tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post8848600836300132515..comments2023-10-23T09:23:22.051-04:00Comments on Your Schools: Commissioner irked at paying charter debtUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger64125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-76122189873692192582014-03-13T16:05:36.539-04:002014-03-13T16:05:36.539-04:00Well, I'm not doing that for them.
If they wo...Well, I'm not doing that for them.<br /><br />If they won't stand up for themselves, then that's just too bad.<br /><br />I've had to do something similar before in my job (actually my wife's) when we worked at the same company.<br /><br />We took the consequences which included us BOTH getting "bad reviews" and eventually leaving within a year or so of stirring the pot and doing the right thing.<br /><br />(At least the Dept of Justice said we were right, and notified the company lawyers to stop what they were doing in violation of certain employment laws...)<br /><br />So, try to change it, put up with it, or leave. <br /><br />And be willing to pursue greener pastures if necessary. <br /><br />But, hey, that's just me. Shamashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06886687970259841873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-39826191375718439592014-03-13T14:24:48.701-04:002014-03-13T14:24:48.701-04:00Shamash, talk with teachers at various schools, es...Shamash, talk with teachers at various schools, especially those in areas with lots of charters. They're happy to talk outside of the school and off the record...don't blame them, in this environment, it's better to let someone else be the rabble rouser. It's not worth the effort to try, many of them need this job, the state knows that too and take full advantage of it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-42389154144190981232014-03-13T11:39:24.904-04:002014-03-13T11:39:24.904-04:00"I hate to ask again".
OK, so Google it..."I hate to ask again".<br /><br />OK, so Google it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-44477935769241392042014-03-13T11:32:02.208-04:002014-03-13T11:32:02.208-04:00Anon 9:59am
To me this would be a form of corrupt...Anon 9:59am<br /><br />To me this would be a form of corruption and should be reported even if no one wants to hear it.<br /><br />If they just "fix" the problem quietly then they're part of the problem by not exposing it.<br /><br />And nothing will change.<br /><br />And maybe they will get fired, but that is what happens to the timid who allow others to run all over them.<br /><br />Eventually, all we'll have is the incompetent teachers and those who cover for them waiting to get fired.Shamashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06886687970259841873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-9841569598666401652014-03-13T09:59:14.305-04:002014-03-13T09:59:14.305-04:00Shamash, I can't imagine any teacher has any s...Shamash, I can't imagine any teacher has any stomach to be a whistleblower on students returning from charters. I'd think a lot of teachers perceive that Raleigh doesn't give 2 pennies about their opinions, so why waste the time and effort for zero return?<br /><br />They'd rather take that time to teach those returning students and hope their invalid effectiveness rating doesn't get them fired.<br /><br />To the Charlotte spelled backwards commenter...when you make a informative, valid comment, I'll reply, though I'm sure you'll have a wonderfully ignorant comment to make to that too.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-36692613752819821282014-03-13T09:53:39.431-04:002014-03-13T09:53:39.431-04:00I hate to ask again.
But someone said they had th...I hate to ask again.<br /><br />But someone said they had the story where Ann interviewed the Parents and Teachers at this school we have had about seven stories on.<br /><br />Could we get that citation or link?<br /><br />I hate to keep asking if they do not exist but I would hope Ann would answer this question as she do so many of her friends on here. <br /><br />Thanks all. <br />Ettolrahchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06291283028895857071noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-19629274893009984572014-03-13T09:49:23.964-04:002014-03-13T09:49:23.964-04:00And someone mentioned on here apparently we have b...And someone mentioned on here apparently we have boomerang kids giving Charter Schools a couple of months and going back to the fold at CMS.<br /><br />And then the poor Teachers at CMS have this effecting their ratings as those two or three months must have taken those kids memories and they know nothing when they arrive back.<br /><br />At least that is way we are to buy that story.<br /><br />Or try this, the Charter was too intensive, and the parents took them back to CMS where the were put back with a different teacher, allowing the original teacher they were with at CMS not have them in their ratings. <br /><br />You seem to have left out the major part where all their education up to this point has apparently been rendered at CMS. <br /><br />I am sure you are not pulling an Ann on us. <br />Ettolrahchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06291283028895857071noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-21101860907095376562014-03-13T09:39:03.272-04:002014-03-13T09:39:03.272-04:00Strange how in this country if you do not agree wi...Strange how in this country if you do not agree with someone you are labeled and shown as being totally against them.<br /><br />Maybe we need less of these self proclaimed unbiased folks and more folks who do not listen to the stories trying to sell something, but concentrate on the facts they are saying.<br /><br />I know that has helped be see right through agendas like those we see her in Ann's many missives. And those who adorn her page with flattery. <br />Ettolrahchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06291283028895857071noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-67884256771040535912014-03-13T06:31:49.316-04:002014-03-13T06:31:49.316-04:00Anon 9:50pm.
If this is really happening, I'd...Anon 9:50pm.<br /><br />If this is really happening, I'd hope that the teachers would be interested enough THEMSELVES to document this and present their case to the wingnuts in Raleigh.<br /><br />And to CMS and the public and anyone else who will (or even won't) listen.<br /><br />Otherwise, the wingnuts are correct to keep hammering the teachers who are foolish enough to cover for the incompetence of their "competition".<br /><br />Of course, the teachers seeing this would have to actually coordinate their response and present facts, not just opinion.<br /><br />I'd like to see them do this if it is happening.<br /><br />Why wait for a story in the paper?<br /><br />Make it happen if you have the facts.<br /><br />Be a whistleblower when you see something going wrong.<br /><br />Or just be another silent victim of the "wingnuts".<br /><br />It's all for the kids.Shamashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06886687970259841873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-61775729261573027922014-03-12T21:50:26.417-04:002014-03-12T21:50:26.417-04:00It'd be nice to see a story or 2 about parents...It'd be nice to see a story or 2 about parents who've taken their children out of CMS in favor of a charter, only to bring them back to CMS mid-year because the charter school was a ruse. <br /><br />Talk to teachers and administrators, every year about 2-3 months into the school year and then again at the break, droves of students come back to CMS because the charters they were at were awful.<br /><br />The best part is those teachers have to work twice as hard to catch those students up, otherwise their test scores will knock the teacher into the ineffective category and we all know the wingnuts in Raleigh are looking for anything they can use to hammer teachers even more.<br /><br />Whoever said charters are doing a better job of educating is living in rainbow unicorn land. Those students that come back to CMS are further behind than when they left.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-19493279851157713892014-03-12T21:30:42.358-04:002014-03-12T21:30:42.358-04:00I didn't agree with the bond but I do think te...I didn't agree with the bond but I do think teachers need their pay back. Mabey people thought the money was for teachers as well. I believe schools are students and teachers. Not buildings and stadiums and on... Thanks for the infoAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-36855842021404710152014-03-12T20:35:46.269-04:002014-03-12T20:35:46.269-04:00So Ann interviewed Parents and Teachers at this sc...So Ann interviewed Parents and Teachers at this school.<br /><br />Any way I might find that story? <br /><br />ThanksEttolrahchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06291283028895857071noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-41255916619580064362014-03-12T19:39:46.268-04:002014-03-12T19:39:46.268-04:00My son attends this school and believe me it wasn&...My son attends this school and believe me it wasn't pleasant! I agree tax payers should not be on the hook for this. Those individuals placed in charge that had access to the funds should be held accountable. The only reason we are still there is because he has an excellent teacher and cared for his students during that turbulent transition. All eyes are on Student First and I'm certain things should get better.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-29028094437145509132014-03-12T19:34:34.629-04:002014-03-12T19:34:34.629-04:006:14...
The $290 million in bonds for Charlotte-M...6:14...<br /><br /><i>The $290 million in bonds for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools won 74 percent of the vote with all precincts reporting. That was the largest margin of victory for a CMS bond vote since the 73 percent approval in 1997.</i>Wiley Coyotehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16966764080565903720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-27449242123937720682014-03-12T19:01:39.915-04:002014-03-12T19:01:39.915-04:00I think NC needs to slow down. I am a on the conse...I think NC needs to slow down. I am a on the conservative side of things but it seems many of the decisions made last summer have failed or been changed. Tillis said the master pay legislation was a mistake. The 25% tenure legislation is not working. I belive in charters. There are good charters and bad ones. Nation wide 1 in 4 are successful. Weed the bad charters out. Pay teachers what was promised before the great recession and come up with a bonus plan for our best teachers. Be methodical, plan. Do not just do things because Florida does. Make sure we have stable funding. From what I have read, the new plan to pay new teachers only has funding for one year. We seem to be rushing into things and making everyone unhappy. We need to see what works for NC. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-78192399568918921552014-03-12T18:14:09.393-04:002014-03-12T18:14:09.393-04:00Only 25% percent voted against it? That's low....Only 25% percent voted against it? That's low.. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-14567418753290174832014-03-12T17:51:32.170-04:002014-03-12T17:51:32.170-04:00And a NY Times article on the Gulen schools in Tex...And a NY Times article on the Gulen schools in Texas:<br /><br />http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/07/education/07charter.html?_r=1&hp<br /><br />"Operating under the name Harmony Schools, Cosmos has moved quickly to become the largest charter school operator in Texas, with 33 schools receiving more than $100 million a year in taxpayer funds." <br /><br />"records show that virtually all recent construction and renovation work has been done by Turkish-owned contractors. Several established local companies said they had lost out even after bidding several hundred thousand dollars lower."<br /><br /><br />H'mm. <br /><br />Sounds like a good use of US tax dollars to me.<br /><br />Follow the money if you can. Shamashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06886687970259841873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-31693576835046179252014-03-12T17:43:07.398-04:002014-03-12T17:43:07.398-04:00The weirdest thing I've heard about so far in ...The weirdest thing I've heard about so far in Charter schools (operating on a larger scale) is the Gulenist movement.<br /><br />It seems that they are all across the country and allegedly funnel money back to a Turkish guru of some sort named Fethullah Gulen.<br /><br />http://turkishinvitations.weebly.com/list-of-us-schools.html<br /><br />Of course, given how lax we are in the US with all sorts of things (and how "political correctness" keeps us all in line), nothing would surprise me.<br /><br />Shamashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06886687970259841873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-75157517532763350762014-03-12T16:52:54.671-04:002014-03-12T16:52:54.671-04:00it's amazing to me that when a writer merely r...it's amazing to me that when a writer merely reports about an issue with a local charter school she gets tapped as anti charter and pro public schools. I tend to agree with this commissioner on this, why should the tax payer be on the hook for two individuals who stole this money. And if you think this is an isolated issue, you are greatly mistaken. Research Carolina International School for example. Research Mr. Baker Mitchell, as you will find, he is on the charter school board of NC and is currently under federal investigation (talk about the fox ruling the hen house). Corporations such as Charter Schools USA, Jonathon Hage has been using his strong political influence to promote his education empire since 1996. There are questions being raised about him as well with regards to his hiring of senators wives etc to gain favor. He is worth millions as a result and he is not alone, this is all over the country. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-89448652727272732762014-03-12T16:40:18.967-04:002014-03-12T16:40:18.967-04:00Ettolrach,
You must have been...Ettolrach,<br /> You must have been out of town a few weeks ago when the studentsfirst story broke. Ann did interview teachers and parents about the school.....as well as others. Teachers stated they rarely if ever had seen the assistant principal and office manager of the school. The two just happened to be the husband and son of the charter director. When hundreds of thousands of dollars of public money is either missing or been squandered it is newsworthy. Add the lawsuits, firings, and state ultimatums then this obviously is a public interest story. The moral here is if you don't want negative publicity then don't screw up.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-73629135342315689522014-03-12T15:09:28.936-04:002014-03-12T15:09:28.936-04:00to the person who remarked about the recent sex sc...to the person who remarked about the recent sex scandals at CMS schools, google Tim Ruzbacki (York Prep in Rock Hill SC), a board member of that charter school who was CONVICTED of child porn (he spent a lot of time on that campus). Google Dianne leigh Farrell of Union Acadamy ( the good apple school), arrested for having sex with underage male students. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-74984817814709361202014-03-12T14:59:55.299-04:002014-03-12T14:59:55.299-04:00Even though I basically support Charter schools, I...Even though I basically support Charter schools, I think they do pose a whole new set of issues than existing private and public schools.<br /><br />That's why I'm not against closer scrutiny of Charters. <br /><br />We're all accustomed to the regular government fraud and waste, but this opens the playing field to a whole new group of scam artists wanting government money.<br /><br />These people will not all be saints. Shamashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06886687970259841873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-65452564879388710342014-03-12T14:18:26.571-04:002014-03-12T14:18:26.571-04:00Shamash, welcome to my world. Sometimes the best t...Shamash, welcome to my world. Sometimes the best testimonial is that both sides are equally mad at you.<br /><br />I think CMS gets far more scrutiny from me and other news media than all charter schools combined, even with the recent StudentFirst stories. I also think it's a near certainty that misdeeds and problems at individual CMS and charter schools go unreported. There's the sheer volume, there are personnel confidentiality laws that block revelation of some important information, etc.<br /><br />My take is that charters and districts both have oversight systems that are different and imperfect. Districts have elected boards. Charters have self-perpetuating boards. News media and larger segments of the public keep an eye on districts. The state Office of Charter Schools monitors charters. Districts have central staff which, ideally, can detect and deal with problems at individual schools. A whole lot of for-profit companies are lining up to work with (and make money from) charters and districts. Bottom line: Waste, fraud, mismanagement and all the other bad stuff can happen in either setting. So can all the good stuff we want to happen in schools.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-60711981298096840502014-03-12T13:56:39.368-04:002014-03-12T13:56:39.368-04:00Ettolrahc,
Well, I try to be clear, but sometimes...Ettolrahc,<br /><br />Well, I try to be clear, but sometimes...<br /><br />Yeah, you're right about the focus as far as stories on individual schools have gone (from what I've seen).<br /><br />Maybe it's because it's harder to hide Charter school failure since they tend to go bankrupt when they screw up while public schools just keep dipping into the bottomless trough.<br /><br />Until, say, the local government goes bankrupt.<br /><br />And the affinity group thing was just a lesson I learned as part of life (and from being a registered stock broker type for a while and following the stories of various financial scams).<br /><br />You see it all the time. <br /><br />Someone puts a "Rev." in front of their name, or joins a social club or two, and people will line up to give them money thinking they are automatically worthy of their trust.<br /><br />I don't buy any of that.<br /><br />But you see something similar happening in the Charter schools from time to time as well.<br /><br />Basically, anywhere scam artists can find an easy target with deep enough pockets, they'll take advantage of whatever "noble" intent they can conjure.<br /><br />It's all for the kids, anyway.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Shamashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06886687970259841873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-29343625664036363112014-03-12T13:27:25.426-04:002014-03-12T13:27:25.426-04:00And the affinity group thing was wonderful to see ...And the affinity group thing was wonderful to see on her.<br /><br />So humans tend to trust folks who are like them?<br /><br />And how Madoff got into this story is interesting. <br /><br />I bet you do not like the show Shark Tank?Ettolrahchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06291283028895857071noreply@blogger.com