tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8618709929318397424.post8189513643934789367..comments2023-10-31T07:43:37.520-04:00Comments on NJ Left Behind: White Suburban Parents Protest Educational Rights of Black Urban ParentsNJ Left Behindhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16739701636089453850noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8618709929318397424.post-43631422896759844692017-01-14T18:04:56.881-05:002017-01-14T18:04:56.881-05:00Thanks for reading, everyone. FYI, I didn't cr...Thanks for reading, everyone. FYI, I didn't crop the photo. It was sent to me by one of the Newark parents, who took the photo and, in fact, didn't crop it either. NJ Left Behindhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16739701636089453850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8618709929318397424.post-86552943513463615872017-01-11T08:08:16.653-05:002017-01-11T08:08:16.653-05:00Really sad, Laura. Really, really sad that you wou...Really sad, Laura. Really, really sad that you would stoop this low. Don't ever again say that public ed activists 'cherry pick'. You've been caught red handed.Marie Corfieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15462049509943707599noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8618709929318397424.post-78432049775191275032017-01-10T15:47:20.112-05:002017-01-10T15:47:20.112-05:00Really artful photo crop. Looking back of the phot...Really artful photo crop. Looking back of the photos I took of the event, I don’t even know how I would begin making a crop that showed only white faces. In any event, it’s a shame you missed this event. You would have heard Deborah Smith-Gregory, the president of the NAACP Newark chapter, talk about the ways charters hurt children of all colors and incomes by draining resources from public schools with no accountability to local communities. You would have also heard Frank Argote-Freyre, president of the Latino Coalition, talk about the segregation caused by the Red Bank Charter School, which has managed to for years to exclude children who begin school speaking English as a second language. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06780005570640006007noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8618709929318397424.post-10967662926867736482017-01-10T15:44:50.310-05:002017-01-10T15:44:50.310-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06780005570640006007noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8618709929318397424.post-72859263162156255782017-01-10T10:58:08.799-05:002017-01-10T10:58:08.799-05:00https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/w...https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/01/09/a-disturbing-look-at-how-charter-schools-are-hurting-a-traditional-school-district/?utm_term=.dfed196391de<br /><br />Corruption issues:<br />Profits can become so lucrative that Pennsylvania Cyber Charter founder Nick Trombetta spent $8 million of taxpayer dollars for extravagant homes and an airplane. When Trombetta was arrested, it was not for the exorbitant profits, which were legal, but for tax fraud.<br />Recruiting issues:<br />“Why worry about this type of student at school? Come visit Arts Academy Charter School. Now enrolling grades 6-12.”<br />Bethlehem residents were outraged. <br /><br />Conflict of interest issues:<br /> In 2007, Atiyeh had purchased the property in which her school would reside for $900,000. The month he bought it, he sold it for one dollar to Catty Schools LLC, a privately held company that lists him as its principal.The Lehigh Valley Christian High School moved in instead, paying Atiyeh’s LLC $94,195 in rent in 2008. The next year, the rent jumped to $364,636. By 2013 when the private school left the building (because the building had no “curb appeal”), it had paid $1,736,691, total, in rent.Prior to its departure, Lehigh Valley Christian was sharing Atiyeh’s building with the Medical Academy Charter School, which was founded by Atiyeh’s friend, Craig Haytmanek, in 2012. In 2013, Medical Academy also paid rent costing $295,088. The next year, it paid $404,717 to Linden Land Development LLC, another corporation at the Atiyeh address.<br /><br />Failure issues and student transition<br />The Medical Academy Charter School was beset by serious problems from the start. Its curriculum came under question. Videos of student violence in the school started appearing on social media, and enrollment was stagnant. In 2015 and 2016, it had the lowest ratings in the Lehigh Valley. When it closed its doors in June 2016, still owing its teachers money, it had earned only 29.8 out of 100 points on the state report card.<br /><br />In its place, however, would be yet another charter school, the Innovative Arts Academy Charter School, the school with the anonymous flier to which Atiyeh loaned $100,000. Members of the board of the failed charter, including Haytmanek, were members of the applicant board[1]. Atiyeh, of course, receives the new charter’s rent as well[2].<br /><br />Cost Issues:<br />The district budgeted $26 million (about 10 percent of its annual budget) this year to pay for tuition and associated costs to charter schools. According to Roy, “We estimate that if all of the students in charters returned, even with hiring the additional needed staff, we would save $20 million. This is the cost of school choice.”<br />“If we weren’t spending so much on charters, we would have more academic and social supports for our students living in poverty. We would have more professional development focused on equity and literacy. We would have social workers. And, importantly, we would not have raised property taxes to the extent we have if not for the charter expenses. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02906872247436221119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8618709929318397424.post-69261089747948803162017-01-10T10:34:10.044-05:002017-01-10T10:34:10.044-05:00Bravo Bill!
As usual, Waters and Cunningham are ga...Bravo Bill!<br />As usual, Waters and Cunningham are gaslighting the public. <br /><br />http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/betsy-devos-michigan-school-experiment-232399<br />http://www.courierpostonline.com/story/news/local/south-jersey/2014/09/04/camden-parents-sue-renaissance-schools/15076251/<br />http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/Newark-Charter-School-Proposal-Upsets-Parents-118479029.html<br />http://www.philly.com/philly/news/new_jersey/20140515_Camden_students_walk_out_to_protest_layoffs.html<br />http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/04/newark-public-schools-boycott_n_5769396.html<br />http://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2014/02/newark_teachers_students_protests_districts_layoff_plan.html<br />http://www.app.com/story/news/education/2016/11/15/federal-segregation-complaint-filed-against-red-bank-charter-school/93918818/<br />http://www.salon.com/2014/03/13/christies_charter_school_nightmare_white_flight_and_they%E2%80%99re_bankrupting_us/<br /><br />And of course, protests are not just in NJ, they run nationwide:<br />http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/05/public-school-walks-ins-protest-charter-takeover-testing<br />http://columbiaspectator.com/2010/01/21/parents-protest-charter-school-growth-harlem<br />http://www.ktnv.com/news/parents-teachers-fight-against-state-charter-school-district<br />http://www.fox29.com/news/51795457-story<br />http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/8617232.stmAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02906872247436221119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8618709929318397424.post-56290271542322995762017-01-10T08:43:53.938-05:002017-01-10T08:43:53.938-05:00This exploitation of the underprivileged has becom...This exploitation of the underprivileged has become more transparent over time. Recognize it and run from it Laura, before you shame yourself more. We all know the code. The "bad" schools are the ones with the "bad" kids in them. Parents choose schools by the composition of the student population. That's the elephant in the room. The segregation is tacit and deliberate. That's why those who can afford to, buy their segregation by buying their way into suburban communities or more directly, writing a check to a private school in a place like Princeton. This assures their children will rub elbows with a "better" class of peers, and circulate in a more educated, better-connected, privileged community.<br /><br />It works the same way up and down the social scale. You are not advocating for fairness for children. You and your ilk are promoting policies to solidify and refine this caste system. So you trot out the cream of the charter crop to exploit them as props. Easy enough to do when your people cynically steal resources from the public schools where you leave the untouchables behind.<br /><br />The NAACP sees what you are doing. Suburban school leaders see what you are doing. Everyone sees what you are doing, although many won't say it out loud. Your own allies have even confessed to it. Look at a mirror. Find some honest work.<br />Bill Michaelsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11814400518038908587noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8618709929318397424.post-48288738324040486082017-01-09T22:57:56.482-05:002017-01-09T22:57:56.482-05:00Thank you for sharing the voices of low-income par...Thank you for sharing the voices of low-income parents desperate for a better education for their children. They simply want to exercise their right to choose -- the same right that middle class families have -- the same right that wealthy parents have. The same right that all parents should have. The case against charters is immoral.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01044323074150345996noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8618709929318397424.post-33753036652616271022017-01-09T18:13:10.680-05:002017-01-09T18:13:10.680-05:00*BOE*BOELMRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10870416308656885667noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8618709929318397424.post-9294574902244826842017-01-09T18:12:37.893-05:002017-01-09T18:12:37.893-05:00I just have one question..why would you crop the ...I just have one question..why would you crop the picture? Really. Do you not have anything better to do with your day? The only reason I can think of is that you just want to start trouble and my goodness you were on the Lawrenceville BOR? You should be ashamed of yourself. LMRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10870416308656885667noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8618709929318397424.post-85658364529191692322017-01-09T17:50:25.982-05:002017-01-09T17:50:25.982-05:00Laura, you were not there.
Because had you been (...Laura, you were not there.<br /><br />Because had you been (I was, it was freezing, it was insanely well-attended, it was an exciting, empowering day) you would have seen organizations that represent people of color, as well as parents and activists, all standing out in the same windy cold. But you weren't there. You cropped that photo to omit a large group of people of color who were right there with us all. You are cherry picking, and in doing so, silencing a group of folks who disagree with you. <br /><br />Who spoke at the press conference? Notably:<br /><br />1) Deborah Smith-Gregory, head of the NAACP in Newark, spoke in favor of a charter moratorium. JUST LIKE the NAACP nationally. You may want to acquaint yourself with their arguments against charter expansion here: http://www.naacp.org/latest/statement-regarding-naacps-resolution-moratorium-charter-schools/ <br /><br />In sum: Charters aren't transparent. They aren't accountable to citizens. And they deepen segregation. That last one is an inconvenient truth, isn't it? But I guess you know this issue better than the NAACP?<br /><br />2) Frank Argote-Freyre, director of the Latino Coalition in NJ. He spoke out against expansion given his concerns with funding, equity, and transparency. <br /><br />Several other parents and folks, from all over NJ, of all shades and races, spoke out during testimony and were present at that event.<br /><br />How dare you erase their comments and their presence by cherry picking a photo and making false reports about who was there and who spoke that day. <br /><br />I'm all for a healthy debate about the merits and massive problems of charters, but please don't present false evidence. You can do better.<br />Sue Altmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08273826930609462012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8618709929318397424.post-17282870857330104582017-01-09T17:39:11.447-05:002017-01-09T17:39:11.447-05:00Oh! Look at the picture! Amazing what cropping wil...Oh! Look at the picture! Amazing what cropping will do. Give us all a break. I was there, not part of the presser, but I saw firsthand the composition of the crowd. Who I did not see, though, was you. I'm certain you will now follow up with by providing quotes from Superintendents (Franklin, Princeton) who were there to describe exactly how the practice of using PUBLIC tax dollars to fund quasi-private charter schools in their districts has impacted ALL children. Thanks. Looking forward to that. Julie Borsthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15205661029847875010noreply@blogger.com