The Gates "Machine"

Fellow public education blogger, Dora Taylor, does a huge job in sorting out the whole charter school timeline and actions since it was announced that the majority of former charter schools were going to ALEs for their students.

I have additional information to add based on my own public disclosure documents and research but thank you, Dora.

I would have more information but I could only get ahold of four charters' public disclosure officers (and I should have been able to easily find them all but that is the nature of charter schools - secrecy of operations).  The ones I did get ahold of?  I can't see emails from less than four months of a school's existence - of a very specific nature and timeline - until "March or April."

That would be after the Washington State legislative session is over. 

Comments

Anonymous said…
Wow - that's a lot of information to process. My ethics hackles are standing straight up. Some questionable dealings indeed.

CT
2/7/16, 8:57 PM
NO 1240 said…
Rainier Prep charter school is within Highline School District's boarders. Unlike Seattle Public Schools and Tacoma Public Schools, Highline School District/ Board entered an inter-local agreement with the Mary Walker School District. Mary Walker school district is 320 miles from Rainier Prep.

Laws require certain things from LOCAL school districts in relation to special ed. Here is what Highline had to say in their Inter-local agreement with MWSD:

" The sole responsibility for Highline School District is agreeing to this Interlocal
Agreement. Highline has NO responsibility for any operations, maintenance, governance, or any
other aspect of Rainier Prep school. Any issues or questions that arise about Rainier Prep school
should be directed to the Mary Walker School District. Mary Walker School District agrees that
the Highline School District shall be held harmless from any disputes about Mary Walker’s acts
or omissions in operating its choice educational program in Burien, Washington."

Some members of the community are concerned and hired an attorney. The attorney argued that Highline was not in compliance with the Supreme Court decision. Some community members worry about gun threats etc. and the district responsible for oversight is hundreds of miles away.

http://www.highlineschools.org/cms/lib07/WA01919413/Centricity/domain/1146/2015-2016%20board%20meetings/meetings/february%202016/Interlocal%20Agreement_Highline%20SD%20v%202%200.pdf

Both CRAZY and unlawful- and GATES was instrumental in making it all happen.

2/7/16, 10:29 PM
mirmac1 said…
Contact the Open Gov't Ombuds in the Attorney General's office.
2/8/16, 7:57 AM
Dora Taylor said…
Thanks mirmac, I will.
2/8/16, 1:47 PM
No 1240 said…
ALE agreements between the Mary Walker School Districts and charter schools contain an indemnification clause. So, Highline School District wants to be held harmless, and MWSD has an indemnification clause. It appears possible that neither Mary Walker and Highline want to hold themselves harmless.

Thanks for the information, Mirimac.
2/8/16, 2:28 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tuesday Open Thread

The speaker list is up for the Board meeting tomorrow; not as packed as I thought with just four people on the waitlist. The majority of the speakers are speaking on high school boundaries (with several wanting to talk about Ballard High). There are only three of us speaking about the Green Dot resolution asking the City to not grant the zoning departures that Green Dot has requested.  It's me, long-time watchdog, Chris Jackins, and the head of the Washington State Charter Schools Association, Patrick D'Amelio.  (I knew Mr. D'Amelio when he headed the Alliance for Education and Big Brothers and Big Sisters; he's a stand-up guy.)
Read more

Breaking It Down: Where the District Might Close Schools

Update 2: an absolutely fabulous interactive map made by parent Beth Day (@thebethocracy on Twitter - she covers Board meetings and is fun to read).   end of update    Update 1: Mea culpa, I did indeed get Decatur and Thornton Creek mixed up. Thanks to all for the correction. end of update   I suspect some who read this post will be irate. Why do this? Because the district seems very hellbent on this effort with no oversight skid marks from the Board.    To clearly state - I do not believe that closing 20 schools is a good idea. I think they hit on 20 because they thought it might bring in the most savings. But the jury is still out on the savings because the district has not shown its work nor its data. I suspect closing schools and THEN leasing/renting them is the big plan but that means the district really has to keep the buildings up.   But this district, with its happy talk about "well-resourced schools" is NOT acknowledging the pain and yes, gr...
Read more

Education News Roundup

From the ever-amusing Washington Policy Center : Vouchers are Pell Grants for students under 18.  Vouchers are no different than Pell Grants or GI benefits, except the money goes to the families of students younger than age 18.  Except they are. Pell Grants were created to help needy students and that's not really the goal of the voucher program.  The Pell grant website does have a couple of great studies on why low-income students drop out before finishing their higher ed and what makes a difference.
Read more