Four Strikes and Tikun Olam's Still Not Out?

The New Jersey Department of Education, according to their timeline, was supposed to release the decisions on the latest round of charter applications on Tuesday, January 17th.

Notice that charter applicants must submit their applications and addenda not just on particular days, but by a specific time.  If they fail to meet these deadlines their applications are automatically disqualified.  

OK, let's put that aside.  The Governor's State of the State speech was understandably postponed due to the unexpected death of Assemblyman Alex DeCroce.  It makes sense that when the State of the State got delayed, the announcements did to.  

But for 3 days?  Why wait until Friday, and why drop it at 4:30 on that Friday unless you are trying to bury the story?  

Luckily a couple of committed reporters ran stories about the approvals anyway, and also touched on the denial of Tikun Olam.  Jessica Calefati somehow managed to get a comment from lead applicant Sharon Akman.  Unfortunately the quote she got was that "of course" Akman will reapply.

Bob Makin of the Home News Tribune did not reach Akman, but did speak to yours truly.  Even before I saw Calefati's article and knew Ms. Akman intends to reapply I was careful to point out that the denial was not necessarily the end of the road for Tikun Olam:

"I am thrilled that the hard work and determination of so many people in Highland Park, Edison and New Brunswick has paid off,” Cimarusti said. “It is a tremendous accomplishment that even though the applicants came to the table with a $600,000 federal grant, we were able to make the NJDOE see that this application was not worthy of approval.

"The victory is short-lived, however. This is the fourth denial, and there is no reason to think there won’t be a fifth application, especially since the NJDOE denial does not mean the end of the USDOE grant. Our next task is to meet with the USDOE to make sure they fully understand that the grant was awarded based on false information. If the grant is rescinded, which it should be based on the misrepresentations, I think we may finally see the end of the Tikun Olam application.”

That about sums it up.  I am proud of what we have accomplished, but I am realistic about the road ahead.  

The good thing is we have the power of the people on our side.  The people of Highland Park, Edison and New Brunswick do not want this charter.  The community leaders and elected officials in these communities do not want this charter.  The school districts are united in their opposition to this charter.  

We also have the truth on our side.  In an earlier post I detailed the section of the US Code that speaks to the penalties for making false statements to a federal official.  The grant application that was submitted to the United States Department of Education by Ms. Akman has already been brought to the attention of the Office of the Inspector General, so there could potentially be very real consequences for Ms. Akman at the federal level.

What I have yet to detail is that there should be penalties at the state level as well.  Each and every founder that is part of a New Jersey Charter School Application is required to sign a Founder Statement of Assurances:

Got that?

As a founder, I herby certify UNDER PENALTIES OF PERJURY that the information submitted in this application for a charter for Tikun Olam Hebrew Language Charter High School… is true to the best of my knowledge and belief…

So what does "penalties of perjury" mean, anyway?

1. N.J.S.2C:28-3 is amended to read as follows:
    2C:28-3. Unsworn Falsification to Authorities
    a. Statements "Under Penalty." A person commits a crime of the fourth degree if he makes a written false statement which he does not believe to be true, on or pursuant to a form bearing notice, authorized by law, to the effect that false statements made therein are punishable.
    b. In general. A person commits a disorderly persons offense if, with purpose to mislead a public servant in performing his function, he:
    (1) Makes any written false statement which he does not believe to be true;
    (2) Purposely creates a false impression in a written application for any pecuniary or other benefit, by omitting information necessary to prevent statements therein from being misleading;
    (3) Submits or invites reliance on any writing which he knows to be forged, altered or otherwise lacking in authenticity; or
    (4) Submits or invites reliance on any sample, specimen, map, boundary-mark, or other object which he knows to be false.
    c. Perjury provisions applicable. Subsections c. and d. of section 2C:28-1 and subsection c. of 2C:28-2 apply to the present section.

It's all well and good that Ms. Akman would like to reapply despite the intense media scrutiny her application has received, but how can the New Jersey Department of Education allow Ms. Akman to reapply when it has been plainly shown that she has repeatedly misrepresented information in her applications?  

Why have applicants sign this Statement of Assurances if the NJDOE allows them to make false statements, under penalties of perjury, time and time again?  Makes it seem like the charter application process is just a free-for-all with little to no accountability, doesn't it?

And if it's not just a free-for-all, how can there be no consequences for Ms. Akman for her past applications?   

Of Course

I got all of 6 hours to enjoy the fourth denial of Tikun Olam.  I went out to dinner with my closest co-conspirators, our kids and our husbands to celebrate.  And then I came home and read Jessica Calefati's piece in the Ledger:

Noticeably absent from today’s list were proposed charter schools in high performing suburban districts like Highland Park, South Orange-Maplewood and Montclair.

Good so far, keep going...

In recent months, parents, teachers and elected officials in these communities have rallied to block the controversial schools from opening. Christie and Cerf have both said charters are not necessarily needed in the suburbs, and this round of approvals clearly reflects that thinking.

Or it reflects that the suburbs have gained so much momentum in their battle against unwanted charters that the NJDOE was terrified to approved EVEN ONE charter in the suburbs and risk an even greater backlash.  But OK, keep going...

Sharon Akman of Highland Park, who has applied four times to open a charter high school focused on Hebrew language instruction, said this latest denial would not end her quest for approval.

Akman said "of course" she would submit a fifth application.

Great.  Just great.  Total buzz kill.

Wonder how Sharon Akman will clean up her application after Michael Winerip and Chris Rodda have exposed it nationally for the mess that it is?  

THIS Is Who Amir Khan Is Governor Christie! Now What?

This was sent to me by DefeatNJBullies on Twitter.  I should be posting about the DENIAL OF TIKUN OLAM right now, but I can't get over this.  I have to share it.  NOW.


How, HOW can people that feel this way about the rights of fellow human beings be given money BY THE STATE to teach children?  How will they treat gay parents, teachers or students?  


This alone should be reason NOT to let Regis Academy open.  Aughtney is at 2:47 and Amir at 3:03.  It's short though, you should watch the whole thing.  And then I'm sorry, because it is really, REALLY upsetting.  I'm really sorry.

Cherry Hill is projected to lose $1.9 million to Regis Academy, Lawnside $62,565, Somerdale $108,063 and Voorhees $699,048.  To the Khans?  If they want to preach intolerance at their PRIVATE SCHOOL, there isn't a whole lot I can do about that.

But NOT in a public school.  No way.

Amir Khan:  It feels great.  It feels like, you know, I just finished a wresting match and they just picked my arm up and said, you won.  And then he chuckles.  HE CHUCKLES.  

Shame.

Who is Amir Khan? WHERE is Amir Khan!?!

At a Town Hall meeting in Voorhees, New Jersey yesterday several vocal Voorhees and Cherry Hill residents challenged Governor Christie about the approval of the Regis Academy Charter School.  The Rev. Amir Khan is the lead founder of Regis Academy and also the senior pastor of the Solid Rock Worship Center, which will house the charter. 

Regis Academy was approved in September of 2011 as one of only four charters approved in that round of applications.  The New Jersey Department of Education said the four approvals were a result of a rigorous review process and they were confident the four schools would offer students a great education on day one of the school year.”

 In New Jersey Monthly however, Sara Butrymowicz reported that David Sciarra of the Education Law Center felt the low number of approvals raised “a lot of red flags of what’s really going on behind closed doors at the (New Jersey) Department of Education.  Because of the lack of public discourse about it (and) refusal to be open and transparent, the public is left in the dark about what happened here.”

In October, John Mooney of NJ Spotlight wrote a piece titled Church, State and Charter Schools, in which he stated that the Rev. Reginald Jackson helped steer four charter applications from pastors on the Black Ministers Council of New Jersey, of which he is president.  One of these applications was for the Regis Academy charter. 

And yesterday the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Khan has said he sits on a committee of African American pastors that he said has met frequently with Christie on the issue of charter schools. 

An Asbury Park Press reporter detailed a heated exchange between Governor Christie and one of those four vocal residents, Alan Erlich of Cherry Hill about the Governor’s relationship to Kahn:

But after Erlich charged the charter school’s approval was a favor for a Christie supporter, the governor denied the claim.

“Who are you talking about?” asked Christie, who went on to say he does not know Amir Khan, a pastor who is organizing the school at a church complex in the Ashland area. “I haven’t given one friend a charter school.”

  The exchange is already memorialized on YouTube, like so many other clashes between Christie and audience members.  

What may make this one particularly interesting is that just after Governor Christie says he doesn’t know who Amir Khan is, the camera pans back, and who is sitting behind Governor Christie on the dais?  Amir Khan.  Sitting right underneath the “Jersey Comeback” banner.  Here is a still:

The woman sitting to Khan’s left is his wife; pastor Aughtney Khan, also a founder of Regis Academy.  

The pastors Khan, founders of the Regis Academy Charter School, sitting not just in the audience, but on the dais behind the governor, makes it awfully hard to believe that Regis Academy was not one of only four approvals in September because of pastor Khan’s connections to Rev. Jackson, the Black Minister’s Council and Governor Christie himself.   Especially with his repeated pronouncements yesterday that not only does Cherry Hill not need a charter school, he has told Acting Commissioner Cerf that charters should be focused predominately in failing districts.  Oh, and let's not forget, he has no say in what charters do and don't get approved?  Then why was Regis Academy approved in Cherry Hill?

Looks like in education the Governor's Jersey Comeback will be stronger and better for those with connections to the Governor.

UPDATE:  I have confirmed with multiple individuals in attendance at the Town Hall Meeting that Amir Khan was seen behind the curtain that was behind the platform.  Governor Christie came out from behind the same curtain.  Khan was allegedly behind the curtain for some time, and only came out and took his seat under the Jersey Comeback banner 5 minutes before the Governor.  

Gov. Christie: I Am Not a King

Christie kicked off his first Town Hall in Voorhees, New Jersey today.  Interesting choice of towns.

There has been no shortage of outrage in Voorhees and Cherry Hill over the Regis Academy Charter School.  Cherry Hill is challenging the approval in court, and I posted earlier about Cherry Hill Superintendent Dr. Reusche's response to bogus claims made by Regis founder Rev. Amir Khan about the achievement gap in Cherry Hill's schools.

Voorhees was also facing an application for the Creative Studies Charter School, which applied in October but was axed in the first round of cuts on December 12th.  Folks from Voorhees joined Speak Up Highland Park at our Occupy the DOE event anyway on December 16th.

So it's no big surprise that there were protestors both outside the event and inside as well.

Gov. Christie, who held a town-hall meeting in Voorhees Wednesday to sell his plans for New Jersey for 2012, was bombarded with questions about a charter school opening in Cherry Hill.

Christie said he'd prefer that charter schools open only in struggling school districts rather than compete with high-performing public schools, such as those in Voorhees and Cherry Hill. But he said the law prevents him from barring the Regis Academy from opening.

"I am not a king, despite the fact that I would love to be," Christie said after an outburst from Alan Ehrlach, a Cherry Hill resident. "I have to operate within the law."

Christie urged the four people who spoke up about the Regis Academy to call their legislators and ask them to pass a law that narrows the areas charter schools can operate in. He would sign a law, but he can't make the legislature pass it, he said.

The Regis Academy, which would be located in Cherry Hill and serve kindergarten through eighth-grade students from Cherry Hill, Voorhees, Lawnside, and Somerdale, has already been approved by the state Department of Education. 

But has drawn fierce opposition from officials and residents in some of these suburban towns.

"Our schools are extremely successful," Melissa Sable, 44, a teacher who lives in Voorhees. She asked Christie why Christie wasn't doing anything to stop the school from opening and taking taxpayer dollars away from the public schools. Christie again said the law prevents him from restricting where charter schools open.

The movement to take charters beyond their traditional urban setting into the suburbs, where residents expect a quality school system in return for higher property taxes, has turned New Jersey into a battleground.

Cherry Hill has taken the rare step of challenging Regis' charter approval. (emphasis mine)

OK, a few points.  This is not a news flash.  Christie has said numerous times in the last six months that charters should be primarily in "failing" districts.  I blogged about this after WNYC's Nancy Solomon said the suburban charter school battle could be Christie's Waterloo.

And check out this video.  At about the 31:30 mark Christie answers a question from an angry Cherry Hill resident who wanted to know why Regis was approved.  Christie throws Cerf right under the charter school bus and says that he has told "the educational community" that he thinks charters should be "predominately, if not exclusively" in failing districts.  I guess Cerf has been going rouge...

Watch live streaming video from townsquaremedianj at livestream.com

  

So, what better way to stop the battle than to show up on the battlefield and say, "Hey, I'd love to help you guys out here, but it's not my show!  I've tried telling the education community, and they didn't listen.  Now YOU need to go tell the legislators.  If they write it, I'll pass it, but I'm not the king, remember?"


Perfect plan!  No accountability for Cerf or Christie; not only do they get the suburban public school parents to quiet down, they harness their energy and channel it against the urban public school parents.  As an added bonus, Christie gets legislation passed that says go ahead and open as many charters as you want, as long as they are in failing districts!  Who's gonna complain?


This is some masterful politics.  Turn your potential Waterloo into a windfall.  Who wants to bet that THIS is why there was no announcement on Tuesday telling the people of New Jersey which charters made the final cut.  Christie and Cerf had this up their sleeve all along.  First the State of the State, then this perfectly planned Town Hall, then the announcements.  


Who wants to bet there are no suburban charters approved in this round?


Christie may be selling it, but don't buy it New Jersey!  Don't let Christie and Cerf jam more unaccountable charters into ANY district, suburban OR urban.   If you want to contact your legislators, join almost 5,000 others New Jersey residents that want local control over charters and sign this Save Our Schools New Jersey petition instead.  It will send an email directly to your Senator and the Senate Education Committee as well.


http://www.change.org/petitions/new-jersey-communities-want-local-control-over-new-charter-schools-2


And until we get that passed, and until Cerf releases the Charter Report with real data letting us know how the charters already open are performing, join me, Jersey Jazzman and Stan Karp and throw your support behind a New Jersey Charter School Moratorium.  We need to stick together and not divide our state into those who should get a say in what happens to their public schools and those that shouldn't.  Let's fight for public education together.  


BTW, guess who was behind Christie on the dais as he claimed that it's the law that prevents him from barring the Regis Academy Charter School from opening?  The founder of Regis Academy Charter School, Reverend Amir Khan.  Not the Superintendents of any of the successful districts.  The founder of the embattled, unproven charter school that is "forging excellence" in ValPac advertisements.  Now THAT'S innovative.  

So who do you think Christie is really fighting for?

Carlos Perez, Arne Duncan and the Tyranny of the Majority

Just about any time an article is written in New Jersey about charter schools the reporter goes out to Carlos Perez of the New Jersey Charter Schools Association for the pro-charter party line.  His disdain for districts that are fighting back against the charter invasion is palpable.  


Check out this press release in response to the PIACS lawsuit against the districts:


The Association supports the parents and children who want to send their children to PIACS,” Perez said. “We don't believe public school districts should be using valuable taxpayer money to fight to keep other children from having high-quality public school options. It's unfair that a start-up charter school is forced to spend its limited resources fighting a public school district instead of using that money to educate children.”

Perez said New Jersey school districts have a long history of imposing long, expensive legal action against charter schools dating back over a decade, from Red Bank and Highland Park.

Uh, WHAT?

Highland Park has done nothing other than respond to FOUR APPLICATIONS submitted by Tikun Olam founders, which have been clearly shown to be filled with misrepresentations.  No expensive lawsuits.  No expensive legal action.  Just responses from our district's attorney and our community, and our community has done it for FREE!   We're not dragging anything out, they won't stop re-applying, and the NJDOE won't stop supporting them so we won't stop defending our public schools!

Here's my favorite quote from Mr. Perez that was in my home town paper, the Highland Park Mirror.  He is, once again, giving the pro-charter party line on New Jersey's deranged charter law that allows the Commissioner to decide yet forces the districts to pay.   

In New Jersey, charter schools are funded by the students’ home school districts, through a formula based on per-pupil budgeting. The 2010-2011 Highland Park Public Schools budget provides $352,208 to two existing charter schools where 23 Highland Park students attend.

The result is that “towns like Highland Park [whose funds] support the schools have no voice in their creation or administration," says Julia Sass Rubin, a member of Save Our Schools NJ, a grassroots organization seeking charter school reform.

New Jersey’s state approved but locally funded charter schools are an oddity, according to Rubin, who says that nationwide 90 percent of charter schools are either locally-approved and locally-funded, or else state-approved and state-funded.

New Jersey Charter Schools Association Carlos Perez said the current charter approval and oversight system provides freedom from a “tyranny of the majority.”

Let me just get this straight, Mr. Perez.  Are you referring to that pesky little thing we like to call democracy as A TYRANNY OF THE MAJORITY?  

Why is Mr. Perez so hell bent on overriding the wishes of the majority of parents in any given school district?  NJ Spotlight wrote a, well, Spotlight on Perez when he came to New Jersey via his native Chicago (are you thinking about Arne Duncan, too?  You should be…) Perez worked for the Chicago based Illinois Network of Charter Schools from 2005-2010.  John Mooney reports that while Perez took Chicago by storm, with the help of Arne Duncan, he had a hard time increasing numbers in the rest of Illinois. 

Both with charter laws into their second decade, Illinois has about 96 charter schools, New Jersey 73. But while New Jersey’s are spread throughout the state, all but nine of Illinois’ charter schools are located in Chicago, the product of a restricted law that requires local districts to authorize charters within their borders. Chicago boasted a mayor and a school superintendent -- now U.S Education Secretary Arne Duncan -- who were more inclined, but there was still stiff union opposition that Perez said was tough to overcome. “Virtually every one of the charters was out-performing the district schools,” Perez said. “Still, nobody wanted to believe that charter schools were successful.” (emphasis mine)


Sounds like Perez was a hit in Chicago when Arne Duncan was Superintendent, but got stymied in the rest of Illinois by districts that were allowed to *GASP* decide for themselves if they need or want a charter.  This really brings his "tyranny of the majority" quote into focus.  


New Jersey has become a bad flashback for Mr. Perez.  The pesky, noisy people in Highland Park, Cherry Hill, Teaneck and beyond that don't want to be a notch in his charter belt are a trigger; we're reminding him of the districts in Illinois that weren't buying his snake oil either.  


It's no doubt Governor Christie keeps saying that charters should be focused in "failing" districts.  It worked in Illinois, why not here?  Maybe if we can convince President Obama to send Arne Duncan back to Chicago he will take Carlos Perez with him.  


A girl can dream, can't she?

Associations, Alliances and Charters, OH MY! Why I'm for the New Jersey Charter School Moratorium.

As I sit here at my computer checking for the NJDOE announcement that will reveal Acting Commissioner Chris Cerf's decision on Tikun Olam (last round it wasn't until about 3pm -- what could they be doing?) I am reading articles in today's news about charters in New Jersey.

In the Philadelphia Inquirer James Osborne details the problems with the charter application process and how the involvement of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers really muddies the waters:

The National Association of Charter School Authorizers, a Chicago nonprofit, had offered to fly in 14 consultants to lead Department of Education staff in the next approval round, looking toward overhauling the entire process.

What was particularly enticing was that the association could arrange funding through the Newark Charter School Fund, a nonprofit backed by the same philanthropies that support the association, including the Walton Family Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

"The charter school office wasn't going in the right direction. You had the same people regulating charter schools regulating traditional schools," Cerf said. "I thought [the group] could help us."

The nonprofit, active in 41 states, including Pennsylvania, revised New Jersey's application process, pushing state officials to focus on in-depth reviews over bureaucratic checklists. In September, when the Christie administration announced its next round, the number of approvals was much lower.

But the group has become a lightning rod for parents and others resisting Gov. Christie's push to expand charters; they see a clear conflict of interest. At issue is the association's advocacy arm, which testifies on behalf of the charter industry and promotes legislation that would expand the number of U.S. charter schools.

Results of the latest review of applicants will be announced Tuesday.

"It's like hiring the fox to guard the henhouse," said David Sciarra, executive director of the Education Law Center in Newark, which litigates on behalf of low-income schoolchildren. "What [New Jersey] seems to be doing is bringing foundations and other organizations that support their particular education reform agenda. I've never seen anything like this before."

NJ Spotlight's John Mooney wrote about the charter law itself:    

The Christie administration is preparing to announce a new round of charter schools this week, but a big question remains. What is the state going to do about a charter law that even supporters are calling one of the nation's weakest?

The latest criticism came from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, which in its annual report released yesterday placed New Jersey's law 31st out of 42nd overall. It cited the lack of strong accountability measures tied to performance, weak funding, and limited approval and review process.

Charter supporters and critics alike agree that the current law, not to mention the state's capacity to enforce it, has grown increasingly inadequate. Among the variety of bills to strengthen it is one that would increase the number of authorizers that can review, approve, and monitor new charters.

Another that charter supporters don’t particularly like would allow local communities vote on whether a charter can be approved.

Meanwhile, the state Department of Education is expected to announce a new class of charters later this week, drawing from an original applicant pool of more than 40, which is sure to rekindle the debate about the merits of charters in general.

Let's not forget that as I detailed in an earlier post, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, the National Association of Charter School Authorizers and the New Jersey Charter Schools Association are ALL FUNDED by the Walton Foundation.  The big money is all coming from the same place with the same message.  Squash local control.  The guys with the money are in charge, and they can tell us how to run our schools.  Even schools like mine that are running just fine, thank you very much.

So, let's look at two statements in these articles.  First, the quote from Education Law Center's David Sciarra:

"What [New Jersey] seems to be doing is bringing foundations and other organizations that support their particular education reform agenda. I've never seen anything like this before."

And from John Mooney:

Meanwhile, the state Department of Education is expected to announce a new class of charters later this week, drawing from an original applicant pool of more than 40, which is sure to rekindle the debate about the merits of charters in general.

Kind of makes you wonder who's running the show, and what this push for charters is really all about when as a state we are still debating the merits of charters in general.  

Jersey Jazzman has not only been calling on Acting Commissioner Cerf to release his long overdue Charter School Report, he has called for a moratorium on charters until it is released.  

He is not alone.  

Loretta Weinberg called for a moratorium in the wake of the outrage over the $15.4M bill sent to the Teaneck Public Schools for the Garden State Virtual Charter School.  That application became so toxic the New Jersey Department of Education had to invent a brand new "first cut" in the process to squelch the uprising against it.  That didn't stop Teaneck residents from Occupying the NJDOE four days later.  Districts are starting to wise up.  They know that charter applications come back time and time again.  A denial is not the end of the threat to a district.  

This first cut has now been built into the process.  The next round of applications will hit the desks of superintendents around the state on April 2, 2012 and the backlash against unwanted charters will begin anew.  Applicants (and the public?) will find out on May 1, 2012 if applications will move on to a "full review."  No doubt this step is being added in order to put out any other huge fires that may arise.  But again, districts are now learning from one another and banding together. 

It is also notable that NJDOE seems to be making this up as they go along.  Each round of charter applications seem to be subject to a new and different review process.  We only know this because the NJDOE was forced to reveal their process after OPRA requests and lawsuits from the ELC, ACLU-NJ and Senator Nia Gill.

Stan Karp of the Education Law Center and all around awesome guy also called for a moratorium in a speech he gave at a recent rally in Maplewood to oppose the Hua Mei Charter School.  His reasons are well thought out an sensible:

It’s time for a moratorium on opening all new charters in New Jersey until, as Assemblywoman Mila Jasey has called for, we have an independent assessment of their performance and their impact, and until we have a more democratic process that includes local approval and participation in setting charter school policy.

Until...

1. LOCAL DISTRICTS get a say in what happens to their schools 
2. We take a look at some real data as to how the charters that are already up and running are doing.
3. These National and State Associations and Alliances and the big money they represent back off and let the PEOPLE OF NEW JERSEY decide what makes sense in our state
4. The New Jersey Charter School Program Act of 1995 gets a much needed overhaul which includes the input of groups like the Education Law Center and Save Our Schools NJ, not the aforementioned Associations and Alliances

...I'm with Jersey Jazzman, Senator Weinberg and Stan Karp.  I say we end this.  Now.  It's time for the New Jersey Charter School Moratorium.  Say it with me.  No new applications on April 2nd.