on-time graduation rate for K12 students was about 49 percent for that year, compared to about 79 percent for the states, according to the study. In Idaho, where K12 provides curriculum for the state's largest online charter school, state officials say students beat slightly the statewide average for graduation rates in the most recent year.

K12 has managed online schools in 29 states with mixed academic success...

The debate over virtual learning has become heated in states like Idaho, where students have to take at least two credits online to graduate high school, under education reforms that were approved in 2011 and will go before voters in November.

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D.U.E. Season Charter School

“Former teacher files lawsuit against Camden charter school.” Courier-Post (NJ), 7/20/2012

CAMDEN — A security worker charged with assaulting a special-needs student in April has faced repeated allegations that he manhandled youngsters at D.U.E. Season Charter School, the school founded and led by his mother.

Lawrence Carpenter’s alleged actions at the K-8 school came despite a history of complaints from parents, students and staff to his mother, Principal Doris Carpenter, a Courier-Post investigation shows.

Now, a former Season teacher has sued the school and Doris Carpenter, saying she was retaliated against after complaining last October about alleged mistreatment of students by Lawrence Carpenter. In a letter to the principal, fourth-grade teacher Stacy Sampson described seeing Lawrence Carpenter, the school’s security leader, grab a boy by the collar and “slam him into a wall.”

Her civil suit alleges Lawrence Carpenter, who continues to work at Season, was responsible for a hostile work environment at the school. It also depicts Season as a “dysfunctional school,” alleging it has too few books and desks, and that fourth-graders struggled to count to 20 or to spell a simple word like “talk.”...

Lawrence Carpenter came to the public’s attention earlier this year in a video, obtained by the Courier-Post, that showed him grab 13-year-old Yontre Stanton around the neck with one hand and hold him for 19 seconds.

City police have charged Lawrence Carpenter with aggravated assault. He remains under investigation by the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office. The state Department of Education is investigating Season as a result of the incident...

Lawrence Carpenter’s behavior issues begin with a 2007 supervisor’s warning letter about his abrasive tone in 2007, the year Season opened...

Lawrence Carpenter is not the only issue facing Season.

• LaGreta Brown, a controversial former principal in Philadelphia and Atlantic City, was recently hired as an interim administrator. She was fired in Philadelphia after an outbreak of violence against Asian-American students.

• Poor academic performance heading into the year before its charter is up for state renewal. The school has not made what the DOE terms as adequate yearly progress in improving the performance of its students.

• A staff turnover rate approaching 50 percent a year and a student loss rate above 40 percent

• A police investigation into alleged activities by Nelson Olivo, a former media specialist. Some Season parents have claimed Olivo acted inappropriately toward young girls. Child pornography allegedly was found on his personal computer, at the school, after he fled the area.

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Derrick Thomas Academy

“UMKC will not renew charter for Derrick Thomas Academy.” KCTV 5 (Kansas City, MO), 11/21/2012

Derrick Thomas Academy has lost its charter.

The University of Missouri at Kansas City announced it is pulling its charter because of the school's poor academic performance over the past decade.

UMKC officials said classes will resume without interruption on Monday.

"Hopefully parents and students will notice no change when they arrive at school on Monday," said Phyllis Chase, director of the UMKC Charter School Center. "After reviewing their data, the decision has been made that we will not renew their charter again."

UMKC says the charter school has struggled with governance, organizational and academic performance issues since it first opened its doors...

The school is not necessarily closing at the end of the school year, but the university will no longer work with the school.

Chase said UMKC has been patient, perhaps too patient, with issues at the school. She said yanking the charter was a tough decision...

Several teachers at Derrick Thomas Academy say they were excited about the board change and direction of the school. Some parents said there have been problems at the school all year long...

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“Will low test scores, shaky financial situation spell the end for Derrick Thomas Academy?” KHSB (MO), 7/16/2012

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A new Missouri law requiring more accountability from charter schools takes effect in August, but is it already too late for a school bearing the name of one of Kansas City’s most beloved athletes?

A 41 Action News investigation found that low academic scores and poorly-managed money have created an uncertain future for Derrick Thomas Academy.

Because of large staff turnover, the charter school has been working to hire teachers and administrators over the summer, but remains unsure if the upcoming school year will be its last...

But the school built in number 58’s honor is on shaky ground, an uncertain future all captured in a letter obtained by 41 Action News.

Click here to read the entire letter

In early April, Jerry Cooper sent a strongly-worded warning to administrators and board leaders at DTA. Cooper is the director of the UMKC Charter School Center, which sponsors DTA.

Every charter school needs a sponsor to operate. Cooper says UMKC’s role is to hold schools academically and financially accountable, along with providing resources and consultation.

The letter delivered a harsh wakeup call to DTA. It said the school was meeting the criteria for being “financially stressed” by operating with a deficit of more than $600,000.

Cooper listed several violations of Missouri charter school laws, including breaking a contract with the DTA’s management company ( EdisonLearning ) without sponsor approval...

The letter also said the school was on academic probation for low state assessment results and was out of compliance with several federal and state special education requirements.

Cooper issued a final warning to DTA leaders, who had not provided requested documentation to UMKC, despite repeated inquiries...

But the letter from UMKC did not just get the attention of school administrators. Copies of the letter also circulated through the building to teachers and other staff members.

People panicked. A number of them decided to leave the school in pursuit of other jobs.

According to Cooper, up to 45 employees left the school, including the elementary and secondary principals...

According to DESE, four other Kansas City charter schools have closed over the past five years: Academy of Kansas City, Don Bosco Education Center, Renaissance Academy of Environmental Science and Math, and Urban Community Leadership Academy...

It is too early to tell how some of the turmoil will affect enrollment when the school year begins...

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