CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS

A compilation of news articles about charter schools which have been charged with, or are highly suspected of, tampering with admissions, grades, attendance and testing; misuse of funds and embezzlement; engaging in nepotism and conflicts of interest; engaging in complicated and shady real estate deals; and/or have been engaging in other questionable, unethical, borderline-legal, or illegal activities. This is also a record of charter school instability and other unsavory tidbits.

Texas Gulen charter schools 2017-2018

Update conducted on 12/9/2017 using information posted @ http://tea4avholly.tea.state.tx.us/TEA.AskTED.Web/Forms/SearchScreen.aspx?orgType=School

In the 2016-17 school year, Texas’ 676 open-enrollment charter school campuses served 272,835 students, 12.7% of whom attended a Gulen Movement-operated charter school.

https://tea.texas.gov/acctres/enroll_2016-17.pdf

Number of Gulen charter schools in Texas in 2017-2018

· Managed by Harmony = 55

· Managed by Riverwalk = 7

· TOTAL = 62 (eight of which were opened in 2017; see “year opened” column below)

Enrollment trends

Charter Management Organization	2014-2015	2015-2016	2016-2017	2017-2018
Harmony	28318	30502	31988	TBD
Riverwalk	1926	2043	2772
*TOTAL*	*30244*	*32545*	*34760*

OPERATED BY HARMONY PUBLIC SCHOOLS (55 schools)
TEA CODE	NCES SCHOOL ID	SCHOOL	YEAR OPENED	ENROLLMENT OCT 2016
101-846-001	480021008804	Harmony Science Academy - Houston 9431 W. Sam Houston Pkwy. S., Houston	2000	598
227-816-001	480024109409	Harmony Science Academy - Austin 930 E. Rundberg Lane, Austin	2001	594
101-846-002	480021012488	Harmony School of Innovation – Houston 9421 W. Sam Houston Pkwy., Houston	2005	530
015-828-001	480026611126	Harmony Science Academy - San Antonio 8505 Lakeside Pkwy., San Antonio	2006	732
071-806-001	480027211213	Harmony Science Academy - El Paso 9405 Betel Dr., El Paso	2006	725
101-858-001	480027411244	Harmony School of Excellence 7340 N. Gessner Dr., Houston	2006	903
101-858-006	480027412490	Harmony School of Technology - Houston 3203 N. Sam Houston Pkwy. W., Houston	2006	660
161-807-007	480029211328	Harmony Science Academy - Fort Worth 5651 Westcreek Dr., Fort Worth	2006	671
227-816-003	480024112574	Harmony School of Science - Austin 11800 Stonehollow Dr., Austin	2006	532
071-806-004	480027211497	Harmony Science Academy - Lubbock 1516 53rd St., Lubbock	2007	361
101-858-003	480027412518	Harmony Science Academy - Bryan 2031 S. Texas Ave., Bryan	2007	365
101-862-004	480140512934	Harmony Science Academy - Beaumont 4055 Calder Ave., Beaumont	2007	538
161-807-001	480029211466	Harmony Science Academy - Waco 1900 N. Valley Mills Dr., Waco	2007	770
161-807-003	480029212542	Harmony Science Academy - Dallas 11995 Forestgate Dr., Dallas	2007	1225
015-828-003	480026612090	Harmony Science Academy - Laredo 4401 San Francisco Ave., Laredo	2008	741
015-828-005	480026612119	Harmony Science Academy - Brownsville 1124 Central Blvd., Brownsville	2008	519
101-862-001	480140512025	Harmony Science Academy - Sugar Land 13415 W. Belfort, Sugar Land	2008	769
161-807-008	480029212050	Harmony Science Academy - Grand Prairie 1102 NW 7th St., Grand Prairie	2008	568
227-816-002	480024112260	Harmony Science Academy - Pflugerville 1421 Wells Branch Pkwy. W. Ste. 200, Pflugerville	2008	881
071-806-002	480027212339	Harmony School of Innovation - El Paso 5210 Fairbanks Dr., El Paso	2009	1037
101-846-003	480021012506	Harmony School of Ingenuity - Houston 10555 Stella Link Rd., Houston	2009	576
101-858-002	480027412284	Harmony School of Endeavor - Houston 5668 W. Little York Rd., Houston	2009	561
161-807-004	480029212548	Harmony School of Innovation - Carrollton 1024 W. Rosemeade Pkwy., Carrollton	2009	589
161-807-009	480029212379	Harmony Science Academy - Euless 701 S. Industrial Blvd. Ste. 115, Euless	2009	554
227-816-101	480024112424	Harmony School of Excellence - Austin 2100 E. St. Elmo Rd., Austin	2009	578
015-828-002	480026612580	Harmony School of Innovation - San Antonio 8125 Glen Mont Dr., San Antonio	2010	536
071-806-005	480027212534	Harmony Science Academy - Odessa 2755 N. Grandview Ave., Odessa	2010	491
101-846-005	480021012560	Harmony School of Science - Houston 5435 S. Braeswood, Houston	2010	353
101-846-006	480021012561	Harmony School of Fine Arts and Technology 9115 Kirby Dr., Houston	2010	718
101-858-004	480027412494	Harmony School of Advancement - High 3171 N. Sam Houston Pkwy. W., Houston	2010	596
101-858-005	480027412489	Harmony School of Discovery - Houston 6270 Barker Cypress Rd., Houston	2010	696
161-807-002	480029212536	Harmony Science Academy - Garland 2302 Firewheel Pkwy., Garland	2010	752
161-807-010	480029212606	Harmony School of Nature and Athletics 8120 Camp Wisdom Rd., Dallas	2010	1010
101-862-002	480140512741	Harmony School of Innovation - Sugar Land 13522 W. Airport Blvd., Sugar Land	2011	924
101-862-003	480140513062	Harmony Science Academy - Katy 22400 Grand Corner Dr., Katy	2011	663
227-816-004	480024112787	Harmony School of Political Science and Communication 13415 Fm. 620 N., Austin	2011	936
161-807-005	480029212871	Harmony School of Business - Dallas 8080 W. President George Bush Hwy., Dallas	2012	916
161-807-011	480029212847	Harmony School of Innovation - Fort Worth 8100 S. Hulen St., Fort Worth	2012	878
101-846-102	480021012974	Harmony School of Exploration - Houston 9305 W. Sam Houston Parkway S., Houston	2013	649
161-807-012	480029212939	Harmony School of Innovation - Euless 701 S. Industrial Blvd. Ste. 105, Euless	2013	759
015-828-004	480026613147	Harmony School of Innovation - Laredo 4608 Daugherty Ave., Laredo	2014	597
161-807-006	480029213199	Harmony School of Innovation - Garland 2302 Firewheel Pkwy., Garland	2014	527
227-816-005	480024113063	Harmony School of Innovation - Austin 2124 E. St. Elmo Rd. #A, Austin	2014	450
015-828-006	480026613261	Harmony School of Excellence - San Antonio 2015 SW Loop 10, San Antonio	2015	580
101-858-007	480027413269	Harmony School of Achievement - Houston 16209 Kieth Harrow Blvd., Houston	2015	636
161-807-013	480029213362	Harmony Science Academy - Carrollton 1024 W. Rosemeade Pkwy., Carrollton	2015	556
071-806-006	480027213391	Harmony School of Excellence - El Paso 9435 Betel Dr., El Paso	2016	686
101-862-005	480140513426	Harmony School of Innovation - Katy 22400 Grand Corner Dr. Bldg B, Katy	2016	502
015-828-007	480026613421	Harmony School of Innovation - Brownsville 3451 Dana Ave., Brownsville	2017	-
015-828-008	480026613428	Harmony School of Excellence - Laredo 4401 San Francisco Ave., Laredo	2017	-
101-858-008	480027413460	Harmony School of Enrichment - Houston 3203 N Sam Houston Pkwy W., Houston	2017	-
101-862-006	480140513420	Harmony School of Excellence – Sugar Land 1424 Eldridge Rd., Sugar Land	2017	-
161-807-014	480029213499	Harmony School of Innovation - Waco 1100 S. Valley Mills Dr., Beverly Hills	2017	-
161-807-015	480029213498	Harmony Science Academy - Plano 600 Data Dr., Plano	2017	-
227-816-006	480024113430	Harmony Science Academy - Cedar Park 12200 Anderson Mill Rd., Austin	2017	-

OPERATED BY RIVERWALK EDUCATION FOUNDATION (7 schools)
015-827-001	480025810423	School of Science and Technology 1450 NE Loop 410, San Antonio	2005	457
015-831-001	480140012140	School of Science and Technology Discovery 5707 Bandera Rd., San Antonio	2008	483
015-827-002	480025812291	School of Science and Technology - Alamo 12200 Crownpoint Dr. Ste. 100, San Antonio	2009	431
015-831-002	480140012144	School of Science and Technology Corpus Christi 4737 Saratoga Ave., Corpus Christi	2009	813
015-827-003	480025813512	School of Science and Technology - Houston 16200 TX 249, Houston	2016	350
015-831-003	480140013427	School of Science and Technology Advancement 10550 Westoffice Dr., Houston	2016	238
015-827-004	not posted	School of Science and Technology Excellence 330 N. Sam Houston Pkwy E., Houston	2017	-

No comments:

Inform yourself about the Gulen movement!

1. WATCH KILLING ED, Mark Hall's feature-length documentary about charter schools, corruption and the rise of the Gulen Movement in America
2. READ the "Expose the Gulen Movement" report.
3. WATCH the Gulen Movement 101: Session One webinar presentation (1/22/2014)
4. WATCH the 60 Minutes segment "U.S. charter schools tied to powerful Turkish imam" broadcast. (5/13/2012)
5. READ my response to the 60 Minutes piece.
6. READ my guest article about Gulen charter schools published by The Washington Post. (3/27/2012)
7. WATCH my interview talking about Gulen charter schools, or my presentation at LaborFest (segment between 49:18 min. & 1:07:36 min.)
8. READ my postings labeled "Gulen movement" HERE.

As one observer tweeted, "U.S. media have focused too much on the Islamic nature of the Gulen movement. Real concern is its shady dealings and improprieties."

Please be aware that Gulenists have created a large number of anonymously-operated damage control websites. They started to appear a few months after publication of Greg Toppo's article in USA Today (August 2010).

Remainders

1. Bruce Baker's excellent analysis of whether charter schools are public or private.

2. Jim Horn's Top 10 reasons for why 1%ers support urban charter schools.

3. What reporters covering charter schools need to know about miracle schools, vouchers and all that educational flim-flam (i.e. be skeptical and always follow the money).

4. As of May 2013, only eight states do not have a charter school law: Alabama, Kentucky, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and West Virginia.

5. Balkanize: "to break up (as a region or group) into smaller and often hostile units" (Merriam-Webster dictionary)

6. *Phrase coined by John Thompson: "educational civil war"

7. "A system that allows school operators to donate to the officials that regulate them is pretty sorry." h/t "X"

8. Re the Gulen movement. Two important psychological principals of which to be aware: the Backfire Effect and the Black Swan Theory.

Pleas for charter school oversight

AS U.S. AID GROWS, OVERSIGHT IS URGED FOR CHARTER SCHOOLS; February 24, 2010; New York Times

…The president of one influential charter group told the House Education and Labor Committee that the federal government had spent $2 billion since the mid-1990s to finance new charter schools but less than $2 million, about one-tenth of 1 percent, to ensure that they were held to high standards.
“It’s as if the federal government had spent billions for new highway construction, but nothing to put up guardrails along the sides of those highways,” said Greg Richmond, president of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers…

CHARTER BACKER SAYS HOUSE PROPOSAL WEAKENS OVERSIGHT; April 30, 2011; Columbus Dispatch (OH)

A leading school-choice supporter says the sweeping changes proposed by House Republicans would weaken oversight of charter schools severely and threaten to turn Ohio into a "laughingstock of the nation's charter-school programs.

"It's hard for me to say that," said Terry Ryan, vice president of Ohio programs and policy for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, which sponsors seven charter schools in the state, including two in Columbus...

It was just last year that Mr. Ryan said, "The charter movement must police itself."
----

"The idea of regulating charter schools makes no sense because deregulation is the justification for the policy." -- Jim M., retired teacher

------

Perhaps it's finally dawning on some charter school supporters that the whole business is a huge can of worms.

Message to readers

With the systematic privatization of public education being conducted via the rapid expansion of charter schools, I regularly receive messages from teachers and parents who have charter school horror stories they want to share, and/or are in need of advice about a charter school situation in their community (e.g., "The charter school I attended has been closed. Do you know how I can get a copy of my transcript?). I also hear from journalists who are seeking information.

Just so you know, this site is a one-woman volunteer operation. Sorry folks, I'm DEFINITELY NOT union-sponsored.

Welcome

Charter School Scandals (CSS) was launched on May 14, 2010 to provide the public with a source of independently collected information about U.S. charter schools.

For instance, compare what you learn from my entry for the 3,500 student CATO School of Reason to the information provided by the pro-charter Center for Education Reform in their compilation: "Closed Charter Schools by State: National Data 2009" (63 page pdf). In the CER's document, the closure reason is "Management" explained as "Inadequate record keeping, suspect relations with private and sectarian schools," but the true story is much bigger and dirtier than that.

CSS is a non-billionaire funded (and un-bought off!), non-union affiliated (!), one-person operation in the name of transparency and public service to our democracy. I post the information as quickly as I can, but have a massive backlog due to the sheer number of stories. Please check back periodically for new additions.

And as you scroll through these stories, be sure to keep a running tally of the estimated legal costs.

Gulen Movement MUST READS!

Under the radar of the American public, the Gulen movement has been quietly advancing its presence in the U.S. via the establishment of charter schools, "cultural centers", and "interfaith dialogue" centers. Politicians, reporters, academics, community leaders, and charter school families have been strategically targeted, influenced, and given gifts, as the Gulenists have steadily built up their political cover. But how many of these Americans have an understanding of the controversies which surround this secretive movement and its worldwide political ambitions? And how would the public respond to finding out that such a movement is opening more and more charter schools, supported by their tax dollars as part of the GM's primary global project, without being willing to admit the connection?

-----------------

LEARN MORE

1. Read about the federal investigation into the Gulen Movement's charter schools.

2. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: Islam, Secularism and the Battle for Turkey's Future, 23 August 2010, STRATFOR Global Intelligence

3. Video of Joshua Hendrick of the U. of OR and Y. Alp Aslandogan discussing the Gulen Movement. Here are the first 24 pages of Hendrick's 2009 thesis.

4. Charter School Watchdog

5. Gulen Charter Schools (don't miss the entry HERE.)

6. A Guide to the Gulen Movement's Activities in the U.S.

7. Gulen in the International Press

8. "Turkey's survival of the fittest: The Islamic anti-Darwinism movement in Turkey is being helped by an unlikely source - US Christian conservatives," 12 March 2008, ISN Security Watch)

9. "Religious movements in Turkey," 20 December 2010, OpenDemocracy

10. "First Class Revolution: From Medina to Mecca" and "Fethullah Gulen's Missionary Charter Schools Coming under Increasing Scrutiny in the United States and around the World," 24 January 2011 & 26 February 2011, Kurdish Aspect

11. "Turkey: Politics of Identity and Power," 13 August 2010, Congressional Research Service

12. "Turkey's pivotal role in the international drug trade," July 1998, Le Monde diplomatique (more background info)

13. EXTRA CREDIT: Check out the animated Imperial History of the Middle East and this Middle East geography game.

Bad apples, tips of icebergs, and cans of worms

In 2000, the Center for Education Reform wrote:
"A few bad apples shouldn't sour the public on the promising charter school movement, but when a bad apple does turn up, critics of charter schools pounce on it. Charter opponents are quick to claim that "more than a few" schools have closed and even quicker to characterize the movement as one that invites unscrupulous, fly-by-night operators to set up shop.Those mean ol' charter opponents. Isn't it curious how the reformers don't have any problem at all with building up a few negative public school stories into an anti-public teacher-bashing movement of national proportions in order to destroy teacher unions and public schools as a whole?"

But are charter schools really so innocent?

- In 2009, 83 percent of 145 Minnesota charter schools were found to have at least one financial irregularity in their audit.

- In February 2009, a New Mexico state audit found financial problems with 36 of the 44 charter schools in Albuquerque.

- Philadelphia City Controller Alan Butkovitz (April 2010): "The fact that there were significant issues at 13 out of 13 [schools] raises the likelihood you would see many of these same issues found in a much larger sampling of the schools.By May 2010, his probe had widened to 18 charter schools."

Relationships terminated

Charter school promoters live in an abstract world where it's perfectly fine to shutter a school when the "need" arises. This reveals a profound detachment and utter disregard for the emotional lives of the children and families who, as a result, end up being subjected to tremendous disruption, stress, termination of meaningful relationships, loss and grief. Kids need security and dependability.

A school going "out of business" takes a very different emotional toll on families and children than when their local gas station or Denny's restaurant does.

-----

The demise and death of our institutions of social support:

Family............check!
Church............check!
Neighborhoods............check!
Schools............check!

-----
"It comes down to what ultimately is in the best public interest here -- supporting the growth of charters or not. Does that support ultimately weaken the rest of the school district? You bet it does." (Fred LeBrun, Albany, NY)

Observations

There is no doubt but that an increasing number of inspectors, auditors, investigators, prosecutors and court rooms (and a lot of time and money) will be needed as more state charter caps are lifted.

Part of the problem is that too many people running charter schools see them as their own little fiefdoms. After all the effort and money put into setting up their schools -- and with political leaders and the mainstream media shining their bright spotlights on charter schools -- the stakes are inordinately high for them to be able to show "success."

Another problem I've discovered by doing this research is that the unmonitored access to millions of public education dollars is drawing unscrupulous people into the "business." At other times, new-found access to funds is proving to be too tempting for some people who were perhaps less criminally-minded.

Additionally, I've now discovered that, in this era of high-stakes testing, the education security business is booming. As one company put it, "Cheating on tests isn't the exception anymore; it has almost become the rule."

On competition

From "Deregulation and Charter School Swindles" by Gary Clabaugh (Educational Horizons, Winter 2009):

Two main ideas inform the charter school movement. The first is that competition is an essential ingredient in school improvement. Charters are said to provide that.

The trouble with this argument is that competition doesn't select the best, only the most popular. McDonald's doesn't produce the best-tasting or most-nutritious food, for instance, but its heart attack specials certainly are popular. A second-rate school might prove similarly competitive if it provides a tawdry but reassuring education to the children of the low-information crowd. Fearful your kids will discover you are an ignoramus? Send them to Alpha Charter where they will never learn to doubt.

Dedication

This Web site is dedicated to Eli Broad, Bill Gates, the Walton family, Arne Duncan, Whitney Tilson, Joe Williams, Reed Hastings, Ted Mitchell, Jack O'Connell, Tom Vander Ark, George Miller, Joanne Weiss, Randy Ward, Arnold Swarzenegger, all Milton Friedman-lovers, and any other free-market, pro-school choice, minimally-regulate-what-goes-on-in-charter school supporters who are also proud self-stated "DISRUPTORS" of public school communities, who have almost never, EVER been part of a public school community or local neighborhood, or who rejected being part of any public school community or local neighborhood long, long ago -- but have ended up deciding to help tear apart the tapestry of basic local human connections anyway.

Visitors

A variety of people have been looking at my blog, probably because of the great Gulen charter school information I've posted. This site is regularly visited by readers from Turkey. I get periodic visits from dhs.gov, doj.gov and ed.gov. I've had visits from house.gov and ed.gov, and at least one visit from someone at eop.gov (? Executive Office of the President). I've had a few visits from a couple of mystery IPs that are supposedly associated with the State Department, specifically the CIA. Hmmmmm...

Pages

Texas Gulen charter schools 2017-2018

No comments: