(I copied these from one of my fb friends, but I think this is a great list & there is more that could be added....)
IM DOWN RIGHT SICK AND TIRED OF PEOPLE SAYING OBAMA HASNT DONE ANYTHING WHILE IN OFFICE!!!!
President Barack Obama’s Complete List of Historic Firsts:
• First President to Preside Over a Cut to the Credit Rating of the United States Government
• First President to Violate the War Powers Act
• First President to Orchestrate the Sale of Murder Weapons to Mexican Drug Cartels
• First President to issue an unlawful “recess-appointment” while the U.S. Senate remained in session (against the advice of his own Justice Department).
• First President to be Held in Contempt of Court for Illegally Obstructing Oil Drilling in the Gulf of Mexico
• First President to Defy a Federal Judge’s Court Order to Cease Implementing the ‘Health Care Reform’ Law
• First President to halt deportations of illegal aliens and grant them work permits, a form of stealth amnesty roughly equivalent to “The DREAM Act”, which could not pass Congress
• First President to Require All Americans to Purchase a Product From a Third Party
• First President to Spend a Trillion Dollars on ‘Shovel-Ready’ Jobs — and Later Admit There Was No Such Thing as Shovel-Ready Jobs
• First President to sue states for requiring valid IDs to vote, even though the same administration requires valid IDs to travel by air
• First President to Abrogate Bankruptcy Law to Turn Over Control of Companies to His Union Supporters
• First President to sign into law a bill that permits the government to “hold anyone suspected of being associated with terrorism indefinitely, without any form of due process. No indictment. No judge or jury. No evidence. No trial. Just an indefinite jail sentence.”
• First President to Bypass Congress and Implement the DREAM Act Through Executive Fiat
• First President to Threaten Insurance Companies After They Publicly Spoke out on How Obamacare Helped Cause their Rate Increases
• First President to Threaten an Auto Company (Ford) After It Publicly Mocked Bailouts of GM and Chrysler
• First President to “Order a Secret Amnesty Program that Stopped the Deportations of Illegal Immigrants Across the U.S., Including Those With Criminal Convictions”
• First President to Demand a Company Hand Over $20 Billion to One of His Political Appointees
• First President to Terminate America’s Ability to Put a Man into Space.
• First President to Encourage Racial Discrimination and Intimidation at Polling Places
• First President to Have a Law Signed By an ‘Auto-pen’ Without Being “Present”
• First President to Arbitrarily Declare an Existing Law Unconstitutional and Refuse to Enforce It
• First President to Tell a Major Manufacturing Company In Which State They Are Allowed to Locate a Factory
• First President to refuse to comply with a House Oversight Committee subpoena.
• First President to File Lawsuits Against the States He Swore an Oath to Protect (AZ, WI, OH, IN, etc.)
• First President to Withdraw an Existing Coal Permit That Had Been Properly Issued Years Ago
• First President to Fire an Inspector General of Americorps for Catching One of His Friends in a Corruption Case
• First President to Propose an Executive Order Demanding Companies Disclose Their Political Contributions to Bid on Government Contracts
• First President to allow Mexican police to conduct law enforcement activities on American soil
• First President to Golf 90 or More Times in His First Three Years in Office
But remember: he will not rest until all Americans have jobs, affordable homes, green-
energy vehicles, and the environment is repaired, etc., etc., etc. By: Terri Thomas
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Thursday, April 5, 2012
HB 541, Alabama's Charter School Bill (The Education Options Act of 2012): Suggestions for Improvement
The problem: HB 541 must be amended to insure Alabama offers the best possible charter schools for our students. Many states are now trying to correct serious problems with their charter schools that we can avoid if our legislature takes its time and diligently studies and debates all aspects of the bill. Regarding Mississippi's pending charter school bill, their House Education Committee Chairman John Moore recently stated, "I don't want the biggest education legislation in years to be a big error. We have to be very careful. "We don't want to unleash a monster."
AL"s HB 541 authorizes charter schools to borrow money and issue bonds, but if they go out of business while in debt as many in the nation have, the state is stuck with paying the creditors. This potentially creates a significant liability for the state. Eric Fleischauer wrote in the Decatur Times on April 2, 2012, "A few states have laws that managed to create beneficial charter schools without devastating public schools in the process. A bill pending in the Alabama Legislature, however, fails to find this balance."
Fleischauer also warns that the bill does not limit charter schools to low-performing districts. (It is commendable that the legislature is currently debating amending this part of the bill. ) Fleischauer also mentioned that although the bill restricts awarding charters to non-profits and secular groups, a charter school can turn around and contract with for-profit or secular groups for management and operations, including educational services.
A huge consideration we in AL likely will be facing if this bill is passed in its current form is Turkish charter schools, yet few people are discussing it in our state. This rapidly growing network of public charter schools has become a rapidly growing problem in many states. The entity in AL involved in the controversial Gulen Turkish Charter Movement is the Peace Valley Foundation in Huntsville, and it is part of a regional group in the Southeast called the Istanbul Institute. A guest article by Sharon Higgins featured in Valerie Strauss's 3/27/12 Washington Post column explains this issue well. Since this subject is virtually unknown by our legislators and citizens, I will include a good deal of Ms. Higgins' article for your convenience. The entire column can be read here: www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/largest-charter-network-in-us-schools-tied-to-turkey/2012/03/23/gIQAoaFzcS_blog.html
Higgins wrote: "The largest charter school network in the United States is operated by people in and associated with the Gulen Movement (GM), a secretive and controversial Turkish religious sect. With 135 schools enrolling more than 45,000 students, this network is substantially larger than KIPP, the well-known charter management organization with only 109 schools. A lack of awareness about this situation persists despite it being addressed in a national paper and in articles about Gulen charter schools in Utah, Arizona, , Illinois, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Jersey, Georgia, and North Carolina.. Ms. Higgins mentioned it has been reported that "the FBI and the Departments of Labor and Education are investigating practices at these schools.”
"The concerns raised about the charter schools in the GM network have related to questionable admissions practices; the channeling of school funds to close associates; abuse of contractors; participation in biased, GM-created competitions; incidents of bribing; using the schools to generate political connections; science fair projects being done by teachers; unfair hiring and termination practices; and more. Still, authorizers continue to approve charter applications, ill-informed parents continue to use them, and taxpayers keep funding the schools – all without much discussion."
"The Gulen Movement originated in Turkey in the late 1960s.... Its members are followers of Fethullah Gulen (b. 1941) a self-exiled Turkish preacher [an imam] who has been living on a secluded compound in rural Pennsylvania since 1998. Members call themselves hizmet, meaning “volunteer services” movement. The GM conducts four primary activities around the world: a media empire, business organizations, an enormous number of Turkish culture-promoting and interfaith dialog organizations, and a network of schools in over 100 countries, a large portion of which are U.S. charter schools."
"After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the GM began to establish schools outside of Turkey, first in the newly established republics of Central Asia and then beyond. One expert noted that the “...worldwide extent of Fethullah Gulen’s educational network testifies to the internationalist, even imperialist, nature of the movement. Last year an analyst viewed the raison d'être for the schools “spreading across the globe” in this way: “Students will learn how to speak Turkish, the national anthem, how to be the 'right kind of Muslim', etc. In essence, it buys [the GM] loyalty.”
"The first Gulen charter school was opened in 1999. U.S. officials have known about the movement’s involvement in charter schools since at least 2006 when our Istanbul consulate noticed that a large number of Turkish men, suspected to be GM-affiliated, were seeking visas to work at charter schools. A company specializing in geopolitical analysis reported in 2010 that the GM was running “...more than 90 charter public schools in at least 20 states.”
"Board members of Gulen charter schools are primarily Turkish or Turkic and often can be tied to other Gulenist organizations. GM schools around the world emphasize math, science, and technology, and always provide Turkish cultural instruction. Turkish or Turkic individuals, almost all male, are imported (referred to as “international” teachers) to teach those subjects and serve as school administrators. They sometimes transfer to other schools, but only those within the movement’s network. Around the world, local teachers are usually hired for elementary grades and the non-Gulen favored subjects. The charter schools have been criticized for importing so many teachers but defend their practice by claiming that they are unable to find qualified Americans. "
" ...in 2009, readers of Sabah were presented with an account of GM insiders discussing how the U.S. charter schools serve the movement’s goals: “...through education, we can teach tens of thousands of people the Turkish language and our national anthem, introduce them to our culture and win them over. And this is what the Gulen Movement is striving for....A Turkish observer remarked, “No society would tolerate this big of an organization being this untransparent.” When the GM has been exposed involuntarily or criticized, it has been known to respond with evasive measures or defensive attacks. Because of our charter school system, the United States is the only country where the Gulen Movement has been able to establish schools which are fully funded with public money. "
"Gulen charter schools regularly take students to Turkey. The movement’s interfaith dialog and Turkish culture-promoting organizations also provide Turkey trips to academics, journalists, politicians and other public officials*. Tours include sightseeing as well as visits to GM-affiliated institutions (news outlets, schools, etc.). A special feature of these guided “cultural immersion” trips is at least one visit to the home of a Turkish family, with up to three different home visits within nine days. A GM insider once explained that hosting visitors is a way for members to contribute to the cause. It is extremely likely that American travelers don’t realize that their experience in Turkey has been carefully designed to be a concentrated and sustained exposure to the social and political views of one religious group. It’s also likely that they do not understand exactly why their trips were made to be so inexpensive, or even free."
"Concerns about this group have arisen in other countries, too, especially about their schools being used to recruit members, and spread Turkish culture and fundamentalist religious ideas. There has been wide speculation on what the Gulen Movement really wants." {Recently while Mississippi;'s legislature has been working on a charter school bill, Jackson's Clarion Ledger warned readers that "A Turkish foundation ...could be among those seeking to operate charter schools in Mississippi if state lawmakers clear the way.} Mahmut Gok, Mississippi representative for the Raindrop Turkish House... said the Cosmos Foundation {a Gulen affiliate} might be interested. A group of Turkish professionals started the Houston-based Cosmos Foundation, now the largest charter school operator in Texas. The foundation runs 33 Harmony Schools in all the major cities in Texas, educating more than 16,000 children and receiving more than $100 million in taxpayer monies." See: www.clarionledger.com/article/20120305/NEWS010504/203050324/Outside-firms-could-among-suitors-charter-schools. The Ledger explained, "In a story last year, The New York Times questioned whether any taxpayer funds are going to support followers of Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish preacher who teaches a moderate brand of Islam and promotes a philosophy of "peace, mutual respect, the culture of coexistence." The schools import hundreds of teachers from Turkey each year, according to a 2010 USA Today report.
Our neighbor to the north, Tennessee, also has had problems with the Gulen-affiliated Knox Carter Academy in Tennessee as evidenced by this video: :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM-Sy1sIef0&context=C35c3836ADOEgsToPDskKWr51Jg0KJ-4LT_WgJNAlf
A website with extensive information on Turkish Charter schools and organizations in TN as well as in GA is located at http://gulencharterschools.weebly.com; Another highly respected website with Turkish Charter schools information is located at: www.peytonwolcott.com
=======================================================================================================================
How could AL legislators improve HB 541? Some suggestions for starters:
1. Amend the AL charter school bill to mandate that charters must provide proof of US citizenship for all charter school operator board members and top 5 highest paid administrators. In addition, mandate names, titles, and biographies be posted online at the school website for all charter operator board members and top 5 highest paid administrators. (KIPP Charter Schools already does this.)
2. Add language that a chartering authority may not approve a charter school application unless it limits its staff positions for teachers, administrators, ancillary support personnel or other employees to not more than 5% of the total number of positions at a single school being holders of a non-immigrant foreign worker H1B or J1 visa.
3. Amend language to clarify that charter schools cannot contract with for-profit or religious groups for instructional services.
4 Amend language to mandate all charter schools must offer health insurance and retirement benefits.
5. Add language to require that the source and amount of all gifts and/or grants be posted on-line.
6. Change language so that only local schools can issue charters, and applicants who are turned down can appeal to the state school board, which is an elected board.. Do not set up an appointed board for Charter School Application Review.
7. Insure legislation does not authorize charter schools to issue bonds or borrow money.
8. Clarify whether charter schools must use the same standards/courses of study and assessments as other AL public schools.
As our legislature discusses this important bill, and as the public becomes better informed on the issue and shares their suggestions with their representatives, many excellent ideas should be generated. Just think--Alabama could end up with the best charter schools in the nation.
Contact your Alabama legislators today and let the know what changes you'd like to see in the bill. here: http://www.legislature.state.al.us/misc/zipsearch.html
Share your comments here: http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/article/20120404/NEWS/120404017/Charter-school-bill-scaled-back?odyssey=nav%7Chead on Eric Fleichaurer's blog titled "Charter School Bill Scaled Back."
Betty Peters
District 2 Representative
AL State Board of Education
526 Beatrice Rd.
Kinsey, AL 36303
334/ 794- 8024
bpeters@centurytel.net
AL"s HB 541 authorizes charter schools to borrow money and issue bonds, but if they go out of business while in debt as many in the nation have, the state is stuck with paying the creditors. This potentially creates a significant liability for the state. Eric Fleischauer wrote in the Decatur Times on April 2, 2012, "A few states have laws that managed to create beneficial charter schools without devastating public schools in the process. A bill pending in the Alabama Legislature, however, fails to find this balance."
Fleischauer also warns that the bill does not limit charter schools to low-performing districts. (It is commendable that the legislature is currently debating amending this part of the bill. ) Fleischauer also mentioned that although the bill restricts awarding charters to non-profits and secular groups, a charter school can turn around and contract with for-profit or secular groups for management and operations, including educational services.
A huge consideration we in AL likely will be facing if this bill is passed in its current form is Turkish charter schools, yet few people are discussing it in our state. This rapidly growing network of public charter schools has become a rapidly growing problem in many states. The entity in AL involved in the controversial Gulen Turkish Charter Movement is the Peace Valley Foundation in Huntsville, and it is part of a regional group in the Southeast called the Istanbul Institute. A guest article by Sharon Higgins featured in Valerie Strauss's 3/27/12 Washington Post column explains this issue well. Since this subject is virtually unknown by our legislators and citizens, I will include a good deal of Ms. Higgins' article for your convenience. The entire column can be read here: www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/largest-charter-network-in-us-schools-tied-to-turkey/2012/03/23/gIQAoaFzcS_blog.html
Higgins wrote: "The largest charter school network in the United States is operated by people in and associated with the Gulen Movement (GM), a secretive and controversial Turkish religious sect. With 135 schools enrolling more than 45,000 students, this network is substantially larger than KIPP, the well-known charter management organization with only 109 schools. A lack of awareness about this situation persists despite it being addressed in a national paper and in articles about Gulen charter schools in Utah, Arizona, , Illinois, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Jersey, Georgia, and North Carolina.. Ms. Higgins mentioned it has been reported that "the FBI and the Departments of Labor and Education are investigating practices at these schools.”
"The concerns raised about the charter schools in the GM network have related to questionable admissions practices; the channeling of school funds to close associates; abuse of contractors; participation in biased, GM-created competitions; incidents of bribing; using the schools to generate political connections; science fair projects being done by teachers; unfair hiring and termination practices; and more. Still, authorizers continue to approve charter applications, ill-informed parents continue to use them, and taxpayers keep funding the schools – all without much discussion."
"The Gulen Movement originated in Turkey in the late 1960s.... Its members are followers of Fethullah Gulen (b. 1941) a self-exiled Turkish preacher [an imam] who has been living on a secluded compound in rural Pennsylvania since 1998. Members call themselves hizmet, meaning “volunteer services” movement. The GM conducts four primary activities around the world: a media empire, business organizations, an enormous number of Turkish culture-promoting and interfaith dialog organizations, and a network of schools in over 100 countries, a large portion of which are U.S. charter schools."
"After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the GM began to establish schools outside of Turkey, first in the newly established republics of Central Asia and then beyond. One expert noted that the “...worldwide extent of Fethullah Gulen’s educational network testifies to the internationalist, even imperialist, nature of the movement. Last year an analyst viewed the raison d'être for the schools “spreading across the globe” in this way: “Students will learn how to speak Turkish, the national anthem, how to be the 'right kind of Muslim', etc. In essence, it buys [the GM] loyalty.”
"The first Gulen charter school was opened in 1999. U.S. officials have known about the movement’s involvement in charter schools since at least 2006 when our Istanbul consulate noticed that a large number of Turkish men, suspected to be GM-affiliated, were seeking visas to work at charter schools. A company specializing in geopolitical analysis reported in 2010 that the GM was running “...more than 90 charter public schools in at least 20 states.”
"Board members of Gulen charter schools are primarily Turkish or Turkic and often can be tied to other Gulenist organizations. GM schools around the world emphasize math, science, and technology, and always provide Turkish cultural instruction. Turkish or Turkic individuals, almost all male, are imported (referred to as “international” teachers) to teach those subjects and serve as school administrators. They sometimes transfer to other schools, but only those within the movement’s network. Around the world, local teachers are usually hired for elementary grades and the non-Gulen favored subjects. The charter schools have been criticized for importing so many teachers but defend their practice by claiming that they are unable to find qualified Americans. "
" ...in 2009, readers of Sabah were presented with an account of GM insiders discussing how the U.S. charter schools serve the movement’s goals: “...through education, we can teach tens of thousands of people the Turkish language and our national anthem, introduce them to our culture and win them over. And this is what the Gulen Movement is striving for....A Turkish observer remarked, “No society would tolerate this big of an organization being this untransparent.” When the GM has been exposed involuntarily or criticized, it has been known to respond with evasive measures or defensive attacks. Because of our charter school system, the United States is the only country where the Gulen Movement has been able to establish schools which are fully funded with public money. "
"Gulen charter schools regularly take students to Turkey. The movement’s interfaith dialog and Turkish culture-promoting organizations also provide Turkey trips to academics, journalists, politicians and other public officials*. Tours include sightseeing as well as visits to GM-affiliated institutions (news outlets, schools, etc.). A special feature of these guided “cultural immersion” trips is at least one visit to the home of a Turkish family, with up to three different home visits within nine days. A GM insider once explained that hosting visitors is a way for members to contribute to the cause. It is extremely likely that American travelers don’t realize that their experience in Turkey has been carefully designed to be a concentrated and sustained exposure to the social and political views of one religious group. It’s also likely that they do not understand exactly why their trips were made to be so inexpensive, or even free."
"Concerns about this group have arisen in other countries, too, especially about their schools being used to recruit members, and spread Turkish culture and fundamentalist religious ideas. There has been wide speculation on what the Gulen Movement really wants." {Recently while Mississippi;'s legislature has been working on a charter school bill, Jackson's Clarion Ledger warned readers that "A Turkish foundation ...could be among those seeking to operate charter schools in Mississippi if state lawmakers clear the way.} Mahmut Gok, Mississippi representative for the Raindrop Turkish House... said the Cosmos Foundation {a Gulen affiliate} might be interested. A group of Turkish professionals started the Houston-based Cosmos Foundation, now the largest charter school operator in Texas. The foundation runs 33 Harmony Schools in all the major cities in Texas, educating more than 16,000 children and receiving more than $100 million in taxpayer monies." See: www.clarionledger.com/article/20120305/NEWS010504/203050324/Outside-firms-could-among-suitors-charter-schools. The Ledger explained, "In a story last year, The New York Times questioned whether any taxpayer funds are going to support followers of Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish preacher who teaches a moderate brand of Islam and promotes a philosophy of "peace, mutual respect, the culture of coexistence." The schools import hundreds of teachers from Turkey each year, according to a 2010 USA Today report.
Our neighbor to the north, Tennessee, also has had problems with the Gulen-affiliated Knox Carter Academy in Tennessee as evidenced by this video: :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM-Sy1sIef0&context=C35c3836ADOEgsToPDskKWr51Jg0KJ-4LT_WgJNAlf
A website with extensive information on Turkish Charter schools and organizations in TN as well as in GA is located at http://gulencharterschools.weebly.com; Another highly respected website with Turkish Charter schools information is located at: www.peytonwolcott.com
=======================================================================================================================
How could AL legislators improve HB 541? Some suggestions for starters:
1. Amend the AL charter school bill to mandate that charters must provide proof of US citizenship for all charter school operator board members and top 5 highest paid administrators. In addition, mandate names, titles, and biographies be posted online at the school website for all charter operator board members and top 5 highest paid administrators. (KIPP Charter Schools already does this.)
2. Add language that a chartering authority may not approve a charter school application unless it limits its staff positions for teachers, administrators, ancillary support personnel or other employees to not more than 5% of the total number of positions at a single school being holders of a non-immigrant foreign worker H1B or J1 visa.
3. Amend language to clarify that charter schools cannot contract with for-profit or religious groups for instructional services.
4 Amend language to mandate all charter schools must offer health insurance and retirement benefits.
5. Add language to require that the source and amount of all gifts and/or grants be posted on-line.
6. Change language so that only local schools can issue charters, and applicants who are turned down can appeal to the state school board, which is an elected board.. Do not set up an appointed board for Charter School Application Review.
7. Insure legislation does not authorize charter schools to issue bonds or borrow money.
8. Clarify whether charter schools must use the same standards/courses of study and assessments as other AL public schools.
As our legislature discusses this important bill, and as the public becomes better informed on the issue and shares their suggestions with their representatives, many excellent ideas should be generated. Just think--Alabama could end up with the best charter schools in the nation.
Contact your Alabama legislators today and let the know what changes you'd like to see in the bill. here: http://www.legislature.state.al.us/misc/zipsearch.html
Share your comments here: http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/article/20120404/NEWS/120404017/Charter-school-bill-scaled-back?odyssey=nav%7Chead on Eric Fleichaurer's blog titled "Charter School Bill Scaled Back."
Betty Peters
District 2 Representative
AL State Board of Education
526 Beatrice Rd.
Kinsey, AL 36303
334/ 794- 8024
bpeters@centurytel.net
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Charter School Bill Has Problems
Charter bill has problems
House Bill 541, sponsored by Phil Williams, R-Huntsville, also creates enormous potential liability for the state.
A few states have laws that managed to create beneficial charter schools without devastating public schools in the process. A bill pending in the Alabama Legislature, however, fails to find this balance.
 |
| Eric Fleischauer Capital considerations |
Charter schools survive on taxpayer money. They receive all federal, state and local taxpayer funds that otherwise would go to the public school district that serves each student they recruit.
HB 541 authorizes charter schools to borrow money and issue bonds. If they go out of business while in debt — as many in the nation have — the state is stuck paying the creditors. "The Legislature finds that the state has a moral obligation to repay any bonds issued by a public charter school," according to HB 541.
The bill fails in the goal of limiting charter schools to low-performing districts.
In districts with no "persistently low-performing schools," the elected school board has the final say in whether to approve a charter school.
In districts with a single low-performing school, though, the decision is made by a state agency called the Charter School Application Review Council. Its nine members are appointed, not elected, with the governor's five appointees having control. Remarkably, each of the members of the council "shall have demonstrated ... commitment to charter schooling."
The low-performing school could be an elementary school on the north side of the district, but its existence permits a charter high school to open on the south side of the district. The charter can recruit its students from anywhere in the district. Even if the district improves its low-performing school, the charter school is there to stay.
List changes
The list of districts with a low-performing school changes every year. As recently as 2010, both Morgan County and Decatur City school districts had at least one such school.
Because every student a charter school recruits reduces the funding of the school district, public educators have expressed concerns about legislation that would reduce state regulations for charters without reducing them for public schools.
HB 541 purports to address this issue by creating "innovative school systems," public school systems which, if the state approves, can operate with more flexibility. The problem is it proceeds to set forth a nearly all- inclusive list of state requirements that cannot be waived.
A charter school, on the other hand, "is exempt from all statutes and rules applicable to a public school, a local school board, or a local school system."
Private involvment
Educators also worry about a charter school system dominated by private corporations. Most of these concerns focus on the front end of the competition between charter and public schools.
A corporation has every incentive to invest heavily in marketing and facilities in the early years, knowing that — unlike the public school with which it is competing — it can operate at a loss for a few years. Services eventually will decline, but only after the school district has had to close schools that have lost both students and funding.
While HB 541 only allows nonprofit organizations to create charter schools, it provides plenty of room for abuse.
A nonprofit organization can, under HB 541, pay a private company to take over management and operations of the charter school. Private companies can give unlimited gifts to the charter school. The likelihood is high that the nonprofit organization that creates the school will be a mere shell of the for-profit company that runs it.
While charters cannot offer religious programming under the bill, they can hold classes in a church and receive gifts from a church.
Charter schools in other states rely heavily on video technology so they can avoid spending tax dollars on teachers. To the extent they hire teachers, HB 541 places essentially no limit on the qualifications of those they hire.
Anyone with "unique expertise" or "unique experience" — regardless of education — could serve as a charter-school teacher. Even without unique expertise or experience, a person could teach for two years without teacher certification.
As if the competition created by HB 541 was not lopsided enough, charter schools can demand services from their public-school competitors. They can, for example, require that a public school provide their students — at actual cost — with meals, special-needs instruction, English-learner instruction and even bus transportation.
Any disputes over these demands are resolved not by the school board, but by the pro-charter review council.
The charter review council can approve up to 50 charter schools in the state through 2016. After that, there is no limit.
In an irony that may give a hint at the intent of the drafters, the bill permits charter schools to buy closed public schools under preferential terms.
At least until the state-backed loans come due, there are likely to be plenty on the market.
Contact Eric Fleischauer at eric@decaturdaily.com or www.mile304.com.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
US House Trying To Stop Obama's Takeover Of Public Schools
[3.31.12 -- Finally, the U. S. House has stopped pussyfooting around the “elephant in the room” – Common Core Standards and Race to the Top. For more than a year, a number of us have begged the House to cut the funding for Common Core Standards/Race to the Top. Once the national standards, national curriculum, national assessments, national teacher evaluation, and national database are in place in the public schools of our nation, it would be almost impossible to yank them out by the root. The national assessments are moving along pretty fast now and are only a few months away from being ready for implementation.
The following report from the U. S. House Education and Workforce Committee is the most strongly worded one yet and shows that this Committee totally gets it! The Obama administration is trying to drive their social justice agenda into the public schools through coercion and overreach, and this House committee is finally “calling them out.”
Please contact the members of this House Committee to express your support for their efforts to push back Obama and Arne Duncan’s federal takeover of the public schools. To see the names of all the members, please go to:
– Donna Garner]
| March 29, 2012 |
| U. S. Congress – House Education and the Workforce Committee, Congressman John Kline, Chairman By the Numbers: The Secretary of Education's Startling Record of Executive Overreach |
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, Education Secretary Arne Duncan testified before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce on the president’s budget and policy proposals for Fiscal Year 2013.
Since assuming his position in the president’s cabinet in January 2009, Secretary Duncan has proven to be an active and visible member of the administration. However, a look at some of the numbers defining his tenure in Washington reveals a startling record of executive overreach and meddling in state and local education decisions.
Number of Dollars the President Proposed for the Secretary’s Slush Fund (Known as Race to the Top) Since 2009: 7.45 billion
In 2009, Secretary Duncan announced a new grant competition to pressure states to undertake the administration’s preferred K-12 policies. The program has provided the secretary sole discretion over a multi-billion dollar slush fund of taxpayer dollars. The administration continues to expand Race to the Top’s size by declaring new phases of the original program and extending its reach into early childhood learning and higher education. So far, the president has proposed a total of $7.45 billion from taxpayers for the secretary to spend on his own policy priorities.
Number of Conditions the Secretary Imposed on States Seeking Access to the Secretary’s Slush Fund: 110
To be considered for a Race to the Top grant, states were strongly encouraged to enact specific “reforms” preferred by the secretary. Many states felt coerced to adopt the Common Core Standards and more than 100 other prescriptive federal requirements in order to compete for Race to the Top grants. Instead of operating a transparent competition, the secretary chose to base the program on bias, chance, and coercion.
Number of States Facing Delays in Implementing Phase 1 and 2 Race to the Top Grants: 9 Eleven states and the District of Columbia won grants under the first two phases of Race to the Top. Yet, according to an official assessment of the program, nearly all these “winners” are facing significant challenges, delaying implementation of the secretary’s preferred policies.
Number of Plans the Secretary Proposed to Sidestep Congressional Efforts to Reform No Child Left Behind: 1
Instead of working with Congress to rewrite elementary and secondary education law, the secretary has advanced a conditional waivers scheme that allows states to opt out of certain provisions in No Child Left Behind if they adopt his education agenda. This move embraces temporary changes that only exacerbate the challenges facing schools, and represents a clear overreach of the secretary’s authority.
Number of Conditions States Must Adopt to Get a Waiver From No Child Left Behind: ?
The secretary’s conditional waiver process has been shrouded in secrecy from the beginning. After receiving the first round of waiver applications, he sent letters “suggesting” states change their applications to improve their chances at obtaining a waiver. The whims of the secretary direct the waivers process, leaving states in the dark about the true cost and number of conditions the secretary may mandate.
Number of Times Department Sued for Overreach in the Last Year: 2In July 2011, the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities filed a legal challenge to the department’s regulatory overreach in implementing its gainful employment regulations. In February 2012, the Electronic Privacy Information Center filed a lawsuit contesting the department’s effort to amend the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act without authority from Congress. A report last year by the Congressional Research Service raised concerns about the secretary’s authority to grant conditional waivers, leaving the department open to even more legal scrutiny.
The numbers above show a clear pattern of executive overreach, with no end in sight.
That’s why committee Republicans are advancing legislation to revamp No Child Left Behind and reign in the authority of the secretary of education. Together, the Student Success Act (H.R. 3989) and the Encouraging Innovation and Effective Teachers Act (H.R. 3990) will return control for K-12 education to state and local leaders, negating the need for the secretary to coerce states into following his education agenda.
Committee Republicans welcome the support of the secretary and the administration in advance lasting reform for America’s schools.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Please Go Vote Today
Please watch these video clips and read the “facts about Rick Santorum” and pray about voting for Rick Santorum for president in the primaries on Tuesday.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFxA_HSRKJE
Also I hope you will vote for Judge Roy Moore for AL Chief Justice.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
City On A Hill Radio Show Tonight At 8:30 pm -Pastors Perspective--What Does God Expect From America?
Hear an interview with Pastor Cary Gordon of Iowa and Pastor John Anderson of Alabama. Pastor Cary Gordon is known for his leadership in standing up and helping to get rid of 3 liberal State Supreme Court Justices. Pastor John Anderson has been a leader in Alabama encouraging pastors and churches to get involved and make a difference.
Pass the word on to your pastors. Send them this link and hopefully they will listen. We need to get the churches more involved in fighting for Christian Conservative values in America....for the sake of our children.
You can call in to ask a question at this number: 310-742-1860..
Here's the link for the radio show "City On A Hill Radio Show"
City On A Hill Radio Show
Pass the word on to your pastors. Send them this link and hopefully they will listen. We need to get the churches more involved in fighting for Christian Conservative values in America....for the sake of our children.
You can call in to ask a question at this number: 310-742-1860..
Here's the link for the radio show "City On A Hill Radio Show"
City On A Hill Radio Show
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