Wait, What?

Doing to Bridgeport what he did to New Orleans

May 22

jonpeltoAchievement First/ConnCAN, Bridgeport, Education Reform, Malloy, Nate Snow, Paul Vallas, Stefan Pryor Achievement First, Bridgeport, Charter Schools, Malloy, Paul Vallas, Stefan Pryor 6 Comments

Paul Vallas has pledged to do to Bridgeport what he did to New Orleans.  However, there is still time to stop him.

Paul Vallas was the CEO of the New Orleans Recovery School District of Louisiana from 2007 to 2011…

According to his resume, Vallas says he was responsible for “developing, implementing and managing reform measures” for post-Katrina New Orleans.  In that capacity Vallas says, among other things, that he:

(1)   “raised test scores three consecutive years, at a growth rate that greatly exceeded that of the state” and

(2)    “Implemented Response to Intervention (RTI) model, a three-tiered approach to ensuring the academic success of all students.”

So how is New Orleans doing today?

As Diane Ravitch recently noted on her blog, as a result of Vallas’ strategies, “New Orleans has a higher proportion of students in privately managed charters than any other district in the nation.”

Eighty-three percent (83%) of the schools in the New Orleans Recovery School District are now charter schools. According to the state’s school performance index, the Recovery School District of New Orleans is less than 2 points above getting a grade of F.

In fact, six years after Vallas began to promote his “Vallas Turnaround Model,” a Louisiana Education Research Group called Research on Reforms, determined that 79% of the charter schools in the Recovery School District were graded D or F by the state.

Meanwhile, another research group, The Cowen Institute of Tulane University, which has traditionally been a major supporter of charter schools, reported that 66% of the Recovery School District Charter Schools rated D or F.

The failing grades that hound Vallas’ charter school model is just the tip of a much larger record of failure when it comes to the broader “reforms” that Vallas implemented in New Orleans and now seeks to recreate in Bridgeport.

Teacher and Education Blogger, Mercedes Schneider, has written extensively on the real situation surrounding the “Vallas Miracle.”  You can read her blog at: Mercedes Schneider’s EduBlog

In one recent example she explored a favorite claim of the education reformers, who are fond of saying that their efforts dramatically improve the number of poor children who attend college.

According to the latest numbers, the percentage of children who qualified for the Louisiana TOPS program, which provides funds to academically proficient students who want to attend 4 or 2 year colleges stands at 42%;

TOPS eligibility for students in New Orleans is as follows:

Recovery School District state-run schools: 14%

Recovery School district Charter Schools: 29%

Orleans Parish direct-run schools: 38%

Orleans Parish Charter Schools 54%

All New Orleans schools: 37%

Louisiana schools overall: 42%

As Schneider explains, “Prior to Katrina in 2005, all New Orleans schools in the subcategories above belonged to Orleans Parish Public Schools. Now, one can see that in general, charter schools fare better than their corresponding non-charter counterparts regarding percentages of students eligible for TOPS. This is hardly surprising since students can be deselected from charters and returned to traditional public schools…The traditional public school must accept all students– this is both the glory and the burden of traditional public schooling.”

So, after spending hundreds of millions of dollars,  Vallas’ turnaround model has created a system in which the charter schools of New Orleans have “improved” TOPS eligibility while completely undermining the traditional public school system.

When the data is analyzed, the Vallas Turnaround Model is not a tribute to improving public education, but a lesson in privatization by replacing failing public schools with failing charter schools and creating a two-tiered education system where certain students get access to higher performing institutions, while leaving all the other students behind.

Vallas is moving forward with a similar strategy in Bridgeport.  In just the last few weeks we’ve seen aggressive efforts to expand charter schools in Bridgeport including a new charter elementary school, a plan to turn over another elementary school to the FUSE/Jumoke Academy of Hartford and a proposal by the Chairman of the Bridgeport Board of Education, Kenneth Moales, Jr. to create a boys-only charter school that would augment his present church affiliated school.

For the latest Bridgeport’s new charter school proposal see: http://www.ctpost.com/default/article/Charter-plan-draws-impassioned-arguments-4534361.php and http://www.ctpost.com/default/article/Against-proposed-new-charter-school-4535321.php.

Of course, this all comes on top of continued expansion of the Achievement First Charter School in Bridgeport.

Education reformers are busy trying to replicate the New Orleans model around the country.   Here in Connecticut, Paul Vallas has the strong backing of Governor Malloy and Malloy’s Commissioner of Education, Stefan Pryor.

But unlike in New Orleans, and places like Chicago and Philadelphia, here in Connecticut there is still time to stop them before it is too late.

Update: Connecticut Charter Schools outperform public schools…in suspending kindergarten students!

May 20

jonpeltoAchievement First/ConnCAN, Charter Schools, Malloy, Stefan Pryor Achievement First, Charter Schools, Malloy, Stefan Pryor, suspensions 36 Comments

Evidence reveals that it is a common practice for Achievement First Schools in Connecticut to suspend children 6 and under.

Well, we’ve finally found proof that charter schools do outperform their public school counterparts…In the percentage of children 6 and under who get suspended from school.

When Achievement First Hartford’s “suspension rate” for children 6 and under is 63.7% it is time for an investigation [Compare that to 6.8% in the Hartford School System].

When Achievement First Bridgeport’s “suspension rate” for children 6 and under is 55.6% it is time for an investigation [Compare that to  7.9% in the Bridgeport School System].

When Achievement First New Haven’s “suspension rate” for children 6 and under is 29.3% it is time for an investigation [Compare that to 2.7% in the New Haven School System].

Why schools would suspend children 6 and under on a regular basis is bad enough, but a new report reveals that suspension of 6 year olds is an extremely common practice in the kindergarten and first grades at Achievement First schools in Connecticut.

In a stunning story that was posted on the CT Mirror website Friday, the CT Mirror’s Jacqueline Rabe examines a new report that revealed that, “at least 1,967 students age 6 and under were suspended last school year – almost all of them black or Hispanic.”

Rabe writes, “According to a report from the Connecticut Department of Education, the number of students suspended is actually higher, but privacy issues restrict the state agency from releasing information that could identify unique student information.”

The CT Mirror goes on to write that after unearthing the data, Connecticut’s new Child Advocate explained, ’That’s a lot of kids… I do not think that [suspension] is an appropriate response’ to students behaving poorly at school.”

Jamey Bell added that, “Excluding such young children from the classroom ‘seems to me a non-educational, non-therapeutic response for those who are way too young to be culpable.”

Most disturbing of all is where the suspensions were taking place.  Not only were nearly all the suspensions targeted to low income, minority children, but there was an extraordinary difference between how district schools handle the behavioral problems of little children and how charter schools handle those problems.

While the CT Mirror included a chart listing the total number of suspensions by town, for purposes of comparison, I’ve added the total number of students in the grade range for 6 year olds (kindergarten and first grade), which allows for a more appropriate apples to apples comparison to be made.   The percentages are actually higher since some 1st graders are 7 years old.

While data does not reveal whether it is the same children being suspended multiple times, what is clear is that suspension is used far more often in Connecticut’s charter schools.

Readers will recall that Achievement First, Inc. is the charter school management company that was co-founded by Malloy’s Commissioner of Education, Stefan Pryor.

The CT Mirror story is an absolute must read.

The story includes quotes from Joette Katz, the Commissioner of the Department of Children and Families and Governor Malloy’s criminal justice policy advisory, Michael Lawlor.

Katz tells the CT Mirror, “I was shocked…Clearly when children are being suspended, something else is not being attended to.”

Lawlor said, “These high suspension rates are an indicator of weak leadership…It has to do with the culture in a school…It’s not about the kids at that school. It’s about the policies in those schools.”

The most important conclusion is that something is very, very wrong with the way discipline is being handled at Connecticut’s charter schools.

The Department of Children and Families, the State’s Child Advocate and the State Department of Education must begin an immediate investigation into these practices and they would do well to bring in Connecticut’s Attorney General to determine whether Connecticut laws are being violated.

You can read the full CT Mirror Story here:  http://www.ctmirror.org/story/hundreds-kindergarten-students-suspended-school

Corporate Education Reform Industry spends nearly $4.7 million on Connecticut lobbying, little of it telling the truth.

May 19

jonpeltoA Better Connecticut Education Reform Lobbying Group, Achievement First/ConnCAN, Charter Schools, Connecticut Council for Education Reform (CCER), Ethics, Excel Bridgeport Inc., Malloy, Michelle Rhee, Stefan Pryor, StudentsFirst, Teach for America, Wendy Lecker A Better Connecticut, Achievement First, ConnCAN, Ethics, Malloy, Michelle Rhee, Stefan Pryor, StudentsFirst, Wendy Lecker 6 Comments

Pro-public education commentator Wendy Lecker has written another “must read” piece, this time pointing out the fact that corporate education reformers are either unwilling or unable to tell the truth as the spin their political stories to try and convince elected officials and the public to support their “education reform” agenda.

Lecker, like many of us, has heard the latest round of ads that side-step the truth in a politically self-righteous attempt to convince us that we can improve out public education system by handing it over to private corporations and charter schools.

This new $1.5 million advertising campaign by a front organization called, ironically enough, A Better Connecticut, is just one more step in the most expensive lobbying effort in Connecticut history.

Here are the latest numbers;

To date, since Governor Malloy took office, the corporate education reform industry has spent at least $4,650,721.54 on lobbying, breaking all Connecticut records for the most expensive effort in history to buy up Connecticut Public Policy.

The following chart reveals the players in this scheme.

Following the chart is a link to Wendy Lecker’s latest piece in the Stamford Advocate, Bridgeport Post and other Hearst media outlets.

Wendy Lecker: Imagining where all that money could have gone

“Proponents of corporate-driven education reforms seem to believe that the notion of telling the truth is a low priority. Take for example the false claims being made by charter school advocates about the size of waiting lists for charter schools.

In as diverse locations as Massachusetts and Chicago, charter lobbyists having been pushing charter school expansion by claiming lengthy waiting lists. In both locations, investigations by journalists at the Boston Globe and WBEZ revealed that the waiting list numbers were grossly exaggerated, often counting the same students multiple times. As a Massachusetts legislator noted, raising the charter cap based on artificial numbers “doesn’t make sense.” Unless, of course, your main goal is charter expansion rather than sound educational policy

Another common theme promoted by charter schools is the questionable claim of amazing success. Recently, Geoffrey Canada of the famed Harlem Children’s Zone gave an online seminar in which he boasted a 100 percent graduation rate at his schools. However, if one looks at HCZ’s attrition rate, the true graduation rate is 64 percent. Many have also noted that Canada kicked out two entire grades of children because of sub-par test scores.

Here in Connecticut, ConnCAN, the charter school lobby, is the prominent peddler of shaky claims and half-truths about charter schools.

Recently, in an effort to promote the expansion of charter schools in Bridgeport, Jennifer Alexander, the CEO of ConnCAN, Inc. declared that nearly 80 percent of charters outperform their host districts. However, data from the State Department of Education reveals that about 90 percent of Connecticut’s charters serve a less needy population than their host districts: fewer poor children, fewer English Language Learners or fewer students with disabilities, with most having a combination of two or three of these categories.

Considering poverty, language barriers and special education needs are the prominent factors influencing standardized test scores, it is not much a feat to have higher test scores with a less challenging population. ConnCAN’s claim is hardly an indication of success or innovation.”

Read the rest of Lecker’s commentary piece here: http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Wendy-Lecker-Imagining-where-all-that-money-4526450.php#ixzz2TlStOU64

The consistently wrong path to better schools by Wendy Lecker

May 05

jonpeltoAchievement First/ConnCAN, Christina Kishimoto, Hartford, Malloy, Stefan Pryor, Steven Adamowski, Wendy Lecker Achievement First, Christina Kishimoto, Hartford, Malloy, Paul Vallas, Stefan Pryor, Steven Adamowski, Wendy Lecker 26 Comments

Wendy Lecker, the pro-public education advocate and fellow columnist hits it out of the park; again, with a new commentary piece in Stamford Advocate entitled “The consistently wrong path to better Schools.

Improving education achievement in our major cities must be a top priority for all of Connecticut’s citizens.  Access to higher quality public schools is a fundamental American right, and is even guaranteed by Connecticut’s Constitution.  In addition, in the near future, 40% of Connecticut’s entire workforce will be coming from our state’s poorer, urban, Priority School Districts.  Our state’s economic future depends on providing all of our young people with the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed.  Finally, the price tag for creating quality schools is not cheap.  Connecticut’s schools are already underfunded and yet Connecticut taxpayers are paying about 80% of the entire educational expenses in cities like Hartford, Bridgeport and New Haven.

Education is both the economic and civil rights issue of our time.

Governor Malloy, Commissioner of Education Stefan Pryor, Bridgeport “Superintendent of Schools,” Paul Vallas, “Special Master,” Steven Adamowski and the corporate education reformers claim to have the solution – simply hand our public schools over to private corporations.

The approach being perpetrated by these corporate reformers couldn’t be more wrong and Wendy Lecker’s latest column dives that point home.

Wendy Lecker writes;

“Most people who board the wrong train headed to the wrong destination get off and look for the right train.

But not the educational leadership of Hartford.

Superintendent Christina Kishimoto, a protégé of the controversial “reformer” Steven Adamowski, has climbed on the wrong train despite the obvious signs that it will take Hartford in the wrong direction.

In her state of the schools address, Kishimoto highlighted a study conducted for her by University of Connecticut researchers. The study measured, by neighborhood, factors that inhibit the ability to learn, such as child poverty, the percentage of adults without high school or college degrees, crime, health, housing and neighborhood stability, and community assets such as preschool and after-school programs.

Fifty years of research have established that these out-of-school influences account for the majority of differences in student achievement.

In a recent New York Times article, Stanford University’s Sean Reardon summarized his research demonstrating that income inequality is the prime factor in educational disparities. As Professor Reardon noted, schools do not “produce much of the disparity in test scores between high- and low-income students.”

Reardon’s research revealed that the achievement gap between high-income and low-income students has widened in the past three decades largely because income inequality has increased, affluent students arrive to kindergarten better prepared than poor students, and affluent parents spend more on enrichment and tutoring.

Our best chance to reduce academic disparities, then, is to work to reduce economic inequities.

To the extent schools can help, we must give them the capacity to counteract the forces that hinder learning. That means a sufficient number of social workers, school psychologists, health centers, extra academic help and support for children and families, as well as a rich and varied curriculum.

However, rather than address the factors that prevent Hartford’s neediest children from learning, Hartford Superintendent Kishimoto seems intent on taking us in completely the wrong direction, ignoring the evidence she herself requested.

First on Kishimoto’s agenda is expanding the Achievement First charter franchise in Hartford. Achievement First, Inc., already operates a charter school in Hartford and is notorious for failing to serve Hartford’s neediest children. In a city where 43 percent of students come from non-English-speaking homes, only 4.8 percent of Achievement First’s students come from non-English-speaking homes. In Hartford, 18 percent of students are not fluent in English; at Achievement First, 4.8 percent. Thirteen percent of Hartford’s students have disabilities compared with 7.5 percent at Achievement First. Moreover, Achievement First has a 25 percent attrition rate.

Achievement First, a state charter school, is funded directly by the state and is not part of Hartford’s school district. However, Hartford Public Schools must pay for special education services and transportation for Hartford children attending the school. On top of this requirement, Hartford public schools paid $1.5 million dollars for capital improvements on Achievement First’s school building, which the charter uses for free. Additionally, Hartford and Achievement First entered into an agreement whereby the district pays more money to the charter company. This coming year, the district is scheduled to pay Achievement First over $3.2 million.”

Wendy’s assessment the approach being implemented by Hartford Superintendent Christina Kishimoto is harsh but 100% accurate.

Take the time to read the whole column at the Stamford Advocate at: http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Wendy-Lecker-The-consistently-wrong-path-to-4487142.php#ixzz2SQUbtfw3

Shocker: Hartford Superintendent proposes another Achievement First Inc. Charter School

Apr 24

jonpeltoAchievement First/ConnCAN, Charter Schools, Christina Kishimoto, Hartford, Malloy, Stefan Pryor Achievement First, Charter Schools, Christina, Hartford, Malloy, Stefan Pryor 12 Comments

Joined by the Chairman of the Hartford Board of Education, Hartford Superintendent of Schools and “education reformer protégé,” Christiana Kishimoto, began her annual “State of the Schools” speech by presenting Governor Malloy with the Hartford State of the Schools Award “to thank him for education reform and its impact on Hartford.”

Then, Kishimoto announced that she was throwing her support behind the creation of yet another Achievement First charter school for Hartford.

What a surprise!  The company co-founded by Stefan Pryor, Malloy’s Commissioner of Education, has the support of Hartford’s superintendent, despite the fact that Achievement First, Inc. has completely failed to educate its fair share of non-English speaking students, students who go home to households where English is not the primary language or students who require special education services.

Take at a look at the data

Hartford vs. Achievement First – Hartford:  Servicing students who are not fluent in the English language (ESL):

Hartford vs. Achievement First – Hartford:  Servicing students who go home to households where English in not the primary language:

Hartford vs. Achievement First – Hartford:  Servicing students who have disabilities that require special education services:

Imagine, a city where one out of five students are fluent in English, a city in which more than 6 in 10 students go home to households where English is not the primary language and where more than 1 in 10 students need special education services…and that city’s superintendent of schools supports the expansion of a charter school management company that fails to provide appropriate services to those students!

Instead of working to ensure that all of Hartford’s students are serviced, Hartford’s “education reform” superintendent is pushing for even more seats and more funding for Achievement First, Inc.

Sadly, this insulting action doesn’t come as a surprise.

When Governor Malloy nominated Stefan Pryor for the position of Commissioner of Education, Wait, What? readers had the opportunity to learn all about Steven Pryor and Achievement First, Inc.

Readers may even recall the post that read:

In 2010, Achievement First’s Board of Directors adopted an aggressive strategic plan to grow Achievement First.  The plan, which is outlined in their 2010 Annual Report, is designed to increase the number of Achievement First charter schools from 20 schools to 35 schools in the next few years.  Instead of serving 5,400 students, Achievement First plans to serve more than 12,000 students.

If they utilized the present “Management Fee” system, Achievement First, Inc. would be collecting nearly $10 million a year in taxpayer funds.

Recall that Achievement First Inc. noted in their plan that when that strategic plan is implemented, Achievement First “will serve more students than 95 percent of school districts in the United States.”

Meanwhile, Achievement First has also been working to successfully change Connecticut law to allow the company’s existing schools to expand over their statutory limits.

A 2010 law eliminated the grade limit of 85 students per grade and REQUIRED that the State Department of Education  “waive the overall enrollment limits,” if these particular charter schools wanted to expand.

Instead of requiring the Connecticut State Board of Education to weigh the costs and benefits of allowing these charter schools to expand, the new law required them to allow the expansions.

The net effect was that Achievement First, already the largest charter school company in Connecticut, has an automatic green light to expand.

Achievement First Hartford, which had 593 students in 2010-2011, will reach 797 by 2012-2013 and will still expand even further in subsequent years.  Achievement First Bridgeport will go from 410 in 2010-2011 to 672 in 2012-2013, and smaller expansions will be taking place at Achievement First Amistad Academy and at Achievement First’s Elm City College Preparatory school.

So let’s put Christiana Kishimoto’s proposal in perspective.  At the very moment that Hartford is undermining its existing schools, Hartford’s superintendent is supporting a proposal to divert even more funds to a company that fails to provide educational services to a significant portion of Hartford’s children.

It is what a normal person would call an outrage!

And in Hartford, Jumoke Academy pulls down another $1.1 million, while Achievement First collects $1.2 million

Mar 20

jonpeltoAchievement First/ConnCAN, Charter Schools, Christina Kishimoto, Education Reform, Family Urban Schools of Excellence (FUSE), Hartford, Jumoke Academy, Malloy, Michael Sharpe, Stefan Pryor Achievement First, Charter Schools, Fuse, Hartford, Jumoke Academy, Malloy, Stefan Pryor 8 Comments

Meanwhile, as Jumoke’s Chief Operating Officer waits for the Connecticut Legislature to vote to put her on the State Board of Education, the Hartford Board of Education voted last night to direct another $1,054,143 to the Jumoke Academy and $1,173,327 to Achievement First.

On a 5 to 1 vote, the Hartford Board of Education authorized the Superintendent to accept money from America’s #1 education reformer, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  The majority of the money flows through to Hartford’s two largest charter school management organizations (Jumoke and Achievement First) and even the money going to the Board of Education is restricted in such a way as to force Hartford and Connecticut taxpayers to devote even more resources to the charter school industry.

Although the Gates Foundation money is a tiny portion of the Hartford School System’s total budget, by accepting the grant, the Hartford Board is committed to instituting more standardized testing (the NWEA MAP test), supporting the expansion of more charter slots (a gift for Jumoke and Achievement First) and attaching teacher evaluation results (From the Danielson/Teachscape programs) to the NWEA MAP and other standardized test data.

Adding insult to injury, thanks in no small part to Hartford’s Mayor, the Board of Education didn’t even vote to authorize the city to go after the funds.  Instead, the pro-charter school administration cut the deal with the Gates Foundation and the members of the Board of Education had the choice of accepting or rejecting the entire package.  Instead of sending the deal back for more negotiations and a fairer distribution of funds, the Board rubber stamped the package.  The only no vote came from Working Family Party member Robert Cotto Jr.  The Democrats, as a block, sided with the charter schools.

The Gates Foundation grant directs that the money be given to Achievement First to set up a leadership training program for school administrators; that money be used to expand teacher evaluation, training and coaching program including the requirement that Achievement First play a leading role in that effort; provides funds to align Hartford’s school curricula to the new Common Core Standards; and provides funds to expand Jumoke Academy’s role as a “high performing charter school.”

It is ironic that the grant refers to Jumoke as a high performing charter school when it is clear that in a city with a high Latino population, a large non-English speaking student body and more than one in ten students needing special education services, Jumoke is a charter school company that has been completely unwilling to take on their fair share of Latino, non-English speaking and special education students.

Not surprising, but perhaps most insulting of all is that the grant must be used to “Develop Jumoke Academy’s capacity to successfully manage and implement the transformation of low-performing schools in Hartford.”  This clearly indicates that  some type of deal has or will be struck to hand even more Hartford schools over to the Fuse/Jumoke charter school management company.

No need to determine whether it would be more effective to develop Hartford’s own capacity to improve the existing public schools.

No need to determine whether there are other charter schools or organizations that would do a better job than Jumoke.

No need for an open, fair and competitive bidding process to determine whether Jumoke is the best private company to run those schools or whether taxpayers are getting the best rates.

No need to select a private vendor who has experience working with Latino and non-English speaking students.

No need to select a company that is experienced, willing and able to take on its fair share of special education students.

Nope, none of that.

Instead, Governor Malloy, Commissioner Pryor and the corporate education reform industry will simply continue to move forward, playing by their own set of rules, exempting themselves from the laws that apply to everyone else whenever they deems it appropriate and leaving the vast majority of students, especially Latino, non-English speaking students and students who need special education services in the dust.

And what is Governor Malloy’s solution?

Put the Chief Operating Officer of Jumoke Academy on the State Board of Education so that these policies can be promoted across the state. 

Malloy nominates charter school corporate officer to Connecticut State Board of Education

Mar 15

jonpeltoAchievement First/ConnCAN, Charter Schools, Education Reform, Ethics, Family Urban Schools of Excellence (FUSE), Jumoke Academy, Malloy, Stefan Pryor Achievement First, Charter Schools, Conflict of Interest, Ethics, Fuse, Jumoke Academy, Malloy, Stefan Pryor 11 Comments

(Written by Jonathan Pelto and Wendy Lecker)

A Conflict of Interest:  A situation in which a public official’s decisions are influenced by the official’s personal interests.

From 2009 to 2011 she served as community outreach director for Achievement First, the large charter school management company co-founded by Governor Malloy’s Commissioner of Education, Stefan Pryor.

In 2012, after a short stint as spokesperson for Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra, she went to work for the Jumoke Academy, the Hartford-based charter school.

In October 2012, the Jumoke Academy’s CEO, Michael Sharpe, named her to the post of Chief Operating Officer for FUSE (Family Urban Schools of Excellence), the new charter school management company that Jumoke created to expand and “replicate” its schools.

According to a media report at the time, as COO of FUSE, her job would be to “core operations functions that support FUSE’s mission, overseeing organizational planning and serving as a member of the senior leadership team.”

Just six weeks ago, on February 21, 2013, she went before the General Assembly’s Appropriations Committee to speak in favor of more funding for charter schools and Governor Malloy’s education reforms saying, “I am here representing Jumoke Academy and its charter management organization Fuse, as its Chief Operating Officer…”

And then, a few days after that Governor Malloy nominated her to the Connecticut State Board of Education.

In addition to serving as COO of a charter school management company, she would be voting on whether to expand existing charter schools, authorize new charter schools and move more taxpayer funds from public district schools to charter schools.

Yesterday, the legislature’s Executive and Legislative Nominations Committee held a public hearing on her nomination and then immediately voted in favor of her nomination.

Next step for Andrea Comer – the Connecticut House of Representatives – for a final confirmation vote.

Certainly her conflict of interest is obvious.

Under Connecticut law, “A ‘substantial’ conflict of interest exists if a public official or state employee has reason to believe or expect that he or she, his or her spouse, a dependent child, or a business with which he or she is associated will derive a direct monetary gain or suffer a direct monetary loss by virtue of his or her official activity…”

And the law goes on to say that a  ‘Business with which…associated’ is defined to include any entity through which business for profit or not for profit is conducted in which the public official or state employee, or a member of his or her immediate family, is a director, officer…”

The language is simple and direct.

The conflict is obvious!

Jumoke Academy’s charter, the document that allows the school to exist,  must be reviewed and reauthorized by the State Board of Education on regular basis. The COO of Fuse/Jumoke shouldn’t be on that Board.

Jumoke Academy’s request to expand is voted on by the State Board of Education.  The COO of Fuse/Jumoke shouldn’t be on that Board.

The Commissioner’s recommendations concerning The Jumoke Academy at Milner (part of the Commissioner’s Network of “turnaround schools”) is voted on by the State Board of Education.  The COO of Fuse/Jumoke shouldn’t be on that Board.

Proposals to expand the number of Jumoke/Fuse schools in Connecticut are voted on by the State Board of Education.  The COO of Fuse/Jumoke shouldn’t be on that Board.

Regulations and funding for charter schools is voted on by the State Board of Education.  The COO of Fuse/Jumoke shouldn’t be on that Board.

Putting the COO of Fuse/Jumoke on the State Board of Education is inappropriate and wrong.

But wait just a second; on Wednesday she was given a letter from the Office of State Ethics saying that she doesn’t have a “conflict of interest.”

How is that possible?

Because it turns out that according to the Office of State Ethics, the Ethics Code defines the term “Business with which…associated” as “an entity of which you are one of the following: director, officer (i.e., president, executive or senior vice president or treasurer), owner, limited or general partner…”

Despite the fact that she has come before the legislature to call for more funding for charter schools, in general, and Jumoke Academy in particular;

Despite the fact that her job is to expand the number of Jumoke Charter School;

Despite she clearly has a real and perceived conflict of interest;

According to the Ethics Commission’s regulations, as COO, instead of “president, executive or senior vice president or treasurer” she isn’t prohibited from serving on the State Board of Education.

What an amazing travesty of justice.

If something looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quakes like a duck…

And perhaps most shocking of all is why Governor Malloy thinks this appointment is okay.  Even if it doesn’t violate the absolute “letter of the law,” it so flagrantly violates the spirit of Connecticut law that it is an insult to everyone who believes in open, honest and transparent government.

It gets worse….

Mar 04

jonpeltoAchievement First/ConnCAN, Bridgeport, Charter Schools, Education Reform, Ethics, Malloy, Mayor Bill Finch, Paul Vallas, Stefan Pryor Achievement First, Bridgeport, Charter Schools, Ethics, Malloy, Paul Vallas, Stefan Pryor 11 Comments

One of the votes in favor of extending Paul Vallas’ contract as Superintendent of Bridgeport Schools tonight will certainly be Democrat Reverend Kenneth Moales, Jr.

Unlike the spectacular “It Gets Better Project” which communicates to youth around the world that it gets better, and seeks to create and inspire the changes needed to make it better for them, Kenneth Moales Jr. is a sad reminder that when it comes to politics, sometimes it actually gets worse.

In August 2011, Kenneth Moales was appointed by the Malloy Administration to Bridgeport’s illegal Board of Education.  At the time, he was serving as Mayor Bill Finch’s campaign treasurer.  As a member of the Democratic slate, Moales later won a seat on the democratically elected board.

Less than a year later, when Governor Malloy increased funding for early education slots in the state, Kenneth Moales and his family jumped at the opportunity to expand their daycare facilities.  According to the CT Post, “Nearly half of the new preschool slots awarded by the state to the city are going to a program that is part of the ministry of Rev. Kenneth Moales Jr., a state-appointed city school board member.”

The article continued with the information that “Kingdom’s Little Ones Christian Academy, an East End daycare and after-school program run by Moales’ mother, Peggy Moales, and his sister, Kenya Moales-Byrd, is getting 60 of the 130 new slots awarded to the district and some $500,000 that goes with it.”

As Wait, What? readers may remember, an earlier post had focused on the fact that “Kingdom’s Little Ones in Christ, Inc., a company affiliated with Prayer Tabernacle Church of Love, Inc., [Moales’ church] had received approximately $600,000 in public funds for daycare and after-school services from the City of Bridgeport over the past year and more than $2.2 million since 2006.

As if the extra half a million a year wasn’t enough, just two months ago, Kenneth Moles Jr. took an additional step and submitted an application to open a new charter school.

According to Moales, his Bridgeport Prestige Academy College Preparatory Charter School for boys would “prepare young men in grades 3-8 for admission to and success in demanding college preparatory high schools.”

Despite no background in education, except for the fact that he owns daycare centers with his mother and sister, Moales has now positioned himself to collect another $1 million a year in state funds if Commissioner of Education, Stefan Pryor and the State Board of Education select his proposal in the coming months.

As Vice Chair of the Bridgeport Board of Education and chair of the Board’s Finance subcommittee, Moales has been one of Paul Vallas’ strongest supporters.

As we know, Vallas is fond of making it clear to anyone who will listen that he was brought to Connecticut by Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor.  As Bridgeport’s Superintendent of Schools, Vallas will also play a crucial role in the selection of which Bridgeport charter schools get funding.

Will it be Pryor’s own Achievement First that gets more public funds?

Will it be Kenneth Moales, Jr. new charter school?

Tonight’s effort to extend Vallas’ contract is just one more piece of a much bigger puzzle.

It is a puzzle that spells the demise of Connecticut’s system of public education, with some “education reformers” getting rich in the process.

Bridgeport: Finch puts Deputy Mayor Thompson in attack mode to protect Paul Vallas…

Mar 04

jonpeltoAchievement First/ConnCAN, Bridgeport, Education Reform, Malloy, Mayor Bill Finch, Paul Vallas, Stefan Pryor Achievement First, Bridgeport, Joshua Thompson, Malloy, Mayor Bill Finch, Paul Vallas, Stefan Pryor 9 Comments

Call this one a reminder of the old adage; “People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.”

Tonight, five of the nine member of the Bridgeport Board of Education are expected to extend education reformer extraordinaire, Superintendent Paul Vallas’ contract for another year.

On Friday, in preparation for the move, Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch sent his aide, Joshua Thompson, the “Director of Education and Youth Policy and the Deputy Mayor for Education for the city of Bridgeport, CT” out to blast the Board of Education members who have been critical of some of Vallas’ practices and policies.

In a statement to the “Only in Bridgeport” blog, Thompson wrote, “I want to make something 100-percent clear…I am very concerned that we have elected board members whose values are tied to that of the Working Families Party…. With Superintendent Vallas’ evaluation coming up this Monday, it is clear that anyone who is part of the Working Families Party did not objectively evaluate the Superintendent’s performance…”

Of course, for starters, there is the technicality that Bridgeport doesn’t actually have a position of deputy mayor.

It has a Mayor and a Council President, but it doesn’t have a deputy mayor…

So who is this Josh Thompson who, as a taxpayer-funded Bridgeport city employee, is warning that the democratically elected members of the Bridgeport Board of Education, who are also members of the Working Families Party, are taking positions that Mayor Finch doesn’t like?

Josh Thompson was hired by Bridgeport Mayor and Vallas cheerleader, Bill Finch, to serve as his education liaison in August 2012.

At the time, the CT Post reported that “Joshua Thompson will develop and carry out public education policy and shape new initiatives. He will earn $102,000 as an at-will employee of the mayor. Funds for the salary were approved by the City Council and come from a dedicated line in the budget, said Adam Wood, Finch’s chief of staff.”

Neither Finch nor Wood explained to the City Council that the “dedicated line” they were referring to was actually the City’s education budget.

Finch did say that, “Thompson will be the point person for his administration’s education reform efforts.”

While Thompson’s official position has remained that of a deputy chief administrative officer, the Finch Administration started calling Thompson the Mayor’s “Director for Education and Youth.”

Director of Education and Youth is how he refers to himself on his LinkedIn social networking account, although on his twitter account, Thompson calls himself the “Director of Education in Bridgeport, CT”.

Thompson’s quick rise to senior administrative status is most impressive if one reads his published biography on The Council of Urban Professionals’ website.  CUP is New York City based “energetic 21st century leadership development organization that molds diverse business and civic leaders, and empowers them to exert influence, achieve their individual goals and create collective impact through a range of programs and initiative.”

On the CUP website, Joshua Thompson writes that he is “Director of Education and Youth Policy and the Deputy Mayor for Education for the city of Bridgeport, CT.”

Thompson’s biography goes on to explain, “Joshua Thompson is the Director of Education and Youth Policy and the Deputy Mayor for Education for the city of Bridgeport, CT.  Prior to this position, he was the Program Analyst and Projects Manager for the Deputy Mayor for Education in the Executive Office of the Mayor in Washington, DC. In this capacity, he served in a direct oversight role in the District’s schools, working in partnership with charter schools, as well as the federal government on policies such as Race to the Top and other major initiatives that impact the District at large. Joshua has also served as the Director of Athletics and Institutional Advancement at Saint Benedict’s Preparatory School in Newark, New Jersey, which he attended as a youth.”

The evidence is a bit unclear about his role as “Program Analyst and Projects Manager for the Deputy Mayor for Education”  in Washington, DC, but considering he was working at Saint Benedict’s Preparatory School up until January 2012 and joined Finch’s Administration in August 2012, it wasn’t an extended stay in Washington.

In addition, while it is true that he and his wife served as “as house parents at his alma mater, St. Benedict’s Preparatory School in Newark, for more than a year, ” he wasn’t actually Director of Institutional Advancement at Saint Benedict’s Prep, he was more like Associate Director.  He did hold the position of Director of Athletics, although truth be told, it was for less than two months.

Thompson’s bio goes on to explain that, “He was awarded a Public Service Legal Fellowship by Vermont Law School to help shape the changing landscape of education in Newark. During his fellowship, Joshua co-wrote the strategic plan for the creation and operation of Partnership for Education in Newark (PENewark), a program that reached and involved more local residents than had ever been engaged in a city of Newark’s size. He then served as a Research Analyst for the project, funded by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. In this role, Joshua worked as a direct advisor to PENewark’s co-chairs, Shavar Jeffries and the Mayor of Newark, Cory A. Booker.”

It does appear that Mr. Thompson spent part of 2010 in Newark; although as one professor from Michigan State University wrote after studying the PENewark campaign, “A door-to-door outreach campaign in Newark got underway in December 2010. The campaign was coordinated by a new organization, Partnership for Education in Newark (PENewark), which was created by a PR firm, Tusk Strategies. Tusk was paid $1.5 million, and the engagement effort was criticized for its expense and vague results.”

The professor concludes, “What has become of PENewark since the expensive outreach campaign? The website has been repurposed by a vintage furniture seller. The group’s Facebook and Twitter accounts have been silent since 2011.”

But be that as it may, the 27-year-old Thompson’s arrival in 2012 was heralded as a major development and Finch is rarely seen these days without Thompson at his side.

Last year Finch told the CT Post, “He comes to us with impressive credentials and success.”

Adam Wood, Finch’s Chief of Staff added, at the time, “I think there has been a lot of change and we want to strengthen and grow the relationship between the board and city,” said Wood. “We have come to the consensus we need to devote a dedicated and experienced resource toward this effort.”

Paul Vallas was effusive about Thompson saying, “He is a splendid choice” and according to the CT Post, Commissioner of Education, Stefan Pryor “said hiring Thompson will help the Finch administration advance the turnaround of the city’s school district.”

Upon his arrival, Thompson became one of Finch’s key point people in the Mayor’s unsuccessful effort to do away with an elected board of education in Bridgeport and replace it with one appointed by Finch.

After the loss, Salon Magazine wrote, “Joshua Thompson, Finch’s director of education and youth, defended the unsuccessful effort, saying the mayor was following the recommendations of “a report handed back to him” by a charter commission that was based on testimony by academics and “major reformers” like former New York City schools chief Joel Klein. “It seemed to be the best way to move school reform that’s deserving of our children,” Thompson told Salon. He said that maintaining an elected school board “would almost be perpetuating the definition of insanity” because it has shown an “inability to carry out what’s necessary for our children.” Thompson added that “taking the politics out” was “a catalyst” for reforms elsewhere.”

But even with the defeat, Finch and his supporters are pushing ahead with their education reform efforts, and for now, that effort is focused almost exclusively on extending Paul Vallas’ contract.

Vallas is Finch’s key to controlling the Bridgeport Schools and Finch will apparently say or do whatever is needed to keep Vallas around.

Oh, and last but not least…

Bridgeport’s school budget is in the range of $225 million a year.  Of that amount, more than 80 percent comes from the State of Connecticut.  However, to get that money, state law requires that the City of Bridgeport devote at least a minimum level of financial support for the schools from city funds.

Bridgeport is rather notorious for trying to sidestep that requirement but this past November, under pressure, the City Council authorized an additional transfer of $3,649,575 to the Bridgeport Board of Education.

That was the amount of money needed in order for the City to meet the Minimum Expenditure Requirement (MER) under state law.  Included in that amount was none other than the funding for the position of Deputy CAO for Education/Youth (AKA Josh Thompson’s position)

In other words, more than one hundred thousand dollars a year in funds meant to educate the children of Bridgeport will, instead, be going to pay the salary of Josh Thompson.

So the guy who is spending his time blasting members of the Bridgeport School Board is actually a City employee but he is being paid from the funds under the jurisdiction of the very board members that he is attacking.

Oh and Mr. Thompson’s wife?  She landed a job at Achievement First Inc. – Bridgeport.

Right, that Achievement First, Inc. – the charter school management company co-founded by Governor Malloy’s Commissioner of Education, Stefan Pryor.  The charter school management company with 20 taxpayer-funded schools in New York and Connecticut, one of which is located in Bridgeport. The very same Achievement First Inc. that has received permission from Pryor’s state agency to dramatically expand the number of students it accepts, thereby increasing the amount of public funds it gets.

It certainly seems to be some poetic justice in the notion that Joshua Thompson’s diatribe against certain members of the Bridgeport Board of Education showed up Friday in the blog entitled, “Only in Bridgeport.”

That and the not so poetic justice that Bridgeport’s children and teachers are being played by the likes of Finch, Vallas and the “education reformers.”

More public subsidies for Achievement First, Commissioner Pryor’s “former” Charter School Management Company

Mar 01

jonpeltoAchievement First/ConnCAN, Bridgeport, Budget Cuts, Charter Schools, Education Reform, Hartford, Malloy, New Haven, Stefan Pryor Achievement First, Bridgeport, Charter Schools, Education Reform, Hartford, Malloy, New Haven, Stefan Pryor 12 Comments

It might be difficult economic times here in Connecticut.  Taxes going up, vital services being cut, but low and behold, public funds are flowing ever faster into Achievement First, Inc. the charter school management company co-founded by Governor Malloy’s Commissioner of Education, Stefan Pryor.

Not only is Commissioner Pryor overseeing the process that is allowing Achievement First to expand its schools in Bridgeport, New Haven and Hartford, but he is playing the pivotal role in the approval process for new taxpayer-funded charter schools in Connecticut.

The net result is that Achievement First is the fastest growing charter school entity in the state.

Now comes news of even more public funds and support for the company that Pryor helped build as one of its original directors.

The application deadline is quickly approaching for the new Achievement First Residency Program for School Leadership.

The “best and brightest” teachers from Bridgeport, New Haven and Hartford Public Schools are being asked to participate.

According to the program’s recruitment materials, “This full-time, paid residency opportunity will allow talented education reformers to learn and leverage some of the country’s most effective practices to drive breakthrough student achievement.”

Participants will complete two residencies over the course of one academic year, “first at a high-performing Achievement First school and then at a district school with a high-impact principal.”

“Residents will be mentored by an outstanding principal at each school, given specific leadership responsibilities, and provided with focused feedback on their growth and development. Residents will simultaneously receive structured professional development and guidance on change implementation strategy from amazing practitioners.”

The material goes on to claim, “Following the residency year, the intention is to deem Residency Program graduates who meet program requirements and competency standards as placement-ready assistant principals (APs) or principals.”

Despite the unprecedented financial crisis, participants will receive full salary and benefits.  In fact, the participants will continue to be employees of the local schools systems so they will continue to retain all district benefits and have a job to fall back on if they aren’t deemed an appropriate fit for promotion.

Professional development programs are hardly unique and are generally very valuable, but in this case, the program is being developed and run through an exclusive district/charter school management agreement that will serve as the one year alternative route to certification for people to become school administrators.

The whole approach is a statement about how Achievement First, Pryor and the other reformers look down on all that “extra” academic training that regular administrators are supposed to be getting before running our schools.

Call this the FAST TRACK to become an education reform school administrator.

The whole notion of diverting the best teachers away from the classroom and into charter school-run “training,” at a time when there aren’t enough staff to even maintain existing programs, let alone enhance efforts to promote quality educational programs, is a farce.

The program is little more than a publicly-funded effort to create a pipeline to recruit and train charter school administrators, paid for by taxpayers of Connecticut and its three poorest cities.

And who is the biggest beneficiary of all?

Who is collecting the funds?  Who is coordinating the effort?  Who will be siphoning off the graduates?

Achievement First, Inc., the very charter school management company that Stefan Pryor helped to create and lead for the eight years before he became Malloy’s Commissioner of Education.

And we wonder why taxpayers are sick and tired of paying more and getting less.