Comments on the applications of two more Success Charter schools
Dear SUNY board and SUNY Charter Institute:
I urge you to reject the application of Success Academy to open two charter schools in District 2 on the following grounds:
1. Attrition and push-out rates: This charter chain has a very high student and teacher attrition rate, as referenced in news articles [http://www.nytimes.com/schoolbook/2011/10/19/high-teacher-turnover-at-a-success-network-school] and its NYS report cards [annual teacher attrition rates of 38%, 56%, 19%, 50% and 26%.] It also has a documented history of pushing out high-needs students. [http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/11/nyregion/charter-school-sends-message-thrive-or-transfer.html] And yet the new charter law explicitly says that charter schools should demonstrate an effort to recruit and retain at –risk children. This is not a model which deserves replication elsewhere in the city.
2. Evidence of excessive compensation and proposed charter management fees: Ms. Moskowitz receives an annual salary in excess of $379,478, in addition to benefits worth more than $24,000, amounting to a total compensation package of $403,660, according to the latest available (2009) submission to the IRS by the Success Charter Network.
Governor Cuomo has inveighed against excessive salaries for district superintendents who receive far lower salaries, and has proposed capping superintendents’ salaries at $175,000 a year in districts with fewer than
Comments on the applications of Citizens of the World charters
Comments on the applications of Citizens of the World charters
See also the far more detailed comments of WAGPOPs [Williamsburg and Greenpoint Parents: Our Public Schools] here.
Dear SUNY board and SUNY Charter Institute:
I urge you to reject the application of Citizens of the World to open two charter schools in D14, on the followinggrounds:
1. Tangled governance: Kristean Dragon is identified on Oct. 2011 as the Founding Board Chair of Citizens of the World in a formal application to the state of California to open two charter schools, [http://laschoolboard.org/sites/default/files/CitizensWorld2Petition.pdf] and is still listed as board chair on the website the chain’s charter schools [http://www.citizensoftheworld.org/founders.html ] . Yet she is now also identified as the Chief Executive Officer of the charter on a different Citizens of the World website. [seehttp://cwcschools.org/ourteam.html].
2. Evidence of possible corruption: Kristean Dragon was also, at least until recently, also the Executive Director of The Wonder of Reading, an organization which raises funds to equip Los Angeles public schools with libraries. This organization still shares an address with the national network of Citizens of the World. In 2011, the Los Angeles NBC affiliate ran an investigative series, alleging that the Wonder of Reading program raised funds to pay companies that engaged in kickbacks, leading to huge cost overruns. (For
