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Home > The Ugly Charter School Scandal Arne Duncan Is Leaving Behind
________________________________________
The Ugly Charter School Scandal Arne Duncan Is Leaving Behind
By Jeff Bryant [1] / Campaign for America's Future [2]
October 14, 2015
Arne Duncan's surprise announcement to leave his post as secretary of
education in December is making headlines and driving lots of commentary,
but an important story lost in the media clutter happened three days before
he gave notice.
On that day, Duncan rattled the education policy world with news of a
controversial grant of $249 million ($157 million the first year) to the
charter school industry. This announcement was controversial because, as The
Washington Post [3] reports, an audit [4] by his department's own inspector
general found "that the agency has done a poor job of overseeing federal
dollars sent to charter schools."
Post reporter Lynsey Layton notes, "The agency's inspector general issued a
scathing report in 2012 that found deficiencies in how the department
handled federal grants to charter schools between 2008 and 2011" - in other
words, during Duncan's watch.
Even more perplexing is that the largest grant of $71 million ($32.5 million
the first year) is going to Ohio, the state that has the worst reputation
[5] for allowing low-performing charter schools to divert tax money away
from educational purposes and do little to raise the achievement of
students.
A number of Ohio officials were shocked by the news.
As a different article from The Post [6] reports, Democratic Party Rep. Tim
Ryan "was alarmed" by the Education Department's decision. Ryan called his
state's charter school sector "broken and dysfunctional."
Ted Strickland [7], an ex-governor and now Democratic candidate for a U.S.
Senate seat in Ohio, wrote Duncan a letter telling him to reconsider the
Ohio grant. "Too many of Ohio's charter schools are an embarrassment," he
states. Strickland quotes from a recent study [8] showing charters in his
state perform significantly worse than public schools. He points to a recent
scandal [9] in which the person in the state's department of education
responsible for oversight of charters had to resign because he was caught
"rigging the books."
Even Ohio Republicans are disturbed about Secretary Duncan's generosity to
charter schools in the Buckeye State. Like a parent who sees a visiting
relative doling out chocolate bars to an already stimulated child, State
Auditor Dave Yost quickly stated his concerns about the new charter school
largesse to the media [10] and his intention to track how the money is
spent. Yost should know. An audit he conducted earlier this year found that
charter schools in the state misspend millions of tax dollars [11].
"Why is the Department rewarding this unacceptable behavior?" Strickland
asked in his letter.
Money For What?
Certainly throwing unaccounted for federal tax money at charter schools is
nothing new.
A recent report [12] from the Center for Media and Democracy found that over
the past 20 years the federal government has sent over $3.3 billion to the
charter school industry with virtually no accountability. That report notes
"the federal government maintains no comprehensive list of the charter
schools that have received and spent these funds or even a full list of the
private or quasi-public entities that have been approved by states to
'authorize' charters that receive federal funds."
But Secretary Duncan has been particularly generous to charter schools. One
of the conditions states had to meet to win a Race to the Top grant, his
signature program, was to raise any caps they may have had on the number of
charter schools allowed to operate in the state. His department warned
states [13] receiving waivers to the onerous provisions of No Child Left
Behind not to enact any new policies that would undermine charter schools'
"autonomy."
Congress [14] has done its part, too, raising the amount of federal money
going to charter schools through the Charter School Grants program.
The CMD report cited above calculated that the feds are expected to increase
charter school funding by 48 percent in fiscal year 2016, which would have
been Duncan's last year on the job. That's about $375 million more for
charters, estimates journalist Juan Gonzalez [15].
Yet at the same time federal support for charter schools continues to grow,
revelations increasingly show the results of that spending are frequently
disastrous.
Dollars For Disaster
A recent report [16] from the Center for Popular Democracy and the Alliance
to Reclaim Our Schools (AROS) uncovered over $200 million in "alleged and
confirmed financial fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement" committed by
charter schools around the country.
The report follows a similar report released a year ago by the same groups
that detailed $136 million in fraud and waste and mismanagement in 15 of the
42 states that operate charter schools. The 2015 report cites $203 million,
including the 2014 total plus $23 million in new cases, and $44 million in
earlier cases not included in the previous year's report.
Authors of the report called $200-plus million the "tip of the iceberg,"
because much of the fraud "will go undetected because the federal
government, the states, and local charter authorizers lack the oversight
necessary to detect the fraud."
Adding to concerns over how federal funds for charter schools are used,
state audits [17], like the one conducted in Ohio, have also found
widespread financial fraud and abuse committed by these schools.
Although the CPD-AROS report made policy recommendations for mandatory
audits of charters and increased transparency and accountability for these
schools, none of those recommendations seem to have gotten any attention,
much less action, from Duncan and his staff.
A Process Cloaked In Mystery
Both the ends and the means of federal grants to charter schools remain
mostly a mystery. Not only do we not know what happens to most of the money;
we don't know how recipients for the money are chosen.
As CMD's Jonas Persson writes on that organization's PR Watch [18] blog,
"The public is being kept in the dark about which states have applied for
the lucrative grants, and what their actual track records are when it comes
to preventing fraud and misuse . The U.S Department of Education has
repeatedly refused to honor a CMD request under the Freedom of Information
Act for the grant applications, even though public information about which
states have applied would not chill deliberation and might even help better
assess which applicants should receive federal money."
Also unknown are the names of the "peers" who review applications for the
grant money.
How Ohio became chosen for more charter school money is especially
enigmatic, not only because of the bad reputation of the state's charter
schools, but also because of the circumstances of how the state's
application was pitched to Duncan and his staff.
Soon after the announcement of the grant, the Akron Beacon [19] reported a
Ohio Department of Education official who helped obtain the $71 million in
federal money was the very same official who resigned in July "after
manipulating data to boost charter schools." The official resigned a mere
two days after filing the grant application.
What's also interesting about the new federal grant money for Ohio charters
is its timing.
Was Money Timed For Youngstown Takeover?
As the Beacon report notes, "The additional federal dollars come as the Ohio
Department of Education decides how to distribute $25 million set aside by
state lawmakers to help charter schools pay rent, purchase property, or
renovate buildings. The money is yet one more assist to charter-school
proponents in need of a building. Rent and building acquisition are two of
the biggest deterrents to start-ups."
The grant to Ohio also seems especially well timed to the targeted takeover
of one of the most troubled school districts in the state, Youngstown.
As a recent report in Belt Magazine [20] explains, "The Youngstown City
Schools, which could lay claim to the title of the worst school district in
the state . had been under academic distress for the past five years.
Enrollment had dropped 21 percent since 2010."
This summer, a House education bill with bipartisan support was about to
sail through the legislature when State Senator Peggy Lehner, the chairwoman
of the Senate Education Committee, suddenly introduced an amendment.
"The amendment," Belt reporter Vince Guerrieri recounts, "informally dubbed
'the Youngstown Plan,' allows for the dissolution of the academic distress
commission of any district that's gotten an F grade for three years in a row
or has been under academic distress for at least four years. Youngstown is
the only school district that meets that qualification."
"Within 12 hours of the introduction of the amendment, it had passed the
legislature," Guerrieri writes.
The fast-tracked legislation sets up, according to an NPR outlet [21] in the
state, "a five member Academic Distress Commission with a three member
majority chosen by the state school superintendent. That group then appoints
a CEO with extraordinary powers. He could not only change the collective
bargaining agreement with teachers but also create or contract with charter
schools.
State school board member Patricia Bruns - a Democrat - says bypassing local
elected officials including the school board is unconstitutional. 'Their
idea is to take over the schools, dismantle what's there, and dole them out
to private, for-profit charters.'
So was the federal grant to Ohio timed to pay for the take over of
Youngstown schools?
That's the question Ohio edu-blogger and public school advocate Jan Resseger
[22] wants answered. She points to an article by Akron Beacon [19] education
reporter Doug Livingston who alleges the new funding for charter schools in
Ohio is "designed specifically to pay for the fast-tracked state takeover of
the Youngstown schools." Livingston backs up his claim with a quote from
Arne Duncan's press secretary Elaine Quesinberry who confirmed, "that the
Ohio education officials filled out the grant application with the intent to
direct money to charter school startups in academic distressed areas. Only
two, Youngstown and Lorain, currently fit that description."
What 'Reform?'
Meanwhile, as the House bill containing the Youngstown Plan passed with
extraordinary haste, another bill to make charter schools more transparent
and accountable remained mired in contentious through the summer recess.
That bill now seems likely to get approved by the legislature, based on
reports received at press time. But "there's no clear magic bullet" in the
bill, according to a Cleveland news outlet [23], at least in terms of
reforming charter schools in the state.
"The bill makes several small changes," the reporter contends. "Private and
for-profit charter school operators will have to provide more information to
the public about how they spend tax dollars they are paid to run the
schools." But "the books won't be anywhere near as open as a public school
district's."
Also, what amounts to accountability for charters seems especially weak
under the provisions of the new law. "The Ohio Department of Education will
start to publicize which operators run each school and give information to
the public about the academic performance of the schools that each operator
runs. That will let families know the track record of the people running a
school." It will? How many families will dig into state reports to make
decisions about where to send their kids to school?
A Hands-Off Policy For Charter Schools?
For his part, Secretary Duncan seems little interested in how new federal
grants to charter schools will be spent, saying it's "largely up to states
and the public agencies that approve charter schools," according to the Post
article cited above. "At the federal level, we don't have a whole lot of
leverage," he mused.
This seems an oddly resigned comment from an education secretary whose
department has made the minute scrutiny of state policy governing nearly
everything having to do with public education - from standards [24], to
teacher evaluations [25], to tutoring requirements [26].
Why would a secretary so often accused of leading an unprecedented overreach
[27] of federal intrusion in state education policy suddenly become so
nonchalant about oversight of charter schools?
It certainly doesn't help that Duncan's replacement as acting secretary will
be John King [28], the controversial former New York State Education
Commissioner, who has deep ties [29] to the charter school industry.
Before becoming New York Commissioner, King helped to found and operate a
charter school management organization [30] with schools in New York,
Massachusetts, and New Jersey.
Because King will be acting secretary, no nomination process or
Congressional hearings will be needed to approve the leadership change.
Jeff Bryant is an associate fellow at Campaign for America's Future and the
editor of the Education Opportunity Network website. Prior to joining
OurFuture.org he was one of the principal writers for Open Left.
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Report typos and corrections to 'corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx'. [31]
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Source URL:
http://www.alternet.org/education/ugly-charter-school-scandal-arne-duncan-le
aving-behind
Links:
[1] http://www.alternet.org/authors/jeff-bryant
[2] http://ourfuture.org
[3]
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/charter-love-feds-give-157-mi
llion-to-expand-charter-schools/2015/09/28/006ad118-6613-11e5-8325-a42b5a459
b1e_story.html?wprss=rss_education
[4]
http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oig/auditreports/fy2012/a02l0002.pdf
[5]
http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2015/03/ohios_charter_schools_ridic
ule.html
[6]
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/ohio-congressman-questions-ar
ne-duncans-32-million-charter-grant/2015/10/01/5e16f50e-687e-11e5-9ef3-fde18
2507eac_story.html
[7]
http://static.politico.com/44/42/4688bbdc43a99fe85716a03902d2/former-ohio-go
v-ted-strickland-letter-to-education-secretary-arne-duncan.pdf
[8]
http://cashinginonkids.com/blogs/report-ohio-charter-schools-perform-worse-p
ublic-schools/
[9]
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2015/07/19/ohios-school
-choice-chief-resigns-after-giving-unfair-help-to-charter-schools/
[10]
http://wyso.org/post/yost-will-track-spending-new-charter-school-money#strea
m/0
[11]
http://www.ohio.com/news/local/charter-schools-misspend-millions-of-ohio-tax
-dollars-as-efforts-to-police-them-are-privatized-1.596318?hash=2ed3814385f3
27e8ff22f79520e490a4&id=jeffb.cdm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx&site=akron
[12]
http://www.prwatch.org/news/2015/04/12799/new-documents-show-how-federal-tax
payer-money-wasted-charter-schools
[13]
https://www.qualitycharters.org/assets/files/images/stories/pdfs/policy/NACS
A_NCLB_Waiver_Fact_Sheet_051512.pdf
[14]
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2014/04/kline_miller_team_up_on
_charte.html
[15]
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/gonzalez-feds-failed-tabs-3b-school
-aid-article-1.2214712
[16]
http://populardemocracy.org/sites/default/files/Charter-Schools-National-Rep
ort_rev2.pdf
[17]
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/charter-schools-28m-questionab
le-expenses-audit-article-1.2028052
[18]
http://www.prwatch.org/news/2015/09/12926/charter-federal-secrecy-half-billi
on-handout
[19]
http://www.ohio.com/news/break-news/ohio-official-who-manipulated-charter-sc
hool-data-helped-win-federal-grant-to-take-over-public-schools-1.628194
[20]
http://beltmag.com/the-mess-of-academic-distress-are-charters-in-the-future-
for-youngstown-city-schools/?mc_cid=d89ea108f2&mc_eid=d31f56d5eb#prettyP
hoto
[21]
https://stateimpact.npr.org/ohio/2015/09/15/state-school-board-members-worry
-youngstown-takeover-is-all-about-charters/
[22]
https://janresseger.wordpress.com/2015/10/02/ohios-failure-to-oversee-charte
rs-and-youngstown-takeover-are-connected-funded-by-arne-duncan/
[23]
http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2015/10/charter_school_bill_tackles
_controversies_over_white_hat_property_sponsor_evaluations_new_school_rating
_measure.html#incart_river
[24]
http://www.wsj.com/articles/oklahoma-denied-waiver-on-no-child-left-behind-1
409267270
[25]
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2015/05/seattles_request_for_an
_nclb_w.html
[26]
http://edsource.org/2015/states-esea-waiver-request-related-to-tutoring-requ
irement-denied/84575
[27]
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/274276/arne-duncans-nclb-overreach-edi
tors
[28]
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2015/10/02/if-you-thoug
ht-arne-duncan-was-controversial-meet-his-successor/
[29]
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/17/nyregion/new-york-names-new-state-educatio
n-commissioner.html
[30]
http://jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com/2015/10/john-king-new-seced-is-king-of-stu
dent.html?m=1
[31] mailto:corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=Typo on The Ugly Charter School
Scandal Arne Duncan Is Leaving Behind
[32] http://www.alternet.org/
[33] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B
Published on Alternet (http://www.alternet.org)
Home > The Ugly Charter School Scandal Arne Duncan Is Leaving Behind
The Ugly Charter School Scandal Arne Duncan Is Leaving Behind
By Jeff Bryant [1] / Campaign for America's Future [2]
October 14, 2015
Arne Duncan's surprise announcement to leave his post as secretary of
education in December is making headlines and driving lots of commentary,
but an important story lost in the media clutter happened three days before
he gave notice.
On that day, Duncan rattled the education policy world with news of a
controversial grant of $249 million ($157 million the first year) to the
charter school industry. This announcement was controversial because, as The
Washington Post [3] reports, an audit [4] by his department's own inspector
general found "that the agency has done a poor job of overseeing federal
dollars sent to charter schools."
Post reporter Lynsey Layton notes, "The agency's inspector general issued a
scathing report in 2012 that found deficiencies in how the department
handled federal grants to charter schools between 2008 and 2011" - in other
words, during Duncan's watch.
Even more perplexing is that the largest grant of $71 million ($32.5 million
the first year) is going to Ohio, the state that has the worst reputation
[5] for allowing low-performing charter schools to divert tax money away
from educational purposes and do little to raise the achievement of
students.
A number of Ohio officials were shocked by the news.
As a different article from The Post [6] reports, Democratic Party Rep. Tim
Ryan "was alarmed" by the Education Department's decision. Ryan called his
state's charter school sector "broken and dysfunctional."
Ted Strickland [7], an ex-governor and now Democratic candidate for a U.S.
Senate seat in Ohio, wrote Duncan a letter telling him to reconsider the
Ohio grant. "Too many of Ohio's charter schools are an embarrassment," he
states. Strickland quotes from a recent study [8] showing charters in his
state perform significantly worse than public schools. He points to a recent
scandal [9] in which the person in the state's department of education
responsible for oversight of charters had to resign because he was caught
"rigging the books."
Even Ohio Republicans are disturbed about Secretary Duncan's generosity to
charter schools in the Buckeye State. Like a parent who sees a visiting
relative doling out chocolate bars to an already stimulated child, State
Auditor Dave Yost quickly stated his concerns about the new charter school
largesse to the media [10] and his intention to track how the money is
spent. Yost should know. An audit he conducted earlier this year found that
charter schools in the state misspend millions of tax dollars [11].
"Why is the Department rewarding this unacceptable behavior?" Strickland
asked in his letter.
Money For What?
Certainly throwing unaccounted for federal tax money at charter schools is
nothing new.
A recent report [12] from the Center for Media and Democracy found that over
the past 20 years the federal government has sent over $3.3 billion to the
charter school industry with virtually no accountability. That report notes
"the federal government maintains no comprehensive list of the charter
schools that have received and spent these funds or even a full list of the
private or quasi-public entities that have been approved by states to
'authorize' charters that receive federal funds."
But Secretary Duncan has been particularly generous to charter schools. One
of the conditions states had to meet to win a Race to the Top grant, his
signature program, was to raise any caps they may have had on the number of
charter schools allowed to operate in the state. His department warned
states [13] receiving waivers to the onerous provisions of No Child Left
Behind not to enact any new policies that would undermine charter schools'
"autonomy."
Congress [14] has done its part, too, raising the amount of federal money
going to charter schools through the Charter School Grants program.
The CMD report cited above calculated that the feds are expected to increase
charter school funding by 48 percent in fiscal year 2016, which would have
been Duncan's last year on the job. That's about $375 million more for
charters, estimates journalist Juan Gonzalez [15].
Yet at the same time federal support for charter schools continues to grow,
revelations increasingly show the results of that spending are frequently
disastrous.
Dollars For Disaster
A recent report [16] from the Center for Popular Democracy and the Alliance
to Reclaim Our Schools (AROS) uncovered over $200 million in "alleged and
confirmed financial fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement" committed by
charter schools around the country.
The report follows a similar report released a year ago by the same groups
that detailed $136 million in fraud and waste and mismanagement in 15 of the
42 states that operate charter schools. The 2015 report cites $203 million,
including the 2014 total plus $23 million in new cases, and $44 million in
earlier cases not included in the previous year's report.
Authors of the report called $200-plus million the "tip of the iceberg,"
because much of the fraud "will go undetected because the federal
government, the states, and local charter authorizers lack the oversight
necessary to detect the fraud."
Adding to concerns over how federal funds for charter schools are used,
state audits [17], like the one conducted in Ohio, have also found
widespread financial fraud and abuse committed by these schools.
Although the CPD-AROS report made policy recommendations for mandatory
audits of charters and increased transparency and accountability for these
schools, none of those recommendations seem to have gotten any attention,
much less action, from Duncan and his staff.
A Process Cloaked In Mystery
Both the ends and the means of federal grants to charter schools remain
mostly a mystery. Not only do we not know what happens to most of the money;
we don't know how recipients for the money are chosen.
As CMD's Jonas Persson writes on that organization's PR Watch [18] blog,
"The public is being kept in the dark about which states have applied for
the lucrative grants, and what their actual track records are when it comes
to preventing fraud and misuse . The U.S Department of Education has
repeatedly refused to honor a CMD request under the Freedom of Information
Act for the grant applications, even though public information about which
states have applied would not chill deliberation and might even help better
assess which applicants should receive federal money."
Also unknown are the names of the "peers" who review applications for the
grant money.
How Ohio became chosen for more charter school money is especially
enigmatic, not only because of the bad reputation of the state's charter
schools, but also because of the circumstances of how the state's
application was pitched to Duncan and his staff.
Soon after the announcement of the grant, the Akron Beacon [19] reported a
Ohio Department of Education official who helped obtain the $71 million in
federal money was the very same official who resigned in July "after
manipulating data to boost charter schools." The official resigned a mere
two days after filing the grant application.
What's also interesting about the new federal grant money for Ohio charters
is its timing.
Was Money Timed For Youngstown Takeover?
As the Beacon report notes, "The additional federal dollars come as the Ohio
Department of Education decides how to distribute $25 million set aside by
state lawmakers to help charter schools pay rent, purchase property, or
renovate buildings. The money is yet one more assist to charter-school
proponents in need of a building. Rent and building acquisition are two of
the biggest deterrents to start-ups."
The grant to Ohio also seems especially well timed to the targeted takeover
of one of the most troubled school districts in the state, Youngstown.
As a recent report in Belt Magazine [20] explains, "The Youngstown City
Schools, which could lay claim to the title of the worst school district in
the state . had been under academic distress for the past five years.
Enrollment had dropped 21 percent since 2010."
This summer, a House education bill with bipartisan support was about to
sail through the legislature when State Senator Peggy Lehner, the chairwoman
of the Senate Education Committee, suddenly introduced an amendment.
"The amendment," Belt reporter Vince Guerrieri recounts, "informally dubbed
'the Youngstown Plan,' allows for the dissolution of the academic distress
commission of any district that's gotten an F grade for three years in a row
or has been under academic distress for at least four years. Youngstown is
the only school district that meets that qualification."
"Within 12 hours of the introduction of the amendment, it had passed the
legislature," Guerrieri writes.
The fast-tracked legislation sets up, according to an NPR outlet [21] in the
state, "a five member Academic Distress Commission with a three member
majority chosen by the state school superintendent. That group then appoints
a CEO with extraordinary powers. He could not only change the collective
bargaining agreement with teachers but also create or contract with charter
schools.
State school board member Patricia Bruns - a Democrat - says bypassing local
elected officials including the school board is unconstitutional. 'Their
idea is to take over the schools, dismantle what's there, and dole them out
to private, for-profit charters.'
So was the federal grant to Ohio timed to pay for the take over of
Youngstown schools?
That's the question Ohio edu-blogger and public school advocate Jan Resseger
[22] wants answered. She points to an article by Akron Beacon [19] education
reporter Doug Livingston who alleges the new funding for charter schools in
Ohio is "designed specifically to pay for the fast-tracked state takeover of
the Youngstown schools." Livingston backs up his claim with a quote from
Arne Duncan's press secretary Elaine Quesinberry who confirmed, "that the
Ohio education officials filled out the grant application with the intent to
direct money to charter school startups in academic distressed areas. Only
two, Youngstown and Lorain, currently fit that description."
What 'Reform?'
Meanwhile, as the House bill containing the Youngstown Plan passed with
extraordinary haste, another bill to make charter schools more transparent
and accountable remained mired in contentious through the summer recess.
That bill now seems likely to get approved by the legislature, based on
reports received at press time. But "there's no clear magic bullet" in the
bill, according to a Cleveland news outlet [23], at least in terms of
reforming charter schools in the state.
"The bill makes several small changes," the reporter contends. "Private and
for-profit charter school operators will have to provide more information to
the public about how they spend tax dollars they are paid to run the
schools." But "the books won't be anywhere near as open as a public school
district's."
Also, what amounts to accountability for charters seems especially weak
under the provisions of the new law. "The Ohio Department of Education will
start to publicize which operators run each school and give information to
the public about the academic performance of the schools that each operator
runs. That will let families know the track record of the people running a
school." It will? How many families will dig into state reports to make
decisions about where to send their kids to school?
A Hands-Off Policy For Charter Schools?
For his part, Secretary Duncan seems little interested in how new federal
grants to charter schools will be spent, saying it's "largely up to states
and the public agencies that approve charter schools," according to the Post
article cited above. "At the federal level, we don't have a whole lot of
leverage," he mused.
This seems an oddly resigned comment from an education secretary whose
department has made the minute scrutiny of state policy governing nearly
everything having to do with public education - from standards [24], to
teacher evaluations [25], to tutoring requirements [26].
Why would a secretary so often accused of leading an unprecedented overreach
[27] of federal intrusion in state education policy suddenly become so
nonchalant about oversight of charter schools?
It certainly doesn't help that Duncan's replacement as acting secretary will
be John King [28], the controversial former New York State Education
Commissioner, who has deep ties [29] to the charter school industry.
Before becoming New York Commissioner, King helped to found and operate a
charter school management organization [30] with schools in New York,
Massachusetts, and New Jersey.
Because King will be acting secretary, no nomination process or
Congressional hearings will be needed to approve the leadership change.
Jeff Bryant is an associate fellow at Campaign for America's Future and the
editor of the Education Opportunity Network website. Prior to joining
OurFuture.org he was one of the principal writers for Open Left.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
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Report typos and corrections to 'corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx'. [31]
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.[32]
Source URL:
http://www.alternet.org/education/ugly-charter-school-scandal-arne-duncan-le
aving-behind
Links:
[1] http://www.alternet.org/authors/jeff-bryant
[2] http://ourfuture.org
[3]
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/charter-love-feds-give-157-mi
llion-to-expand-charter-schools/2015/09/28/006ad118-6613-11e5-8325-a42b5a459
b1e_story.html?wprss=rss_education
[4]
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[5]
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ule.html
[6]
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/ohio-congressman-questions-ar
ne-duncans-32-million-charter-grant/2015/10/01/5e16f50e-687e-11e5-9ef3-fde18
2507eac_story.html
[7]
http://static.politico.com/44/42/4688bbdc43a99fe85716a03902d2/former-ohio-go
v-ted-strickland-letter-to-education-secretary-arne-duncan.pdf
[8]
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ublic-schools/
[9]
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2015/07/19/ohios-school
-choice-chief-resigns-after-giving-unfair-help-to-charter-schools/
[10]
http://wyso.org/post/yost-will-track-spending-new-charter-school-money#strea
m/0
[11]
http://www.ohio.com/news/local/charter-schools-misspend-millions-of-ohio-tax
-dollars-as-efforts-to-police-them-are-privatized-1.596318?hash=2ed3814385f3
27e8ff22f79520e490a4&id=jeffb.cdm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx&site=akron
[12]
http://www.prwatch.org/news/2015/04/12799/new-documents-show-how-federal-tax
payer-money-wasted-charter-schools
[13]
https://www.qualitycharters.org/assets/files/images/stories/pdfs/policy/NACS
A_NCLB_Waiver_Fact_Sheet_051512.pdf
[14]
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2014/04/kline_miller_team_up_on
_charte.html
[15]
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/gonzalez-feds-failed-tabs-3b-school
-aid-article-1.2214712
[16]
http://populardemocracy.org/sites/default/files/Charter-Schools-National-Rep
ort_rev2.pdf
[17]
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/charter-schools-28m-questionab
le-expenses-audit-article-1.2028052
[18]
http://www.prwatch.org/news/2015/09/12926/charter-federal-secrecy-half-billi
on-handout
[19]
http://www.ohio.com/news/break-news/ohio-official-who-manipulated-charter-sc
hool-data-helped-win-federal-grant-to-take-over-public-schools-1.628194
[20]
http://beltmag.com/the-mess-of-academic-distress-are-charters-in-the-future-
for-youngstown-city-schools/?mc_cid=d89ea108f2&mc_eid=d31f56d5eb#prettyP
hoto
[21]
https://stateimpact.npr.org/ohio/2015/09/15/state-school-board-members-worry
-youngstown-takeover-is-all-about-charters/
[22]
https://janresseger.wordpress.com/2015/10/02/ohios-failure-to-oversee-charte
rs-and-youngstown-takeover-are-connected-funded-by-arne-duncan/
[23]
http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2015/10/charter_school_bill_tackles
_controversies_over_white_hat_property_sponsor_evaluations_new_school_rating
_measure.html#incart_river
[24]
http://www.wsj.com/articles/oklahoma-denied-waiver-on-no-child-left-behind-1
409267270
[25]
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2015/05/seattles_request_for_an
_nclb_w.html
[26]
http://edsource.org/2015/states-esea-waiver-request-related-to-tutoring-requ
irement-denied/84575
[27]
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/274276/arne-duncans-nclb-overreach-edi
tors
[28]
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2015/10/02/if-you-thoug
ht-arne-duncan-was-controversial-meet-his-successor/
[29]
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/17/nyregion/new-york-names-new-state-educatio
n-commissioner.html
[30]
http://jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com/2015/10/john-king-new-seced-is-king-of-stu
dent.html?m=1
[31] mailto:corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=Typo on The Ugly Charter School
Scandal Arne Duncan Is Leaving Behind
[32] http://www.alternet.org/
[33] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B
