School of Science and Technology Discovery

“Student Claims She Was Humiliated By Teacher Over Rosary.” KSAT (TX), 10/2/2008

SAN ANTONIO -- An eighth-grader at a northwest side charter school said she was humiliated by one of her teachers over her religious expression.

Kelsey, a 13-year-old at the School of Science and Technology's Discovery campus, said one of her teachers humiliated her in front of her classmates while repeatedly questioning her religious beliefs because she wore a Catholic rosary.

"She told me to take it off, and I told her no," Kelsey said. "So she took me to the principal's office and he took it away from me, and told me to get it at the end of the day."

Kelsey said she continued to wear the rosary to school only to have the unidentified teacher question her religious beliefs.

"She has this teacher who is picking on her (about) something that's none of her business, and no one will speak to me about it or address the situation," said Marleana Ayala, Kelsey's mother.

School officials refused to speak about the situation, but did release a statement to KSAT 12 News.

"Students have no problem exercising freedom of speech and freedom of religion, as long as they follow the general school's rules and do not interfere with the rights of others," the statement read. The statement did not elaborate on the exact school policy when pertaining to religious items.

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IDEA Public Schools

“Leaked IDEA Public Schools emails reveal private conversations.” The Monitor (TX), 5/25/2011

The hallways and teachers’ lounges at IDEA Public Schools have been buzzing with talk of the leaking of dozens of emails from the district account of CEO and Founder Tom Torkelson over the weekend.

IDEA officials confirmed they were investigating who forwarded 44 sensitive emails Saturday morning to local business and education leaders, charter executives from across the state and the charter district’s entire staff.

“Somebody hacked into … private conversations between me and my senior management team that were intended for nobody except for them,” Torkelson said Tuesday. This was “clearly somebody unhappy who wants to personally embarrass me or make our work that we’re doing to reform education in the (Rio Grande) Valley more challenging.”

Most of the emails concerned the distribution of performance-based pay bonuses for teachers, principals and central administrators.

But several exposed — often quite bluntly – the potential, or lack thereof, for teachers to advance into leadership roles, criticism of an administrator from Pharr-San Juan-Alamo schools, IDEA’s preference for Teach for America recruits and hiring formulas and future expansion into San Antonio or Austin...

A frequent volunteer at a Donna campus, [Esmeralda Oliva, a 33-year-old Weslaco mother with six children in IDEA] she has seen many of her favorite teachers let go, replaced with young and inexperienced Teach for America — or TFA — recruits.

That AmeriCorps-like program places recent college graduates into schools across the nation, and in multiple emails, Torkelson and his senior staff committed their organization to shifting IDEA’s hiring strategy in the direction of TFA.

“It’s a pay cut in a sense. They’re getting rid of higher-paid teachers and replacing them,” Oliva said. “These are great teachers, and it’s bothersome they’re getting sent away.

“I’ve seen how these teachers interact with each other, their bosses, students,” she said. “I don’t understand why they’re hiring new teachers.”

Torkelson flatly denied IDEA fired any teacher on salary grounds and said his district would retain a highly paid, 20-year veteran if he or she produced the expected student success results...

However, a TFA alumni himself, he also wrote in emails that IDEA would increase its hiring of TFA members to sustain its regional corps in the face of deep state budget cuts to TFA and other districts who hire the group’s recruits...

In the meantime, Torkelson and [IDEA’s Chief People and Systems Officer Irma Muñoz] said they would enhance email security within IDEA, perhaps adding routine password rotation to avoid future leaks.

And the district will decide what civil recourse, if any, to pursue, while they attempt to find the suspect.

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IDEA Alamo

“Family removes boy from IDEA over response to health needs.” The Monitor (TX), 10/16/2011

No teacher ever suggested Arnold Lopez was a liar when he attended the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo school district, the 11-year-old said recently.

But at IDEA Public Schools — where students cannot leave class during the first and last 20 minutes of instruction — a substitute doubted the sixth-grader truly “needed” to rush to the restroom on Sept. 8.

“I told her I’m a diabetic. … My kidneys work overtime to lower my (blood sugar) levels,” Arnold said. “She said, ‘Are you making that up?’

“Who would make up something like that? How many kids know about kidneys?” he asked. “I was literally about to just go (when) she walked fast — I heard her heels — and blocked the door with her body.”

Arnold said he never faced such discomfort at PSJA’s Napper Elementary, where every absent teacher left a note specifically explaining his condition to substitutes.

The humiliating incident could have been prevented, mother Marina Lopez said, if campus leaders and staff met with her before his transfer to the charter school’s Alamo campus in August.

“Before day one, IDEA told me they’d do whatever it takes” to accommodate his special needs, she said. “That never happened, (and) we had to pull him out...

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South Carolina Virtual Charter School

“Test Result: No School for Student with Asperger Syndrome.” Education Week, 10/14/2011

At the moment, South Carolina mother Gretchen Herrera isn't worried about whether her son has to take state tests in reading and math this year.

He has to be in school for her to worry about that.

Last week, Ms. Herrera told me about how she doesn't want her son Anthony, 12, to take the tests because his two diagnoses, Asperger syndrome and Type I diabetes, are a somewhat lethal combination. Anthony did well on the one test he did take, but his blood sugar spiked to a dangerous level during the exam. She kept him from most of the testing last spring as a result, unable to get official permission from the school to do so despite a note from a doctor.

Then last weekend, Ms. Herrera staged a petite protest outside the South Carolina state government buildings in Columbia.

When she got home, there was a letter waiting for her. The online charter school her son attends said Anthony is no longer welcome.

The school said because Ms. Herrera signed a contract when she enrolled Anthony, a contract that includes a clause about taking state tests, and violated that contract, her son was being withdrawn from the school, effective immediately.

Ms. Herrera told me she did sign that contract—"except the part about testing," she told me. The school, which didn't make adequate yearly progress as measured by No Child Left Behind, hasn't called me back to explain more about its decision. The immediate question: Why unenroll Anthony now, and not months ago when he didn't take the state tests?

As Ms. Herrera researches schools that she believes would be a good fit for Anthony, he has been sitting at home, his access to the online charter school cut off...

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More @ http://grumpythings.blogspot.com/search/label/Gretchen%20Herrera

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Spectrum High School

“Teacher-student sexual affair alleged.” Minneapolis Star-Tribune (MN), 10/17/2011

A teacher at an Elk River charter school has been charged with third-degree criminal sexual conduct after allegedly admitting to having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student.

Matthew C. Ellsworth, 36, of St. Paul, told police that he had sex with the student six to eight times during the summer, according to a Ramsey County District Court complaint filed against him last week.

The charges say he taught the student during her junior year at Spectrum High School and was her mentor for her senior project, which required them to meet during the summer...

He has been charged with third-degree criminal sexual conduct because she was 17 and because he was more than two years older than she and in a position of authority.

On Monday, school administrator Vanessta Spark said that Ellsworth was employed at the school from August 2010 to August 2011, "when he was terminated for reasons unrelated to the criminal charges." Because of privacy rules, she said, the school could make no additional comment.

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Maurice J. Moyer Academy Charter School

“Six staffers laid off at Moyer; Low enrollment reduces funding, forcing layoffs.” The News Journal (DE), 10/20/2011

The Maurice J. Moyer Academy Charter School failed to recruit enough students to meet its enrollment goal for the second straight year, resulting in layoffs of several people this week.

The school is also without a leader. Its principal, Dawna Thornton, announced this week she is leaving for another job.

The layoffs were a result of budget problems caused by the Wilmington charter school's inability to reach an enrollment of 300 students, said Dan Cruce, state deputy secretary of education. The missed enrollment cost the school an estimated $830,000 in funding, Cruce said...

A week ago, a school resource officer arrested a teacher and three students, leading to a dispute between police and the school about what transpired. Cruce said the school told the state Department of Education that the principal's resignation this week was not related to that incident.

The positions cut through layoffs included an assistant principal, two other administrators and three clerical workers, said Ed Fredie, a vice president at K12 Inc., the company running Moyer [2011-2012 is K12's second year as the school's manager]. Two of the six resigned prior to being laid off, he said. The principal resigned formally Tuesday. A lab coordinator resigned a few weeks ago...

...Moyer also failed to meet its enrollment goals last school year, and test scores remain among the worst in the state. A tiny fraction of students were able to meet test score goals in math and reading on last year's academic tests.

Low enrollment, a new computer-based school model and low test scores are concerns for Wilmington City Councilman Mike Brown, who said Gov. Jack Markell's administration made a mistake when it picked K12 Inc., a Virginia-based for-profit education company, to run the school after the state Board of Education voted to revoke a local group's control...

Moyer, which opened in 2006, serves students in grades six through 12.

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“New life for Wilmington's Moyer Academy.” WHYY (PA), 7/16/2010

Maurice J. Moyer Moyer Academy Charter School will be open for students this fall under new management.  The Delaware Department of Education terminated the school's charter in February after finding the school deficient in several areas including student performance, curriculum and highly qualified teachers.

This fall, the school will be run by the educational corporation K12, under  the auspices of the Delaware Department of Education.  State Secretary of Education Lillian Lowery says after seeing the  community support for the school, state leaders had special legislation passed to allow the Dept. of Ed. to supervise the school while applications for the charter are being evaluated.  "We were so moved by the sentiment of the community when they learned that the current charter was being non-renewed.  Nobody wanted an empty building sitting here," Lowery said.

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“Moyer Charter School co-founder says ‘We gotta sue’" WHYY (PA), 2/22/2010 

The director and co-founder of the Maurice J. Moyer Academy Charter School says he'll go to court to fight the Delaware Department of Education's decision not to renew the school's charter.

"We gotta sue,"Theopalis Gregory, director of Maurice J. Moyer Academy Charter School, said...

So, the charter school that just opened its doors on 17th Street in Wilmington in 2006 will have to shut down after this school year. It currently serves 484 students in grades 6-12. Gregory says the school, which was approved for enrollment for up to 530 students, has a list of 75-100 students interested in attending Moyer.

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“State Board of Education votes not to renew Maurice J. Moyer Academy Charter.” State of Delaware Press Release, 2/19/2010 

(Dover, DE.)  The State Board of Education has voted not to renew the charter of the Maurice J. Moyer Academy Charter School.  Following the recommendation from Secretary of Education Lillian M. Lowery based on the recommendations of the Charter School Accountability Committee (CSAC), the State Board voted unanimously to terminate the charter at the end of this school year.

Located on 17th Street in Wilmington, Moyer Academy first opened in September, 2006 with an approved enrollment of 300 students in grades 6, 7 and 9.  In its fourth year, Moyer currently serves 484 students in grades 6-12 with an approved enrollment of 530 students.

In October, 2009, Moyer submitted a five-year renewal application which is required by law for each charter school.  In the renewal application, a charter school must demonstrate compliance in 14 criteria in order to have their charter considered for renewal.

In November, the CSAC met with Moyer Academy representatives to discuss the renewal process.  The following month, in December, 2009, the CSAC met to draft a preliminary report on Moyer's renewal application.  In the preliminary report, all 14 criteria were analyzed; the CSAC identified numerous deficient areas including, but not limited to, Student Performance, Curriculum, and Highly Qualified Teachers.

Based on these findings, the CSAC recommended that the charter not be renewed.  Moyer Academy was then given time to comment on the findings in the Preliminary Report.

The CSAC met again on January 5, 2010 to draft a final report after taking into consideration the responses from Moyer representatives.  Following review of that information, the  CSAC's final recommendation remained that of  non-renewal.

On January 25, 2010, a public hearing was held at the Townsend Building in Dover to receive comment regarding the renewal application and the recommendation from the CSAC.  Approximately 30 people representing both Moyer Academy and the community spoke at the hearing.

Today, on the recommendation of the Secretary of Education, the State Board voted not to renew Moyer Academy's charter. The Academy will continue to provide its current instructional program as specified in the school's charter.  It must also administer the Delaware Student Testing Program in accordance with regulations and policies. The Department of Education will work with the Moyer Academy administration to ensure an orderly transition of student records, equipment and other resources.

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Chester Community Charter School

"Ex- aide recorded soliciting nude pix from girl.” Philadelphia Inquirer (PA), 10/21/2011

A now-terminated Delaware County charter-school aide is accused of seeking nude photos last month from a 14-year-old girl in his care who recorded part of the conversation, police said.

Ronald A. Byrd, 56, who had been an in-school suspension aide at Chester Community Charter School, was charged Wednesday with sexual exploitation of children, corruption of minors, and related offenses. He was remanded to the Delaware County prison after failing to post $100,000 bail, court records said.

Bruce Crawley, a school spokesman, said Byrd was suspended after a Chester Township police officer was called to the school and conducted an initial investigation. Byrd was terminated after a school probe, Crawley said.

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Also, “Cops: Charter school staffer asked teen for nude pictures.” Delaware County Daily Times (DE), 10/21/2011

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