Catch up with CURMUDGUCATION: John King's Evidence-Based Revisionist History

CURMUDGUCATION:

Catch up with CURMUDGUCATION

John King's Evidence-Based Revisionist History

30by Peter Greene / 2h

The US Department of Education and Secretary of Education John King are out with a one-two punch of silly bureaucratic blather and revisionist history. Friday's PR release carries the pithy title " U.S. Department of Education Releases New Guidance on Using Evidence to Strengthen Education Investments During Back to School Bus Tour " and it provides a handy link to Non-Regulatory Guidanc

YESTERDAY

USED: How Teachers Can Be Heard

15by Peter Greene / 15h

Maddie Fennell is a Teacher of the Year from Nebraska who hooked up as a Teaching Ambassador Fellow at the US Department of Education, and she wrote what seems like a perfectly innocuous piece at Ed Week called " Hello from the Other Side " listing a few key lessons from her time there. Some of the insights are perfectly swell. Don't put education policy on a pedestal, because it's just

Petrilli: Mission Accomplished

8by Peter Greene / 1d

Remember when we had a terrible, terrible crisis in the number of terribly bad awful really no good schools (filled with stinky, disastrous teachers) and we had to put the reform pedal to the scholastic metal toot de suite! Common Core, teacher evaluations, choice-flavored systems-- we had to have them RIGHT NOW and couldn't afford to wait another second because crisis crisis CRISIS! Remember all

What do you mean? I took the test.

65by Peter Greene / 1d

My class is wasting our time engaged for two days with a popular "research-based, computer adaptive assessment that helps kids learn." It is several hours of our lives that we can't have back, and it reminds me once again of the very basic hurdles that these standardized bubble tests have trouble overcoming. The biggest first hurdle is that the students have to care. The students have to

SEP 15

Forest and Trees

19by Peter Greene / 1d

Like many jobs in the world, particularly those that deal with humans, teaching requires focus on both forests and trees. A teacher faces questions like these in the classroom: What body of information do I need to convey to my students in a deep and integrated manner that best fits their pedagogical requirements and will most help them take their place as fully-actualized adults in the world? Wha

SEP 14

TN: (Not) Mrs. Jobs' Mall Charter [Update]

55by Peter Greene / 3d

You may recall that last fall we were talking about Laurene Powell Jobs' (Wharton Business School, Goldman Sachs) entry into the world of Rich Amateurs Fixing Schools -- the XQ project , a grant competition to design America's next super-school. Well, the super-schools are here. Almost here. And Memphis, Tennessee gets one of them. (Well-- almost*) Among the charter schools approved by the Shelby

SEP 13

Hess: The Reform Agenda

23by Peter Greene / 3d

Man, it is always so hard to get your hands on a copy of an agenda. For instance, we've been hearing about gay agenda for years, and yet nobody seems to have an actual copy of the thing. But last week over at the National Review, Rick Hess (AEI), one of my favorite writers that I generally disagree with, laid out the reform agenda (actually a reprint from conservative forum ). And I'm not just rea

SEP 12

The New Mascot

16by Peter Greene / 5d

Consider Pitbull. The rappish artiste and modern poet ("Face down, booty up, that's the way we like to- what?!") has greeted the new school year with his third charter school. Pitbull has tried to make something out of the nickname he was tagged with once-- "Mr. Education"-- but it hasn't really caught on. But it hasn't stuck, perhaps because Pitbull's actual connection with th

SEP 11

OR: Oh Noooos!! SBA Results Are In!

100+by Peter Greene / 5d

Out in Oregon, the Smarter Balanced Assessment results were in this week, and various outlets raised the cry of dismay over the results. But Betsy Hammond at the Oregonian did an outstanding job of capturing everything wrong with SBA fever in her "8 Sobering Takeaways... " piece. First, she reminds us that "the tests are designed to measure whether students are on track to be ready

Election Education Update

45by Peter Greene / 6d

After the two conventions, it began to look like public education would not have any champion in this Presidential cycle. So maybe now that the candidates have had a chance to put together clearer statements and assemble some advisors, has the picture changed? Are things looking up for fans of public education? Well, in a word, no. And in more than a single word...? Trump Flaps His Gums This was t

ICYMI: Catch up on your reading (9/11)

3by Peter Greene / 6d

Here's some education reading for a quiet week in September. As always, please share and pass on the pieces you like. To the Gentlemen Talking about Lazy Teachers This blog is operated by two former teachers, but clearly the woman still remembers how the gig works. I Don't Want My Son To Read in Kindergarten One more great argument in favor of letting small children be small children. Black Teache

(Some of) What Technocrats Get Wrong

41by Peter Greene / 6d

Slate ran an article this week about the newsy side of Facebook , and it's a reminder of so many reasons that technocrats are not to be trusted around education. Facebook has been having trouble handling the news. Well, and history. They censored the award-winning photo sometimes known as "napalm girl," an immediately recognizable Vietnam war photo both important in its role for driving

SEP 10

PA: Judge Cuts School Funding

45by Peter Greene / 6d

Here in Pennsylvania, we've had a potentially game-changing ruling come down that could create all new problems for school districts and their funding. This story has many moving parts, so you'll have to stick with me for a bit here. The 

CURMUDGUCATION:

The Privatized Beaded Necklace “School of the Future”

The Privatized Beaded Necklace “School of the Future”:

The Privatized Beaded Necklace “School of the Future”

The PBS NOVA “School of the Future” was interesting in that many corporate messages were strung together like an expensive necklace made of plastic beads.

Grit, mindset, brain studies, social-emotional learning…you name it…it was there. Showcased individuals gave shout-outs to others in the program. Sal Kahn yelling out to students that they all have a mindset was one example. The brain study that praised Springboard Collaborative was another.

Eileen Campion, a publicist for NOVA, was kind enough to ask me if I had watched the program and whether my opinion had changed from just viewing the promo. She also reminded me of the link PBS.Org/Nova. I encourage everyone to watch “School of the Future.” I think it does a good job of covering the changing school reforms that affect our public schools. It doesn’t matter if we don’t agree. We should all understand what’s happening.

There were a couple of things about the program that I liked, and much that left me worried. While the program didn’t discuss digital instruction as much as I thought it would, it was in the background. The Alt School and Springboard Collaborative were The Privatized Beaded Necklace “School of the Future”:

Schools Matter: Today's Communique to the Ravitch Forces

Schools Matter: Today's Communique to the Ravitch Forces:

Today's Communique to the Ravitch Forces

After what seems to me to have been a pretty effective skirmish, the Ravitch forces have climbed out of their tent at their permanent Basecamp, stomping the ground and waving their, um, whatevers.  For those Ravitch acolytes who are not too drunk on revenge to read, here's something to ponder, as I am working on a next book today and don't have time to attend to your whining.

In everything I have seen from D. Ravitch and the band of intellectual eunuchs who comprise the NPE echo chamber, a theme stands out, which is that we cannot afford to fight among ourselves, that allies cannot be ripped asunder, that we must stick together in the same tent, blah blah. So let me speak to Diane directly here, and I hope that all of her disciples will read this carefully.

The problem is, Diane, our goals are not the same. My goals are ending testing accountability in all forms, ending segregated classrooms in all forms, and ending corporate education reform in all forms. I can't work toward those goals with any effect while misleaders like you and the union suits are cutting deals on ESSA to guarantee another generation of testing accountability, segregated classrooms, and corporate control.  Have you read the history of NCLB?

We are on different sides of these issues, regardless of how much braying and foot stomping you are able to stir up. We are not allies. I am your enemy. Get used to it.Schools Matter: Today's Communique to the Ravitch Forces:

With A Brooklyn Accent: The Middle Class Revolutionaries of Edgecombe Avenue: Presentation at "When Sugar Hill Was Sweet" Conference

With A Brooklyn Accent: The Middle Class Revolutionaries of Edgecombe Avenue: Presentation at "When Sugar Hill Was Sweet" Conference:

The Middle Class Revolutionaries of Edgecombe Avenue: Presentation at "When Sugar Hill Was Sweet" Conference

It is an honor to be on this panel with such distinguished scholars  and public intellectuals.  We are here to celebrate a great history that is threatened by gentrification and unchecked development. Neighborhoods which have  a powerful role in transforming the history of our city and our nation are being changed with breakneck speed according to the vagaries of the global market place, bringing in people who don’t know about,  or care much about the people who have lived there or their struggles for equal rights, citizenship, and respectful treatment. So hats off to Karen Taylor and all of those trying to insure the history of Sugar Hill is preserved and honored in film and scholarship and historical landmarks.  We at the Bronx African American History Project are trying to do the same thing in the Morrisania section of the Bronx, that borough’s most important  historically African American community, before the forces of development reach it with the same speed as they have transformed, and some say, undermined communities  in Harlem

    On this panel we will be discussing the powerful legacy of political activism in two great apartment buildings which housed so many people of African descent who achieved distinction in politics, law and the arts.  That legacy, as we will see in my presentation, and I suspect in the others on the panel, was truly extraordinary.  But it was by no means inevitable.  The people  who were living at 409 and 555 had the option of insulating themselves from the day to day struggles of the poorest Harlemites  or addressing them from the distant perch of noblesse oblige. Some chose that path. But other chose to merge their fate with the Black working class and poor, and the working class of all nationalities, in ways that still challenge us today  It is time to look at some of the individuals who tried to forge a Black politics that put the working class in the forefront, even while their own lives may have retained elements of comfort and security those they were fighting for found difficult to attain.

         Before turning the three people I am highlighting, Louise Thompson, Marvel Cooke and Paul Robeson, I would like to venture into social geography.  Unlike the row of Brownstones known as Strivers Row, 409 and 555 Edgecombe were relatively insulated from the extremes of poverty and hardship that could be found in Harlem, or the sites of protest and even violence during the political struggles of the Depression years.  The most crowded block in Harlem,  which was also the most crowded in the world 140-141^st Street between 7^th and 8^th Avenue, was more than a half mile from the Edgecombe buildings. 125^thStreet, where the Don’t Buy You Can’t Work movement was centered, and the Harlem Riot’s of 1935 and 1943 began, was nearly two miles away.  There were no street orators on Edgecombe Avenue of the kind who were fixtures on 125^th Street and Lenox avenue  If you lived there, you did not have to see extreme poverty, hear the voices of nationalist and communist orators,  observe large numbers of people being evicted from their buildings, watch marches and festivals and parades go past your door, or watch stores being looted and burned during riots.  And though you shared the humiliation and discrimination and even threats of police and personal violence all African Americans faced whenever they were in public spaces,  you had the option, once you were in your apartment, of blocking out the poverty and daily hardship that living in a racist society had imposed on most of New York’s Black population.

    The three people who chose NOT to block that off, as a matter of political principle, had one thing in common. They were all members of, or had a powerful association with, the US Communist Party. The CPUSA carved out a powerful niche in the Black intelligentsia in the early Depression years by making the battle against white supremacy  a central component of the struggle for economic justice, trying to expunge “white chauvinism” from every movement it had influence, taking on lynching and Jim Crow as central goals of its political organizing, and mobilizing its cadre to organize the poorest and most isolated sections of the Black population, sharecroppers, the unemployed, domestic servants and laborers, and people on the verge of eviction. It also took several controversial positions that posed a With A Brooklyn Accent: The Middle Class Revolutionaries of Edgecombe Avenue: Presentation at "When Sugar Hill Was Sweet" Conference:

Did That Edtech Tool Really Cause That Growth? (Mary Jo Madda) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Did That Edtech Tool Really Cause That Growth? (Mary Jo Madda) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:

Did That Edtech Tool Really Cause That Growth? (Mary Jo Madda)

 The quality of research on technology use in schools and classrooms leaves much to be desired. Yet academics and vendors crank out studies monthly. And they are often cited to justify using particular programs. How practitioners can make sense of research studies is an abiding issue. This post offers viewers some cautionary words in looking carefully at findings drawn from studies of software used in schools.

“Mary Jo Madda (@MJMadda) is Senior Editor at EdSurge, as well as a former STEM middle school teacher and administrator. In 2016, Mary Jo was named to the Forbes ’30 Under 30′ list in education.” This post appeared in EdSurge, August 10, 2016.

How do you know whether an edtech product is effective in delivering its intended outcomes? As the number of edtech products has ballooned in the past five years, educators—and parents—seek information to help them make the best decision. Companies, unsurprisingly, are happy to help “prove” their effectiveness by publishing their own studies, sometimes in partnership with third-party research groups, to validate the impact of a product or service.

But oftentimes, that research draws incorrect conclusions or is “complicated and messy,” as Alpha Public Schools’ Personalized Learning Manager Jin-Soo Huh describes it. With a new school year starting, and many kids about to try new tools for the first time, now is a timely moment for educators to look carefully at studies, scrutinizing marketing language and questioning the data for accuracy and causation vs. correlation. “[Educators] need to look beyond the flash of marketing language and bold claims, and dig into the methodology,” Huh says. But it’s also up to companies and startups to question their own commissioned research.

To help educators and companies alike become the best critics, here are a few pieces of advice from administrators and researchers to consider when reviewing efficacy studies—and deciding whether or not the products are worth your time or attention.

For Educators

#1: Look for the “caveat statements,” because they might discredit the study.

According to Erin Mote, co-founder of Brooklyn Lab Charter School in New York Did That Edtech Tool Really Cause That Growth? (Mary Jo Madda) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:

Racism Never Ended – It Just Keeps Evolving | gadflyonthewallblog

Racism Never Ended – It Just Keeps Evolving | gadflyonthewallblog:

Racism Never Ended – It Just Keeps Evolving

“One of our founding principles as a nation [is] that Black lives and Black bodies don’t matter; you see that in all our headlines today. This original sin lingers on, that’s why we got to call it sin… Slavery never ended, it just evolved. Mass incarceration is the current evolution of slavery.”
–Jim Wallis  
 
 
“Even the most casual student of our country’s legal system should know that racism hasn’t existed since 1964 when we passed the Civil Rights Act. So obviously there’s no possible way for my statement to be considered racist if racism hasn’t existed for fifty years! I mean come on, racism? It’s 2015 people, racism is over.”

–Antonin Scalia
 

When does brutality end – when it stops being practiced or when its effects stop being felt?

Neither condition has been met in the United States today. Black people still suffer under state-sanctioned barbarism just as the echoes of cruelty from years past continue to ring in our ears.

People of color – whether they be black, Latino, Hispanic, etc. – experience a much different reality than whites. They live under the constant threat of violence without justice. Their rights are continually being re-evaluated. They are subject to systems that wait for them to step out of line in even the most innocuous ways and then Racism Never Ended – It Just Keeps Evolving | gadflyonthewallblog:

Did You Know That Charter Schools “Bury Their Dead”? | deutsch29

Did You Know That Charter Schools “Bury Their Dead”? | deutsch29:

Did You Know That Charter Schools “Bury Their Dead”?

On September 14, 2016, The New York City Coalition of Community Charter Schools (C3S) posted a piece by co-director, Steve Zimmerman, entitled, “The Summer of Our Discontent.”

The piece is a charter school lament; in it Zimmerman states that he is particularly concerned about “complaints against charter schools raised by civil rights advocates.” Zimmerman adds:

…We’ve pledged ourselves to improve educational options for the very people who now seem to be rejecting the means by which we’ve chosen to address that inequity.

Let’s stop for a second right here. Note the dripping condescension in Zimmerman’s message, *we pledged, we chose… and you rejected”– and the perched reasoning that *your* rejection is (of course) *wrong* regarding “our mission”:

Even if the paintbrush used by NAACP and BLM is overly broad we can’t dismiss this stuff out of hand. Even if the premise of the suit in Washington State against their charter law is based on a narrow interpretation of what constitutes a public entity, questions are being raised that cut to the heart of our mission. And these questions are not going to be resolved easily or soon. It is going to require a campaign of thoughtful engagement with leaders like Nelson Smith at the forefront. And it is going to take more introspection on the part of the charter movement in terms of where are we going and how we intend to get there. …

There is so much good that the movement for increased autonomy in public schools has brought to the national discourse on education. But careless presumption of bad motives on the part of those with whom we disagree has led us into a thicket. What will lead us out of the thicket is thoughtful engagement with those who find fault with us.

Zimmerman alludes to National Association of Charter School Authorizers senior advisor and National Alliance for Public Charter Schools former CEO Nelson Smith as being at the “forefront” of “a campaign of thoughtful engagement”; moreover, Did You Know That Charter Schools “Bury Their Dead”? | deutsch29:

What Are Chicago Teachers Actually Paid? Crunching The Numbers - Edison Park - DNAinfo Chicago

What Are Chicago Teachers Actually Paid? Crunching The Numbers - Edison Park - DNAinfo Chicago:

What Are Chicago Teachers Actually Paid? Crunching The Numbers

CHICAGO — Chicago teachers are expected to vote to authorize a strike next week after months of negotiations over teacher pay — and how much teachers will contribute to their pensions — have faltered.

The $5.4 billion Chicago Public Schools budget, adopted in August, relies on a contract proposalrejected by the union in February that would raise teachers' pay but require them to contribute more to their pensions.

With the debate set to begin in earnest after the strike authorization vote set for Sept. 21-23, here's what you need to know:

The median salary for nearly 18,000 teachers employed by CPS as of June was $78,169, according to an analysis of CPS data. Teachers get a median of $27,564 in benefits, including pension payments and insurance. The DNAinfo analysis excluded teachers who hold multiple part-time positions in one or more schools.

The four-year CPS contract proposal — based on a report compiled by an independent fact finder — includes an 8.75 percent increase in teachers' wages and a cap on new charter schools. It also offers "steps and lanes," automatic bumps in teacher pay that kick in with seniority and experience. 

But the offer also includes the so-called "pension pickup," which would require teachers to contribute 9.4 percent of their salaries into their own pension fund.

"We remain open and willing to listen to any ideas that the [union] leadership presents," CPS spokeswoman Emily Bittner wrote in an email.

By state law, 9.4 percent of teachers' yearly salaries has to be paid into their retirement fund. As of now, teachers put 2 percent of their salaries into their own pensions, while CPS "picks up" the other 7.4 percent.

Teachers do not contribute to and are not eligible for Social Security when they retire.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel has called on teachers to be part of the solution to bridging the CPS budget deficit, estimated at $1 billion.

CPS leaders have said that having teachers pick up the full pension contribution would be a fair sacrifice, given the school system's dire financial situation.

"CPS’ continued objective is to give teachers a fair raise that works within our budget constraints, especially since we just passed a tight budget that included significant tax hikes on Chicago homeowners, central office staffing reductions and revenue from Springfield," Bittner said.

The proposed pay raise and "modest" new health care benefits "more than offset the gradual phaseout of the pension pickup," Bittner wrote.

CPS officials expect health care costs to rise 6 percent a year, but teachers would only pay an additional 1.5 percent toward health care premiums over the life of the contract, under the CPS proposal.

But Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis has said any labor agreement that works out to a pay cut for teachers — as union officials contend the CPS contract proposal does — is dead on arrival.

CPS agreed to pay part of teachers' pension contribution in 1987 in place of a pay raise as part of contract negotiations.

The average retired teacher got a monthly pension payment of $4,210 last year, according to the Chicago Teachers' Pension Fund.

Union officials say teachers are not overpaid — nor are their pensions gold-plated.

"You need to compare teachers to people with similar jobs, responsibilities and education requirement," said Nathan Goldbaum, a coordinator for the Chicago Teachers Union. "If you compare the salaries of CPS teachers to others who are similar, it is much lower."

The average U.S. classroom teacher earned a salary of $57,379 during the 2014-15 school year, according to the National Education Association. In Illinois, the average was $60,124.

The CPS pay scale allows Chicago teachers to get paid more than their counterparts elsewhere, but not before putting in some time.

"The starting salary for a full-time teacher in CPS is extremely competitive versus surrounding districts and other large urban districts nationwide and helps our search What Are Chicago Teachers Actually Paid? Crunching The Numbers - Edison Park - DNAinfo Chicago:

Federal case on The “Wild, Wild West” of charter schools

Federal case on charter schools - Editorials - Ohio:

Federal case on charter schools

The federal Department of Education invited cackling when it awarded Ohio $71 million last fall to expand high-performing charter schools. The grant announcement followed word that a state education official doctored data to make poorly performing charter schools look better. His pencil work coincided with reports from the state auditor, this newspaper and others about misspending at charter schools.

The “Wild, Wild West” of charter schools, designed and delivered by Statehouse Republicans, rewarded for high-quality? The puzzlement filtered back to Washington. In a letter to the education secretary, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge and other Democrats from the Ohio congressional delegation urged the department to weigh the troubling reality and expand oversight to ensure the money is well spent.

The department put the grant on hold. Fortunately, the necessary oversight arrived this week.

Stefan Huh, the director of the federal Charter Schools Program, informed the state that the grant is deemed “high risk,” Ohio facing specific conditions to gain access to the funds. One condition — the appointment of an independent monitor to ensure accountability and compliance — reflects the advice of Sen. Brown, who sent his own letter to the education secretary in June.

In addition, the state must gain federal approval each time it wants to spend a portion of the grant. It must report on progress semiannually and form an advisory committee that will review funding decisions. Money aimed at problematic dropout recovery schools will receive greater scrutiny.

Federal officials noted the improved oversight built into legislation enacted last year. They stressed that now the state must follow through, especially in holding sponsors of charter schools accountable, creating a cascading effect to reinforce high quality. That not only was a first purpose of the reform package. It is the promise the state made in its application for the federal grant.

Ohio has a steep way to climb out of its embarrassing circumstances. Recall the recent work of the Charter School Accountability Project in revealing the sorry use of federal dollars in the past, more than one-third of the 292 charter schools that have received such funds now closed or never opened. That puts the tally at roughly $30 million in wasted public money.

Even this week, the Ohio-based I Can Schools failed in its bid to expand into Mississippi. Here, it passes as a pretty good performer. There, officials concluded the organization didn’t make the grade.

The controversy continues around the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow, the politically connected yet miserably performing online school operation in Ohio. ECOT still insists on a regimen that evades full accountability in delivering real learning. So, yes, the federal intervention is most warranted, and potentially a turning point for the much better.

Those in Ohio who want to see high-quality charter schools have a reinforced ally. Now Paolo DeMaria, the new state superintendent, must rally his department to make the money work.Federal case on charter schools - Editorials - Ohio:

 

Thank God For Charter Schools: Arizona charter schools of teaching history with religious slant

Lawsuit accuses Arizona charter schools of teaching history with religious slant:

Lawsuit accuses Arizona charter schools of teaching history with religious slant

A lawsuit filed this month against a prominent Valley charter school and the state charter schools board challenges how it incorporates religion in its teaching of history.

The lawsuit against Mesa-based Heritage Academy, a publicly funded charter school, is the latest in a years-long fight by a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit to remove two controversial textbooks.

In the Sep. 7 filing in U.S. District Court, the non-profit Americans United for Separation of Church and State alleges that instruction by the school's founder and American government instructor Earl Taylor Jr. teaches that socialism violates God's laws and that "true patriots" believe in a universal religion of mankind that incorporates tenets of some Christian denominations as well as religious concepts.

Richard Katskee, Americans United for Separation of Church and State's legal director, said, "Charter schools are public institutions. Public schools are not Sunday schools. The choices about religion and religious instruction belong to the parents. It's a disservice to students and also an affront to religious institutions."

The lawsuit stated, "As a matter of law, and as a matter of the constitutionally required respect for the religious liberty of all Americans, no public-school student should be so compelled to learn and practice the preferred faith of a school official. No parents should have their rights to determine the religious upbringing of their children so usurped."

Heritage Academy and Taylor did not respond this week to requests for comment.

The academy has faced criticism from Americans United for Separation of Church and State for years, with a representative of the organization saying in 2014 that it would consider a lawsuit against Heritage if it did not drop the textbooks, authored by W. Cleon Skousen, from its curriculum.

In the past, Heritage representatives have stated that no other textbooks offer the "ingredients which the Founders incorporated into their formula for freedom ... it's simplest and clearest explanation of what the Founders believed, supported by their own words, as they built the first free people in modern times."

Whitney Chapa, executive director of the Arizona State Board for Charter Schools, said Wednesday she could not comment on the 2016 case and was advised not to comment on the nature of complaints or how they were handled by the board.

What is Heritage Academy?

Is Heritage Academy teaching history -- or religion?

Heritage Academy's founder Earl Taylor Jr. opened the academy as a private school. The original downtown Mesa campus became a public charter school in 1995 serving grades 7-12. Heritage since has expanded to three campuses.

According to an August enrollment summary report for Heritage from the Arizona Department of Education, the Mesa school has 720 students, a campus in Queen Creek has 445 students and a campus in the Laveen area of southwest Phoenix has 420 students. All receive state education funds. For example, the Mesa school spent more than $6,650 in state funds per student, according to an Arizona Department of Education financial report for the 2014-2015 fiscal year.

In its mission statement, Heritage Academy declares it is dedicated to instilling students with an understanding and respect for the nation's founders and history so that they may "assist in preserving America's greatness."

In 2014, when similar accusations of religious infraction arose, Taylor told The Arizona Republic that the school's intention was not to convert students to different religious views, but instead show how religion affected the framing of the U.S. Constitution.

On his faculty page featured on Heritage's website, Taylor wrote he teaches high-school seniors the "miraculous story of America's founding and particularly the sources and principles upon which our country was founded. ... I love teaching these seniors who are old enough to understand about freedom and liberty but have not been tainted much by current political philosophies."

What does the lawsuit allege?

The work of Skousen, a conservative author, faith-based political theorist and John Birch Society member who died in 2006, is often cited by the "tea party" movement.

Two of Skousen's books, "The 5,000 Year Leap" and "The Making of America" are assigned as required reading for Heritage Academy seniors, the complaint stated.

Skousen's controversial work states that God inspired America's founders to draft the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.

Earl Taylor's son, Jared Taylor also was named in the complaint; he serves as the charter school's business manager.

Jared Taylor serves as the vice mayor of Gilbert after being elected to the Town Council in 2012. Last year, he was appointed by Gov. Doug Ducey to the state Board of Education.

The governor's office did not respond to a request for comment.

The Arizona State Board for Charter Schools, which oversees Heritage, and Diane Douglas, state superintendent of public instruction, also were named in the lawsuit.

Other plaintiffs' attorneys besides Katskee representing an anonymous parent of students enrolled at the school and the Rev. David Felten include lawyers at Coppersmith Brockelman PLC.

They represent the plaintiffs, John Doe and Felten of Phoenix. Felten doesn't have a child at the school but is said to be "offended by and objects to the expenditure of his tax dollars to support the provision of religious instruction by Taylor and Heritage Academy to public-school students."

John Doe has a child or children who attend the school.

The lawsuit states that the unnamed parent believes it's his responsibility to teach his children about religion, not a state-funded school.

AZCENTRAL

Distorted book is bad history, poses its own tyranny

History of complaints against Heritage

The Heritage Academy campus at 32 S. Center St. in Mesa on Sept. 15, 2016 (Photo: Angelica Cabral/The Republic)

Katskee said the lawsuit was the result of three complaints to the Arizona State Board for Charter Schools that went nowhere in the course of three years.

In December 2013 and June 2014, Americans United for Separation of Church and State demanded the school stop using the textbooks mentioned in this month's filing, saying they teach " 'Christian nation' history in addition to sexist, racist and anti-Semitic messages."

One of Skousen's books — "The 5,000 Year Leap" — says that the United States Lawsuit accuses Arizona charter schools of teaching history with religious slant:

Richmond County Schools Superintendent: charter schools suck

Richmond County Daily Journal | Richmond County Schools Superintendent weighs in on charter schools:

Richmond County Schools Superintendent weighs in on charter schools

 HAMLET — Richmond County Schools Superintendent Dr. Cindy Goodman, responding to news of charter school selecting sites in Wadesboro and Monroe, said while some charter schools are successful most of them are failing, yet continue to divert funding from traditional public schools.

“The (charter schools) concept began as an idea that public school money could be used to start a sort of incubator school, to try innovative concepts and ideas that might be more difficult to try in a public school district,” she said Friday. “Some independent group could use public funding to try an innovative idea. They evolved to people wanting to run parallel schools.

“They, unfortunately, haven’t been very successful,” Goodman continued. “They’ve had mixed results: some have been successful, some have not. Not surprisingly, their success runs right along income levels. They have their challenges, just like traditional public schools have challenges.”

Former state senator Eddie Goodall, an advocate for charter schools in North Carolina, told the Anson Record last week that he and a team have been working to complete the application for a charter school in Wadesboro by the state deadline.

Asked what a successful relationship between a traditional public school district and a charter school might look like, Goodman said funding would likely be a point of contention but stopped short of ruling out the possibility.

“I think any time, obviously funding is always a finite number, and any time there’s a perception that anyone gets more than their fair share or less than their fair share, it sets up an ‘us against them’ mentality,” she explained. “The original concept, again, is an incubator-type school, to come up with innovative ideas that can be successful. If I see a charter school that is successfully educating the most challenging groups, I want to find out what they’re doing and try to replicate it in our schools.”

The problem, she added, is that in North Carolina, charter schools are not demonstrating such success.

“Unfortunately, they’re having even fewer successes than we are,” she said. “Statewide, I think there are more failing charter schools than there are failing traditional public schools. They have to take the same assessments we do. They are failing schools. Failing charter schools.”

The North Carolina Association of Educators endorsed Goodman’s husband, Rep. Ron Goodman, Wednesday, as a “pro-education candidate.”

“He sent it to me,” she said. “I was not one bit surprised. I would have been extremely surprised and sorely disappointed had he not been (endorsed.) He has to live with me, so he is an advocate for public schools. I don’t think Ken makes any apologies about being pro-ed.”

Asked for specific reasons she believes her husband received the NCAE endorsement, Goodman said he has Richmond County Daily Journal | Richmond County Schools Superintendent weighs in on charter schools: