Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Cliff And The Charter Schools

Interesting Sequence Of Events

Akron Beacon Journal….......In addition, the Horizon and Noble academies, run by Chicago-based Concept [charter] Schools, are related through membership, fundraisers and political giving to the nonprofit Niagara Foundation, which provides trips to Turkey for state, local and federal lawmakers.
Three months earlier, Rosenberger joined two other House Republicans and two local officials for a trip to Turkey. The trip, focused on economic development, was paid for by the Niagara Foundation, which also has sponsored dinner at the state capital.
Rosenberger’s office did not answer Beacon Journal requests for information.

For much more go to 


12/19/14 COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Gov. John Kasich on Thursday pledged to get tough next year on Ohio's underperforming charter schools.




Akron Beacon Cournal 2/20,15
Recently retired Ohio House Speaker William Batchelder, R-Medina, long an advocate for [charter] school choice, has gone into business with former House staffers who are lobbying for the state’s largest charter school organization.
The online school, Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow and known as ECOT, is among the state’s lowest performing charter schools. The for-profit companies related to ECOT are Altair Learning Management and IQ Innovations, an online education software firm.
The founder, William Lager, has donated more than $1 million to prominent Ohio Republicans since 2010, among them Batchelder.


What is the State of Ohio's response to reports of corruption in charter schools? Why are they reluctant to hold them accountable for their performance and spending of taxpayer dollars? In June, the FBI raided 19 Concept School locations in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, including the group's Des Plaines headquarters. Search warrants showed they were seeking records concerning Concept's use of the federal E-rate program and companies hired under that program, which helps pay for high-tech upgrades. Contractors facing scrutiny in an ongoing federal investigation of Concept Schools have been paid nearly $1 million over the past 3 years for work at 3 Chicago Public Schools-funded campuses run by the Des Plaines-based charter operator. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the agents also were looking for records regarding top Concept officials.
http://teacher-advocate.com/content/brothers/ohio-charter-schools/3/fraud-and-legalized-corruption

7/1/15 Columbus Dispatch Charter-school reform is tabled in Ohio House until September
The House had enough votes to concur with the Senate’s changes to House Bill 2, including a prime bill sponsor, Rep. Kristina Roegner, R-Hudson. That would have sent it to Gov. John Kasich, who also has been pushing for charter-law changes.
Despite all that, the bill stalled, leaving supporters scratching their heads about why legislation that appeared to be a priority to finish before the summer break will instead collect dust until the fall.

Compiled by Paul Hunter

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