THE BROAD REPORT

Kimberly Olson, Broad Superintendents Academy Class of 2005

2011-03-21T13:58:00.000-07:00

Kimberly D. Olson, Colonel, USAF (retired), is currently the Executive Director of Grace After Fire, an online social support network for women veterans. She does not work in the field of public education.

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NEV. SCHOOL FINALIST FACED AIR FORCE CHARGES; April 23, 2009; Reno Gazette-Journal article re-published in Air Force Times

Washoe County School District officials said Wednesday that a former Air Force officer who pleaded guilty and was reprimanded on charges related to a war profiteering case in Iraq remains a candidate to become superintendent of the district.

Kimberly D. Olson, human development officer at the Dallas Independent School District since 2007, is among four finalists for the Washoe job.

While a colonel in Iraq in 2003, Olson was accused by Pentagon investigators of establishing a U.S. branch of a South African security firm and helping it win more than $3 million in contracts. The firm provided protection for senior American and British officials and private war contractors including subsidiaries of Halliburton Co.

According to Air Force documents, Olson denied abusing her position and avoided a court-marshal by pleading guilty to conduct unbecoming an officer and failure to obey an order or regulation. She was reprimanded and resigned from the service with an honorable discharge and no reduction in rank. She also was banned from receiving further government contracts for three years.

Olson could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

School board President Barbara Clark said the board learned about her guilty plea weeks ago. Clark said Jim Huge, president of the company paid $29,000 for the job search, told board members he had interviewed Olson’s former commanding officer and Olson “had stepped forward to take the blame” for things that happened on her watch…*

When questioned about her guilty plea by someone in the audience at a Reno public meeting Tuesday night, Olson said: “I’m accountable for what I did and it’s all out there for the public to see.”

Olson is the second of the four superintendent finalists discovered to be the subject of controversy.

Hector Montenegro, an education consultant the Dallas suburb of Arlington, resigned as superintendent there after less than six months after questions arose over his acceptance of honorariums from nonprofit groups that do business with the district.

The other finalists are:

• Lawrence W. Fryer, Jr., chief operating officer of the Prince George’s County Public Schools in Maryland and formerly a senior managing consultant for IBM Global Business Services.

• Edmond T. Heatley, superintendent of the Chino Valley Unified School District in Chino, Calif.

Clark said the board will narrow the field to one or two after discussing the interviews conducted this week.

[NOTE: Fryer and Heatley are Broad Superintendents Academy graduates]

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SWAMPSCOTT'S MALONE FINALIST FOR SUPERINTENDENT POST IN NEVADA; April 13, 2009; The Daily Item (Lynn, MA)

…The board is being assisted in the selection process by Bay Area executive search consultant Jim Huge.*

Malone and the other finalists are scheduled to visit Reno next week for interviews.

The other finalists are Prince George's County Public Schools CEO Lawrence W. Fryer Jr., Chino Valley Unified School District Superintendent Edmond T. Heatley, Oakland Unified School District State Administrator/Superintendent Vincent Matthews, education consultant Hector Montenegro, who is from Arlington, Texas and Kimberly D. Olson, who is the chief development officer for Dallas Independent School District….

[NOTE: Fryer, Heatley, and Matthews are Broad Superintendents Academy graduates]

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A BRIGHT CAREER UNRAVELS IN IRAQ: THE PENTAGON SAYS AN OFFICER KNOWN FOR HER INTEGRITY USED HER POST FOR PERSONAL GAIN; April 19, 2006; Los Angeles Times (CA)

When Jay Garner arrived as the first U.S. administrator in Iraq after the 2003 invasion, he chose a highly decorated Air Force colonel named Kimberly D. Olson as his right arm because he considered her among the best America had to offer.

One of the first female pilots in the Air Force, she was a hard-charger with an unblemished reputation for honesty, a high profile in the Pentagon and a commitment to the U.S. goal of creating a democracy in the Middle East.

Today, Olson is at the center of accusations of audacious impropriety in the corruption-plagued reconstruction of Iraq.

She is accused of profiting from the post-invasion chaos by using her position to benefit a private security firm that she helped operate, according to interviews and government documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times.

Pentagon investigators allege that while on active duty as one of the most powerful figures in Iraq, Olson established a U.S. branch of a South African security firm after helping it win more than $3 million in contracts to provide protection for senior U.S. and British officials, as well as for KBR, a subsidiary of Halliburton Co.

Olson, 48, has spent more than a year fighting the charges. In military proceedings last year, she denied abusing her position to enrich herself or the security company, but agreed to plead guilty to lesser charges. She was reprimanded and allowed to resign from the Air Force with an honorable discharge and no reduction in rank. Olson was also banned from receiving further government contracts for three years. She is appealing the ban…

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Memorandum in support of the proposed debarments of Kimberly D. Olson, et al. October 24, 2005, issued by the Department of the Air Force, Office of Deputy General Council excerpt:

1. The conduct of MTS-USA and Olson is of so serious and compelling a nature that it affects their present responsibility to be Government contractors or subcontractors and provides a separate basis for their debarments, pursuant to FAR 9.406-2(c)…

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* IMPORTANT NOTE: Jim Huge operates a firm hired by school districts for conducting superintendent searches (Jim Huge & Associates). Huge and representatives of similar firms (Carl Davis of Ray & Associates, and Jerry Chapman of Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates) have been presenters at training sessions of Broad Superintendents Academy participants.

Chris Cerf, Broad Superintendents Academy Class of 2004

2011-03-21T13:46:00.000-07:00

N.J. ACTING SCHOOLS CHIEF FACES QUESTIONS ABOUT TRANSPARENCY, IMPERILING HIS CONFIRMATION; Sunday, March 13; The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ)

In February 2007, Christopher Cerf was a newly hired deputy chancellor in the New York City school system when he was asked at a public forum to describe his financial interest in Edison Schools Inc., a for-profit education company he once headed.

"I’d be delighted to do that," Cerf replied, according to a published account of the meeting. "I have no financial interest in Edison of any kind. Zero."

Asked by the president of a parents group when he had relinquished the shares, Cerf said he would be "delighted" to provide his financial disclosure form.

Then he clammed up.

What Cerf declined to volunteer is that he had given up the shares just the day before.

In fact, Cerf was under no obligation to rescind his stake in Edison. But his unwillingness to fully answer the question that day would lead to unflattering headlines, public criticism and an investigation by the school system’s Special Commissioner of Investigation.

Four years later, the man who represents perhaps the most important nomination of Gov. Chris Christie’s tenure is again facing questions about his openness, imperiling his confirmation as education commissioner at a time when the governor has made education reform one of his top priorities…

Separately, state Sen. Ronald Rice (D-Essex) says Cerf lied to him in a conversation, contending the acting commissioner denied having close ties to Newark Mayor Cory Booker, with whom Rice does not get along. Cerf has long had an interest in the Newark schools and has been described as an informal adviser to Booker on education issues.

In a series of telephone interviews and in dozens of e-mails to Star-Ledger reporters and editors, Cerf said he has done nothing inappropriate, bristling at the suggestion he would ever leverage public office for private gain. He also denied misleading Rice, saying the two have had several "open and candid conversations about a range of issues."…

Asked about Booker, Cerf declined to characterize his relationship with the mayor.

Christie has accused Rice of playing politics with the nomination, and a spokesman for the governor said Christie stands firmly behind his pick…

[Cerf]…studied history at Amherst College, graduating near the top of his class, before landing his first and only teaching job at the prestigious Cincinnati Country Day School, a private prep school in Ohio…

After four years in Cincinnati, Cerf left teaching for Columbia Law School…

…In 1997, he took the job of general counsel for Edison Schools, which had been founded five years earlier with the guiding principle that a private, for-profit company could better educate students — and do it more cheaply — than public schools. By 2001, Cerf was the company’s president.

Under Cerf’s tenure, Edison grew into the largest private-sector manager of public schools, educating some 77,000 students in 150 schools around the country. But its legacy has been decidedly mixed.

Some studies showed stronger achievement gains among Edison-educated students. Others did not. In 2007, a Rand Corp. study that examined Edison’s control of 20 schools in Philadelphia found "no statistically significant effects," positive or negative, in reading or math in the four years after Edison stepped in.

One by one, districts canceled their contracts with the company, which lost tens of millions of dollars. Its stock price, a record-high $36.75 in 2001, later fell to pennies per share.

Three years ago, Edison changed its name to EdisonLearning. Today, it manages 17 district schools and 42 charter schools across the country. It makes much of its income through tutoring services and educational software…

Cerf left the company in 2005, forming a consulting firm he called the Public Private Strategy Group. In short order, he was hired as a full-time adviser to Joel Klein, chancellor of the New York City school system and Cerf’s former law colleague in Washington…

Cerf moved to give principals more autonomy over their schools, pushed for a teacher evaluation system that took student test scores into account, shuttered 100 failing schools and opened dozens of new charter schools…

Cerf had a less cordial relationship with Tim Johnson, a former chairman of the Chancellor’s Parent Advisory Council, a volunteer group that serves as an umbrella organization for parent associations in the city’s roughly 1,500 public schools.

In February 2007, it was Johnson who challenged Cerf about his ownership of Edison stock.

Despite his stance, the department’s investigative arm, the Special Commisioner of Investigation, opened a probe into the matter. It found that when Cerf gave up his shares in Edison via e-mail, he asked that in return, a charitable contribution of $60,000 be made to the Darrow Foundation, a nonprofit group that runs a wilderness camp for disadvantaged children. Cerf serves on Darrow’s board.

After he was interviewed by the investigator, Richard Condon, Cerf rescinded the donation request, which had not yet been filled, according to Condon’s report…

Cerf left his city post in 2009 to help run Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s re-election campaign, which was seen as a referendum on his restructuring of the school system.

Soon after, he took a position as president and chief executive officer of Sangari Global Education, a private, Brazil-based company that sells science curricula to school districts, mainly overseas.

It was in May of last year, while still president of Sangari, that Cerf and a partner, Rajeev Bajaj, formed Global Education Advisors, the consulting company based at Cerf’s home address in Montclair. Bajaj, whom Cerf met in the New York City schools, also is a Sangari executive.

Booker, using a $500,000 grant solicited from a California foundation, hired the consulting firm to perform a comprehensive assessment of the Newark district’s enrollment figures, test scores and facilities.

The firm also issued a set of recommendations to close some failing schools and, in their place, open 11 charter schools and five new district schools — a proposal that has caused an uproar among parents. Cerf, as education commissioner, would have final say over the proposal in the state-run district…

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ACTING N.J. EDUCATION CHIEF CERF REVISES ACCOUNT OF TIES TO CONSULTING FIRM; February 24, 2011,The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ)

A controversial consultant’s report recommending that some of Newark’s worst public schools be replaced with charter schools was funded by a $500,000 grant from a California educational foundation at the behest of Mayor Cory Booker.

The revelation came in an interview with officials at the foundation late Wednesday. It followed two days in which the mayor declined to provide details about the report: who funded it or the amount spent on it.

Contacted by the Star-Ledger, the spokeswoman for the Broad Foundation in Los Angeles readily acknowledged it put up the money that was used to retain Global Education Advisors to conduct an audit of the city’s schools. The spokeswoman said she wondered why the grant was kept secret.

The consulting firm, incorporated by Christopher D. Cerf before he was named the state’s acting education commissioner, has itself become the focus of growing questions over its ties to the commissioner and the mysterious way it was selected…

State campaign finance records also show Cerf gave a $1,000 contribution to the re-election campaign of Booker just a month before Global Education Advisors was incorporated by Cerf.

Cerf says his motives have been mischaracterized…

At issue are concerns some have raised over whether Cerf would be conflicted as commissioner by his connections to a firm whose recommendations he may have helped draft or inspire. If implemented, the proposals call for closing or consolidating several Newark schools whose students continue to fail year after year, replacing them with charter schools and some new district schools throughout the city. Critics say because of the ties, Cerf could end up being on both ends of the reform process in Newark: The company founded by Cerf the reformer makes proposals that are then approved by Cerf the commissioner…

However, Cerf’s public explanations varied from earlier statements just a day earlier, when he said he had done little more than lend his address for the incorporation papers…

"Everything was kept in secret," [Advisory Board Vice Chairwoman Barbara King] complained. "We never knew about these schools that would close. If we had known, we could have involved the community. No one wants to learn things after the fact."

When they met in November, King said the consultants told the board members they were doing no more than gathering diagnostic data about the school district…

The mayor confirmed that the grant money came from Broad but declined to say who was in charge of contracting the consulting firm, though he said it was not him. However, the Broad Foundation said the money was channeled to the Foundation for Newark’s Future, the nonprofit created to raise $100 million to match Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerbeg’s gift to the city…

[Spokeswoman Erica Lepping] said Global Education Advisors had been selected by the Foundation for Newark’s Future, but could not say on what grounds the consultants were selected.

The Broad Foundation funded similar audits of other urban school systems, she said, most recently in Washington, D.C., and Detroit.

Lepping noted as well that the audit was not intended to make recommendations, just assert facts.

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Read more at NYC Public School Parents, “Chris Cerf: there you go again” (March 13, 2011)

Nathan Levenson, Broad Superintendents Academy Class of 2004

2011-03-21T13:41:00.000-07:00

EX-PRINCIPAL, TEACHER FILE $7M LAWSUIT AGAINST ARLINGTON SCHOOL OFFICIALS; February 9, 2010; Boston Globe (MA)

Two former employees of Arlington's middle school filed a $7 million lawsuit in federal court Monday alleging that school officials wrongfully terminated them based on suspicions they were having an affair.

In a 45-page civil complaint filed in US District Court, one-time Ottoson Middle School principal Stavroula Bouris and Charles E. Coughlin, a technology teacher, allege their civil rights were violated when they were fired in 2007 by then-Superintendent Nathan Levenson.

They say talk of an affair was untrue, a story drummed up in retaliation after Levenson made two failed attempts to oust Bouris months earlier…

The ongoing disputes dates to late January 2007, when Levenson informed Bouris her contract would not likely be renewed. A few weeks later, the suit says, Levenson then tried to unsuccessfully to “coerce” a resignation from Bouris, suggesting that she might be the subject of an untrue story about fondling a child if she did not agree to step down.

When she declined, Levenson announced that Bouris’ contract would not be renewed in March 2007, provoking strong public backlash. Bouris’ contract was renewed shortly thereafter.

According to the complaint, Levenson, acting on gossip overheard by Tracy Buck, a school technology department manager, monitored e-mails between the pair beginning in March 2007.

Levenson, and possibly Buck and others, then hacked into Bouris’ private e-mail account. In early June, Levenson ordered attorney Alan Miller of Stoneham, Chandler & Miller LLP to begin investigating Bouris and Coughlin to see if there was enough evidence to fire them for “inappropriate conduct,” the complaint alleges.

Levenson, who abruptly stepped down from his post in August 2008 amid Coughlin’s arbitration, did not return phone calls seeking comment.

He now runs District and Community Partners, a Boston-based education consulting firm…

Matthew Malone, Broad Superintendents Academy Class of 2003

2011-03-21T13:38:00.000-07:00

BROCKTON SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS MALONE A DEFENDANT IN SWAMPSCOTT LAWSUIT; Oct 08, 2009; The Enterprise (Brockton, MA)

BROCKTON — Superintendent of Schools Matthew Malone is getting situated in his new job, but is still dealing with unfinished business from his last job in Swampscott.

He is a defendant in a lawsuit scheduled for trial next Tuesday in Essex County Superior Court.

The suit was filed in 2007 by a former Swampscott assistant superintendent who alleges breach of contract. He was terminated in April of that year, according to a published report…

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MALONE RESPONDS: UNION LETTER WON’T DETER HIM, SUPERINTENDENT SAYS; Jun 24, 2008; Swampscott Reporter (Swampscott, MA)

Swampscott Superintendent of Schools Dr. Matthew H. Malone says it doesn’t matter whether there’s a vote of the teachers’ union to express “no confidence” in his leadership of not.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Malone said flatly Tuesday morning, fewer than 24 hours after the Swampscott Education Association sent a statement from union president Paul Maguire to local media…

Reacting to the statement, noting a 138-6 vote by union members to express "no confidence" in the superintendent, Malone says he’s not cutting off communication at all…

Broad Superintendents Academy Class of 2011

2011-03-18T12:34:00.000-07:00

8 = NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS ANNOUNCED IN FEBRUARY 2011

TBD = NUMBER OF GRADUATES

PARTICIPANTS LISTED FOR THE CLASS OF 2011

Avossa, Robert
Barbic, Chris
Brown, Mark
MacCormack, Penny
Miles, Mike
Oats, Mike
Peppler, Judy
Richardson, Rick

DID NOT GRADUATE

TBD

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

February 2011 news release

POSITIONS HELD BY INCOMING PARTICIPANTS
Avossa, Robert	Chief Strategy and Accountability Officer Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, North Carolina
Barbic, Chris	Chief Executive Officer YES Prep Schools, Texas
Brown, Mark	Comptroller and Chief Financial Officer, Air Force Mobility Command U.S. Air Force Brigadier General (s)
MacCormack, Penny	Chief Academic Officer Hartford Public Schools, Connecticut
Miles, Mike	Superintendent Harrison School District, Colorado (Colorado Springs)
Oats, Mike	Director, Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization U.S. Army Lieutenant General
Peppler, Judy	President Qwest Communications, Oregon [telecommunications industry]
Richardson, Rick	Chief, Plans Division, U.S. European Command Plans and Operations Center U.S. Army Colonel

Maria Goodloe-Johnson, Broad Superintendents Academy Class of 2003

2011-03-15T15:43:00.000-07:00

Maria Goodloe-Johnson’s presence has been removed from the “Featured Alumni” section of the Broad Foundation’s website. For the time being, you can see the page HERE.

The blog Seattle Education 2010 tracked Goodloe-Johnson's tenure and the associated controversies in detail.

The blog Schools Matter posted the scandal about Broad Resident Brad Bernatek, Goodloe-Johnson’s Director of Research, Evaluation and Assessment for Seattle Public Schools, in “Broad Alum Busted in Seattle Public School Scandal for Lying to Advance Corporate Ed Reform.” (November 23, 2010)

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GOODLOE-JOHNSON OUSTED AS SEATTLE SCHOOLS CHIEF; March 2, 2011, Seattle PI (WA)

The Seattle school board voted unanimously Wednesday to fire Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson over a $1.8 million financial scandal involving a district business development program…

Since the board voted to fire Goodloe-Johnson without cause, she is entitled under her contract to severance pay of $264,000, a sum equal to one-year's salary.

Also shown the door Wednesday was Don Kennedy, the district's Chief Financial and Operations Officer. Like Goodloe-Johnson, Kennedy, who came from South Carolina, was fired without cause, meaning he must be paid a severance of $87,000 -- half of his annual salary -- under the terms of his contract.

School board members described the decision as a difficult one, yet necessary to restore the public and the board's trust in the school system and to change a management culture that bred an "atmosphere of fear and intimidation." Board members said it was important to act decisively and to refocus on the mission of serving children.

"What has occurred -- the financial scandal, the cronyism, the obvious lack of transparency -- is an insult to the taxpayers of Seattle. You pay your property taxes, you obey the rules. Others should do the same," board vice president Michael DeBell said…

Last week, the state Auditor's Office released a report saying Seattle Public Schools' small business development program had spent about $1.5 million for services with a "questionable public purpose" and $280,000 for services that were never provided…

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SEATTLE SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT MARIA GOODLOE-JOHNSON SHOULD RESIGN; February 25, 2011; The Seattle Times (WA)

The Seattle Times Editorial Board says it is time for the superintendent of the Seattle Public Schools, Maria Goodloe-Johnson, to go.

THE emerging details of the financial scandal at the Seattle Public Schools suggest one conclusion: Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson should resign. If she doesn't, the board should fire her.

She was brought here from South Carolina in 2007 to fix several problems, the first of which was the district's lax control of its money. The latest mess shows the task has not been done.

The gist of the story is that several years ago the district was having trouble getting enough bids on its smaller construction jobs. It set up a program using capital funds to qualify minority- and women-owned contractors to bid. To run the program, the district hired Silas Potter Jr…

Potter's operation, the Regional Small Business Development Program, was run openly. According to the investigator, other district employees were appalled by it; they considered Potter "a con man" who was protected by his boss.
Goodloe-Johnson was higher up the chain and should have stopped it. It took a report from state Auditor Brian Sonntag and effort by the School Board to stop it…

Time for new leadership.

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SEATTLE SCHOOLS TEACHERS OK NEW CONTRACT, VOTE 'NO CONFIDENCE' IN SUPERINTENDENT; September 2, 2010; The Seattle Times (WA)

Seattle Public Schools teachers approved a new three-year contract Thursday, clearing the way for school to start on time Wednesday and ending rancorous negotiations over the use of test scores in evaluating how well teachers do their jobs.

Seattle's public-school teachers approved a new contract Thursday, clearing the way for school to start on time Wednesday and ending rancorous negotiations over the use of test scores in evaluating how well teachers do their jobs.

Within minutes of that vote, nearly all the teachers and other Seattle School District employees at the meeting approved a no-confidence vote in Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson — a symbolic move that reflects deep dissatisfaction with the superintendent's style and agenda.

In a flier handed out before the meeting, the union listed eight complaints — everything from budget cuts she's recommended, to the addition of new tests for students, to a state audit that found a number of problems with the district's control over its finances.

The vote was another sign that Goodloe-Johnson hasn't developed strong support among teachers in her three years on the job.

"We feel like we're engaged in a battle for our students and against our superintendent," said Aimee Hall, who teaches math at Orca K-8, an alternative school…

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LaVonne Sheffield, Broad Superintendents Academy Class of 2002

2011-03-15T12:54:00.000-07:00

ROCKFORD'S SCHOOL CHIEF SHEFFIELD RESIGNS; April 8, 2011; WNIJ News

ROCKFORD, IL (wnij) - Rockford's school superintendent is resigning. LaVonne Sheffield announced Thursday she will be out by the end of the month. So change is afoot in the Rockford School District. On Tuesday, voters chose newcomers over incumbents in School Board races. And now, the woman in charge of the district is saying goodbye two years before her contract ends. In an emailed message to the community, Superintendent LaVonne Sheffield said she was hired as a "change agent" for the district: now she feels the district is no longer "moving forward." She says some of the biggest challenges ahead for Rockford Schools include racial imbalances in achievement and discipline, as well as all-over financial uncertainty.

Sheffield has been criticized for her leadership style, especially during the recent round of school closings and program cuts. The head of the Rockford teacher's union, Molly Phalen, calls Sheffield's upcoming departure "a positive development" that offers the "opportunity to build a better school district."…

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LAVONNE SHEFFIELD SERVED WITH DEFAMATION LAWSUIT; April 7, 2011; The Rock River Times (Rockford, IL)

Rockford Public School District 205 Superintendent Dr. LaVonne M. Sheffield was served with a defamation lawsuit Thursday morning, April 7.

The suit was filed in Winnebago County Circuit Court by Attorney Dan McGrail on behalf of education researcher Noel Hammatt.

While Hammatt was in Rockford speaking to District 205 parents in February, the lawsuit alleges Sheffield publicly accused him of being racially biased toward minority students.

According to the suit, Sheffield falsely stated that Mr. Hammatt, “distorts data and he believes minority students aren’t as bright, that they can’t learn, and that efforts to teach those children, quote, ‘those children’, and close the achievement gap are essentially a waste of time.”

The complaint alleges that Sheffield recklessly disregarded the truth and placed Hammatt in a false light…

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MAYOR LARRY MORRISSEY QUESTIONS SCHOOL CLOSINGS, DEEPER CUTS DELAYED; March 9, 2011; The Rock River Times (IL)

…The audience roared with applause as Morrissey questioned the process the board has taken to usher-in Superintendent Dr. LaVonne Sheffield’s $45 million cost-slashing plan.

“I’ve received many phone calls, e-mails and personal visits from concerned parents like my wife and I and Rockford taxpayers,” Morrissey said. “I’m here tonight to help give them voice and help echo their questions: ‘Why these schools and why not involve our community?’”

Morrissey cited steps the City of Rockford has taken in the last two years in implementing community campaigns while it mapped the 2010 and 2011 spending plans. A similar system of public input while district officials close at least six schools and make deep program and staff cuts, Morrissey said, has been void.

“Here’s my problem tonight,” the mayor continued. “Does anyone really understand the criteria for the building closings and program cuts? What are the criteria, who set the criteria and why wasn’t our community invited to help set the criteria?”…

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SUPERINTENDENT DR. LAVONNE M. SHEFFIELD SPARS WITH WATCHDOG GROUP, PLAYS RACE CARD AGAINST RALLY SPEAKER; February 23, 2011; Rock River Times (Rockford, IL)

After the school board delayed its vote surrounding $45 million in budget cuts at the Tuesday, Feb. 22 meeting of the Rockford Board of Education, Superintendent Dr. LaVonne M. Sheffield used time for her Superintendent’s Report to spar with a watchdog group official.

During public comment, Watchdogs for Ethics in Education (WEE) official Jane Hayes addressed the board, charging district officials with keeping the community in the dark during its decision-making process regarding the budget…

Hayes cited Noel Hammatt, keynote speaker at Monday’s “Rally to Save our Public Schools,” saying communities do not prosper because of the prosperity of a particular group. When schools fail, she said, it’s not the fault of teachers–but administrators who pit one group against the other.

As if she was prepared to square-off with Hayes, Sheffield fired back, accusing WEE members of manufacturing information regarding her past relationship with Noel Hammatt.

Sheffield also accused Hammatt of distorting data and holding the belief that minority students are not teachable, and attempting to educate them is a waste of time…

“She accused me of saying minority students–black students–couldn’t learn,” Hammatt said of the exchange. “I told her, ‘That’s not what I said.’ I noted that there are differences in how students learn because of socio-economic and several other factors. But, she immediately pulled the race card.”…

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The Broad Report makes it on YouTube!

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CHARTER INITIATIVE BORROWS FROM NASHVILLE PLAN; March 3, 2010; Rockford Register Star (IL)
Rockford Charter Schools Initiative made a hard push two years ago to bring charter schools to town as an alternative to the traditional public school model.*

The group has found success: Two elementary charter schools opened here last fall and there is evidence students are making academic gains.

Supporters say their work isn’t finished. More charter school proposals may come in 2011, said Laurie Preece, the volunteer leader of Rockford Charter Schools Initiative…

For now, though, Rockford Charter School Initiative’s goal “is still to support charter schools and their network with a goal of expanding education options in Rockford,” Preece said…

*In August 2010, Superintendent LaVonne Sheffield formed a budget committee to work on balancing the 2012 budget. It consisted of members of Sheffield’s cabinet plus eight community members, four of which are on the steering committee for the Rockford Charter School Initiative (RCSI). No elected board members were included on the committee. Concerns have been raised about Open Meetings Act violations. Read here, here, and here.

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2 SUPERINTENDENT FINALISTS: MUCH PRAISE, SOME CONTROVERSY; February 20, 2009; Rockford Register Star (IL)

…Sheffield continues to be dogged by questions about a 2002 investigation into the misuse of school district money while working as a Detroit school administrator, [Paul] Vallas holds Sheffield in high regard and considers her among the top educators in the nation…

The board will meet Tuesday with the search firm Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates to decide its next step. An announcement about the candidates could be made next week, but the board won’t introduce the candidates in a public meeting until the week of March 1 at the earliest…*

Vallas has helped behind the scenes to shape the School Board’s search for a new superintendent…

While she served as chief academic officer for Detroit Public Schools in 2002 and 2003, Sheffield became embroiled in an investigation into whether she billed the school system for personal items.

Sheffield repaid the district $5,861 in expenses for which she did not have receipts, after media requested debit card bills and receipts from the School District, according to a December 2002 story in The Detroit News.

But Sheffield denied the charges — for a $1,200 donation to the Detroit Institute of Arts Founders Society, $846 for a Skymall catalog purchase, $278 to Mario’s Restaurant and $344 for flowers bought for staff — were personal purchases…

When Vallas hired Sheffield in Philadelphia, questions continued to swirl about her involvement in the financial controversy…

Vallas told the Inquirer that an investigation of the incident by Detroit school officials cleared Sheffield of any wrongdoing…

*Jerry Chapman, a Senior Associate at Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates, has been a guest speaker at Broad Superintendents Academy training sessions.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

EDITORIAL: SHEFFIELD’S CREDIBILITY SHOT, ROCKFORD SCHOOLS DESERVE BETTER; December 9, 2009; The Rock River Times (Rockford, IL)

When Dr. Lavonne Sheffield assumed her superintendent post this year, the biggest news surrounding her arrival swirled around whether her certification would come through by the time the school year began…

Fast-forward to the halfway point of the 2009-2010 school year. Many things have changed. Sheffield’s presence is known. Teachers certainly know she’s here. District employees have been personally made aware of that and that she’s in charge. She’s demanded teachers cease and desist voicing their concerns regarding their livelihoods.

Sheffield also ambushed veteran Rockford educator Molly Phalen, president of the Rockford Education Association, in a letter she released to the media instructing Phalen to stop talking to reporters about events–violence–that has recently occurred in at least three Rockford schools.

In the letter, which Phalen was oblivious to until it was distributed to media, Sheffield stated no gang activity, riots or unsafe conditions were being experienced in our schools, in particular East High, where a recent series of chaos resulted student arrests…

According to Mark Bonne, chief communications officer for District 205, the incident at East High School was a figment of the collective imagination of the community.

It is quite obvious, at this point, who is giving District 205 marching orders and why Bonne is suddenly tight-lipped, calling certain allegations about school violence “anonymous” and not worthy of discussion. The stifle obviously comes from the top of the 205 chain of command…

It’s time to call Dr. Sheffield to the carpet. Her credibility is nothing short of destroyed. The school board made a monumental mistake with the hire. It’s time to bring in a leader who will at least acknowledge the problem, something Sheffield has chosen to conceal, especially when given the opportunity to shine. She blew it and brought other district employees with her down the trail.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

FOLLOW THE EVOLVING STORY at Stakeholders United for Education Excellence and on the Facebook page, “Wanting a Resignation of LaVonne Sheffield.”

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John Deasy, Broad Superintendents Academy Class of 2006

2011-03-14T15:28:00.000-07:00

The troubled school district of Prince George's County (Md.) thought it was finally going to get a long-term superintendent when they hired John Deasy (BSA 2006) in May 2006, but by September 2008 he was being investigated for having improperly received his doctorate. Deasy resigned three weeks later and went to work for the Gates Foundation.

Deasy conveniently landed in LAUSD in June 2010 after his term at the GF. Questions about his PhD and inconsistencies in his resume still linger. But that proved to be no problem, because in January 2011, Deasy was promoted to superintendent of LAUSD, "without so much as a job interview." (6-0, one abstention).

The abstaining board member said:

"We didn't have a process -- internal or external -- for the most important job in public education in the United States right now," he tells the Weekly. "It has nothing to do with John Deasy. I'm a big fan. ... But I can't be sure that I got the best person for the job if I didn't get to even talk to anybody else."

Zimmer says that in 2008, when Superintendent Cortinas selected Deasy to be his deputy, he and the board "never, ever" got the impression that "Deasy would be superintendent-in-waiting."

However, that's exactly what went down yesterday. An inside source told the Weekly on Monday that Mayor Villaraigosa was "making all the moves behind the scenes to make [Deasy's promotion] happen."...

Think things are pre-arranged behind the scenes by the plutocrats? You betcha.

Back to Maryland...

As is the modus operandi in so many cases, the Prince George's County Public School district was targeted and then infiltrated by a Broad team all those years ago. Deasy's replacement was William R. Hite Jr. (BSA 2006) who appointed Bonita Coleman-Potter (BSA 2008) as his deputy superintendent.

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PRINCE GEORGE'S SUPERINTENDENT RESIGNS; September 30, 2008; ABC 7 News, WJLA

For the fifth time in ten years, Prince George's County schools face a change in leadership at the top.

Superintendent John Deasy officially announced Tuesday that he will be leaving in February to take a job as the deputy director of education division of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a position for which he says he was recruited…

Deasy replaced former schools CEO Andrew Hornsby, who resigned after he was indicted on corruption charges. Hornsby was later convicted of wire fraud and obstruction of justice.

Deasy has found himself embroiled in controversy in the past month, when his PhD from the University of Louisville came under scrutiny. He spent just one semester there and transferred in other credits. An investigation is underway.

"I won't comment on internal review of the University of Louisville's own procedures," said Deasy Tuesday. "My accomplishment record stands by itself, but I thank you for asking."

In July, the school board gave Deasy a raise to $273,000.

A Prince George's County School spokesman says Deasy will not receive a severance package. His last day of pay will coincide with his last day of work on Jan. 31…

* * * * * * * * * * * *

COUNSEL TO MONITOR INVESTIGATION INTO DEASY'S DEGREE: QUESTIONS RAISED ABOUT WHETHER PRINCE GEORGE'S SCHOOLS SUPERINTENDENT EARNED DOCTORATE; September 11, 2008; Gazette.Net (Maryland)

"The Prince George's County school board is assigning legal counsel to work as a liaison with University of Louisville officials investigating allegations that Superintendent John E. Deasy may have improperly received a doctorate from the school in 2004."…

The university investigation stems from reports in Kentucky news media that Deasy was awarded a doctorate of philosophy even though he only completed nine credit hours in one semester at the school. According to the university's policies, there is no set number of credits that doctor of philosophy candidates are required to obtain, however, it has been "customary to consider the equivalent of three years of full-time graduate study as minimal."…

=========================================================================

Joseph Wise, Broad Superintendents Academy Class of 2003

2011-03-14T15:07:00.000-07:00

Joseph Wise (BSA 2003) was given a four-year contract as the superintendent of Duval County Public Schools in the fall of 2005. Twenty-three months later, his spending habits were being questioned. He and the school board parted ways in October 2007, but not before he implemented a controversial reorganization plan. Read local community opinions here. In February 2008, he became the new Chief Education Officer for EdisonLearning. Legal problems persisted even after he left DCPS. Trouble had followed Wise from Delaware, where he had been the superintendent of Christina School District, the largest in Delaware. This is what he's doing now.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Re WILMINGTON, DELAWARE

"Bully in Search of a Pulpit" (November 9, 2006 in Slate) states:

Broad "plans to virtually take over the Delaware school system in 2007, pending approval from that state's legislature." He backed the winning slate of candidates for the local board of education in 1999 and helped hire the new superintendent.

Broad's initial energy was focused on the Christina School District. Their first Broad superintendent was installed in July 2003 (see Joseph Wise above). In April 2006, Wise was succeeded by Lillian Lowery (BSA 2004) who served until May 2009. Lowery walked into her position and shortly discovered a huge district deficit. This is what she's doing now. Her replacement was Marcia Lyles (BSA 2006). This district is home to the incident with six-year old Zachary. His sentence was later reversed.

Thelma Melendez de Santa Ana, Broad Superintendents Academy Class of 2006

2011-03-14T14:53:00.000-07:00

EDUCATION OFFICIAL STIRS REAL TEARS WITH FICTIONAL TALE; September 6, 2010; The Virginian-Pilot

At a gathering of teachers in an Oregon school district last week, a high-level official told a story that might sound familiar.

It's about Teddy Stoddard, the boy who got off to a bad start in Miss Thompson's fifth-grade class with his dirty clothes and listless academic performance.

At Christmas, he brought his teacher a rhinestone bracelet with missing stones and a half-used bottle of cheap perfume wrapped in a grocery bag. They had belonged to his dead mother.

Horrified that she misjudged the boy, Miss Thompson stayed with Teddy after school every day until he caught up. Over the years, he kept his teacher informed of his progress with three letters. In the final one, Teddy is a doctor and asks Miss Thompson to take his mother's place at his upcoming wedding.

Teachers in Eugene, Ore., sniffled and gave a standing ovation to Thelma Melendez de Santa Ana, the assistant to the U.S. secretary of education, when she finished the story.

But former Virginia Beach resident Elizabeth Ungar wrote "Three Letters from Teddy" nearly 40 years ago about a boy she called Teddy Stallard.

Reached last week at her new home in Rockingham, N.C., she was dismayed to hear it's still being passed off as truth. "I think it's absolutely wrong to do that."…

Thandiwe Peebles, Broad Superintendents Academy Class of 2002

2011-03-14T14:44:00.000-07:00

PEEBLES OUT AS MINNEAPOLIS SUPERINTENDENT; January 27, 2006; Minnesota Public Radio

The Minneapolis school board has accepted the resignation of Superintendent Thandiwe Peebles, less than two years after she was hired. During her tenure, Peebles became embroiled in controversies over her management style and over allegations that she used district employees to conduct personal business for her. The board has named former school board chair Bill Green as interim superintendent.

Minneapolis, Minn. — Peebles was hired in June 2004, and controversy followed shortly thereafter. Almost immediately, there were complaints of Peebles' no-nonsense communications style, and several longtime district employees left.

Then, last year, allegations from an anonymous former employee surfaced. That employee claimed Peebles used district employees to run errands for her, during working hours. An investigation ensued.

Even though Peebles' lawyer says the investigation didn't contain any substantive evidence of wrongdoing, school board members reportedly began talking about how to get rid of her.

"We have accepted the resignation of superintendent Peebles," School Board Chairman Joseph Erickson said Friday morning to a crowd awaiting the news. "And we'll be moving forward, accepting her resignation and a settlement to complete her contract."

Under the terms of the separation agreement, the board will pay Peebles some of the value left on her contract. And both sides agree not to talk in detail about the conditions under which Peebles resigned.

The district could have wound up paying Peebles around $250,000, but they settled on a total of $179,500. The agreement states that nothing in the settlement should be considered an admission that either party did anything wrong. And both sides agree not to make disparaging remarks about each other…

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

THE RISE AND FALL OF THANDIWE PEEBLES

It was a short tenure. Peebles' appointment was announced in June 2004. Here's a description of her leadership style:

Principals go to these meetings and they come back chilled," complains one employee who works in the district administration building and fears for her job. "The superintendent has publicly shamed professional staff for talking in the halls there, and despite her denials, for the way they dress. They must also ask permission to do the routine activities of their jobs or risk being paraded before the board for public shaming.

Read the rest.

Deborah A. Gist, Broad Superintendents Academy Class of 2008

2011-03-14T14:25:00.000-07:00

“The Broad Effect” has been playing out in Rhode Island, where State Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist, a 2008 Broad Superintendents Academy graduate, worked in tandem with Frances Gallo, the district’s superintendent, to fire 93 teachers and staff members at Central Falls High School. Learn much more about the whole story here.

The April 2009 press release announcing Gist’s appointment as the new R.I. Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education explains how the Broad Foundation guided Rhode Island's way:

“We are thrilled that Rhode Island is the first state to attract a Broad Fellow as not only the superintendent of its largest schools system, with Tom Brady in Providence, but also a Broad Fellow as a State Commissioner who can partner in addressing the challenges of transforming the state's educational systems to a position of international leadership."

“The Mayor [Cicilline of Providence] today met with the School Board Monday night to discuss a plan that installs Fran Gallo as Transition Superintendent and calls for the formation of a search committee by next week. The plan is informed by counsel from the Broad Foundation (pronounced “brode”), a nationally-recognized consultant for superintendent searches.”

And as Providence Public School District eventually acquired THOMAS M. BRADY (Broad Superintendents Academy Class of 2004), he was joined by SHARON CONTRERAS (Broad Superintendents Academy Class of 2010) as his Chief Academic Officer. Gallo took a position at Central Falls, an impoverished community 5.7 miles north of Providence. Read more about the Broad-in-Rhode-Island synergy here.

More about Gist:

Regent member paid ghostwriter fee for Gist speech

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

PROVIDENCE — A member of the Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education paid a New York ghostwriter $10,000 to pen Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist’s 10-page speech to the General Assembly last month.

Regent Angus Davis, an entrepreneur, offered to pay for a speechwriter when he heard that Gist was reluctant to tap into her department’s budget for the work as had been done in the past, Gist said Tuesday…

Randolph Ward, Broad Superintendents Academy Class of 2003

2010-07-12T15:29:00.000-07:00

NOTE: Randolph Ward is omitted from the alumni pages of the Broad Superintendents Academy Web site.*

In 2003, Ward began his year of training with the Broad Superintendents Academy. During that time he was chosen to be the state administrator of the Oakland Unified School District, where he worked for three years. This was arranged by Jack O'Connell, the State Superintendent, and Jerry Brown, who was Oakland's mayor at the time.

According to an Oakland Tribune article which is posted on the Broad Foundation’s Web site, “…[The Broad] Center was called in by Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown and California Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell to recommend an administrator to run the Oakland schools following a state takeover. Brown and Broad are longtime allies, and O'Connell is a major recipient of Broad campaign contributions…”

Ward’s arrival was accompanied by another Broad graduate, Arnold “Woody” Carter (BSA 2002), who served as his Chief of Staff for two years. Carter was embroiled in scandal several years later when he was superintendent of the Capistrano Unified School District. In addition to Carter, a bevy of Broad Residents was provided to Ward to serve him in various important central office positions.

Randolph Ward left Oakland in the summer of 2006 and became the San Diego County Superintendent of Schools. His successor, Kimberly Statham (BSA 2003), only stayed one year. Her successor, Vincent Matthews (BSA 2006), left OUSD in 2010 when the district regained its local control.

The final word about all those years of Broad graduates at the helm:

The Alameda County civil grand jury, in its 2007-08 report, found that "the district was hampered by continuous staff turnover, particularly in the area of finance, numerous reorganizations and a succession of state administrators. "... After nearly five years of state management, OUSD's budget remains unbalanced and the district's future is unclear."…

The Center for Education Reform publication, “National Model or Temporary Opportunity? The Oakland Education Reform Story” (written by none other than Joe Williams, now of DFER) describes how this all came down.

==================================================

HUNDREDS OPPOSE CAMPUS CLOSINGS PARENTS, TEACHERS, STUDENTS RESIST RANDOLPH WARD'S PLAN, January 9, 2004, Oakland Tribune

OAKLAND -- School chief Randolph Ward's plan to close several campuses in neighborhoods with declining enrollment met heavy resistance from hundreds of parents, teachers and students Thursday.

Protesters crowded a public hearing at the school district's 2nd Avenue headquarters, blasting the plan and asking Ward to spare their campuses.

It was the most large-scale public opposition Ward has faced since he was appointed to run the Oakland schools seven months ago, when the state took over the district for massive financial failures.

Ward also heard criticism from members of the school board and the Oakland City Council.

Parents and teachers at schools up for closure said their campuses are integral parts of the community -- not just buildings on a corner -- and argued closing schools would be a harsh disruption for students…

School board member Dan Siegel said the district should take students from crowded schools such as Cox Elementary, and transfer them to under-enrolled schools such as Burbank Elementary. Ward said that plan would not work, because parents would not want to send their kids to school in another neighborhood… [although he did feel that an expansion of charter schools to which they would have to travel would be perfectly okay]

One girl attending Golden Gate Elementary told Ward "I will not let this school go out of my heart or my friends' hearts, because it is a lovely school."

At Santa Fe Elementary, teachers pointed out they have high scores on standardized tests, and have worked hard to create important programs and build a baseball field.

Oakland police barred dozens of other people from the building, including at least one journalist and a woman who asked to be let in to find her young daughter.

The crowd chanted, banged on windows and rang fire alarms, which could be heard from inside the meeting room. About 18 police officers and a few school security guards were stationed in the entryway of the building...

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OAKLAND SCHOOL DISTRICT: IS IT BETTER OFF AFTER THE STATE TAKEOVER?, March 26, 2010, Oakland Tribune

...Although financial problems triggered the Oakland school district's takeover, the state administration appeared to be more focused on redesigning schools and overhauling central office services than on stabilizing the district's finances.

None of the three state-appointed administrators [all Broad Superintendents Academy graduates: Randolph Ward (Class of 2003), Kimberly Statham (Class of 2003), and Vincent Mathews (Class of 2006)] had strong financial backgrounds, and the district has had three chief financial officers since 2007.

For years, auditors with the state controller's office have issued "inconclusive" findings on the state of the school district's finances. The auditors reported last summer that the agency's bottom line was unclear because key records dating to the time of the takeover were missing or inconsistent.

It wasn't until 2008 that the district hired a private auditing firm to address the problem and "disentangle" the old financial records. The firm had grim news this spring: They had $5.6 million less than previously thought. Auditors found other problems, totaling $9 million, bringing the size of the shortfall to nearly $15 million.

The Alameda County civil grand jury, in its 2007-08 report, found that "the district was hampered by continuous staff turnover, particularly in the area of finance, numerous reorganizations and a succession of state administrators. "... After nearly five years of state management, OUSD's budget remains unbalanced and the district's future is unclear."…

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WARD MAY BE MAKING AN EXIT, June 28, 2006, Oakland Tribune

…“Some of his projects have been poorly received by certain local school observers and the powerful Oakland teachers union. Further straining his relationship with Oakland teachers, Ward and the union engaged in a two-year contract fight that ended in April on the brink of a strike.

At a teacher picnic to celebrate the tentative contract agreement, a small group of teachers mobbed Ward, and one spit on the ground as he walked away.

Due to safety concerns, a bodyguard from the California Highway Patrol shadows the state administrator at all times.”

===========================================================

BSA Class of 2010

2010-07-12T13:52:00.000-07:00

BSA Class of 2010

14 = NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS ANNOUNCED IN FEBRUARY 2010

11 = NUMBER OF GRADUATES

PARTICIPANTS LISTED FOR THE CLASS OF 2010

Blaine, Jennifer
Byrne, Sean
Clark, Ann Blakeney
Contreras, Sharon
Gilbert, Silvanus Taco
Hahn, Daniel
Hammond, James Quezon
Heiligenstein, Anne
Kopplin, Andy
Rounds, Michael
Scott, Irvin
Shazor, Marilyn
Wardynski, Casey
White, John

DID NOT GRADUATE

Byrne, Sean
Hahn, Daniel
Kopplin, Andy

4 = NUMBER OF GRADUATES CURRENTLY LISTED AS “FEATURED ALUMNI.”

Hammond, James Quezon
Rounds, Michael
Scott, Irvin
Wardynski, Casey

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FROM 2010 PRESS RELEASES, ETC.:
February 2010 press release

POSITIONS HELD BY INCOMING PARTICIPANTS
Blaine, Jennifer	Associate Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction, Spring Branch Independent School District, Houston
Byrne, Sean	Commanding General of the Army Human Resources Command, Alexandria, Va.
Clark, Ann Blakeney	Chief Academic Officer, Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools, N.C.
Contreras, Sharon	Chief Academic Officer, Providence Public Schools, R.I.
Gilbert, Silvanus Taco	Corporate Director of Strategic Planning, Sierra Nevada Corporation, Reno, Nev.; Brigadier General (Ret.)
Hahn, Daniel	Former Chief of Operations, NATO Afghan Operations; Major General (Ret.)
Hammond, James Quezon	Superintendent, Davis Joint Unified School District, Calif.
Heiligenstein, Anne	Commissioner, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, Austin, Texas
Kopplin, Andy	Senior Advisor to the Founder and CEO, Teach For America, La.
Rounds, Michael	Director, Human Performance Resource Center, United States Army; Brigadier General (Ret.)
Scott, Irvin	High School Academic Superintendent, Boston Public Schools, Mass.
Shazor, Marilyn	Chief Executive Officer, Metro Transit System, Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority, Ohio
Wardynski, Casey	Director, Office of Economic & Manpower Analysis, United States Military Academy, West Point, N.Y.; Colonel
White, John	Deputy Chancellor for Strategy and Innovation, New York City Department of Education, N.Y.

Deborah Sims, Broad Superintendents Academy Class of 2005

2010-07-12T13:11:00.000-07:00

NOTE: No mention is made of Deborah Sims on the current alumni pages of the Broad Superintendents Academy Web site.*

Deborah Sims completed her training at the Broad Superintendents Academy in November 2005 and was appointed superintendent of the Antioch Unified School District (AUSD) in California in August 2006. Amidst controversy, she announced her resignation in May 2009.

Before arriving in Antioch, Sims had been a deputy superintendent and chief of K-12 school operations for the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD).

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SCHOOLS CHIEF'S CANDOR A WELCOME CHANGE IN ANTIOCH DISTRICT, February 27, 2010, Oakland Tribune

…Gill's [Donald, Sims’ replacement] style is in stark contrast from that of his predecessor, many in the district say. The tenure of Deborah Sims was beset by controversy. It included a vote of no confidence by district teachers in fall 2008, the district's handling of a teacher suspected of accessing child pornography at school last spring, and her sudden resignation announcement in May…

* * * * * * * *

[The previous year, the AUSD school board had started in the Reform Governance in Action program via the Center for Reform of School Systems (CRSS), an organization is heavily funded by the Broad Foundation. After Sims' exit, the CRSS terminated its ties with the district. In the excerpts below, the bolded emphasis is mine]

FOUNDATION CUTS TIES WITH ANTIOCH SCHOOLS, June 24, 2009, Oakland Tribune

The Antioch school district's three-year affiliation with an education reform foundation aimed at improving schools through better governance has been severed.

In a letter dated June 1, the Center for Reform of School Systems, which is supported financially by the philanthropic Broad Foundation, announced that it was ending the Antioch school district's participation in its Reform Governance in Action program.

The reason given: The May resignation of Superintendent Deborah Sims, an alumnus of a Broad training program.

In the sharply worded letter that praised Sims' leadership and criticized the school board, CRSS founder Donald McAdams said the foundation was not interested in continuing the relationship in the wake of the superintendent's departure…

Antioch school board members, who along with a handful of district officials had attended three retreat-style CRSS training sessions, said they would have fulfilled their commitment to complete the training. But President Walter Ruehlig called the decision "a blessing in disguise."…

In its three years undergoing CRSS training, the school district spent $30,000 toward instruction, materials, training retreats and visits to other school districts. Ruehlig said the Broad Foundation underwrote "far more" than that figure…

That same message, and the methods used to implement it, alienated many teachers who thought personnel at the school-site level were forced to cede their professional judgment in favor of Broad-backed philosophies.

While acknowledging that there is room for improvement in the district, Deer Valley High School teacher J Myers said he thought the reform training's top-down approach of trying to fit every district and every school into one model for achievement actually hurt some Antioch schools where unique programs were getting results.

"We were doing a tear-down when we needed a remodel, which I think is what got people upset," Myers said…

[The Broad Foundation calls their efforts “transformation.”]

* * * * * * * *

ANTIOCH SUPERINTENDENT RESIGNS, May 27, 2009, Oakland Tribune

Antioch schools' embattled superintendent has announced she will resign effective Aug. 31.

Deborah Sims made the announcement via e-mail to district employees on May 21, saying she wanted to give the school board adequate time to find a replacement. In the announcement, she said she is leaving to take another position but did not elaborate.

Sims declined to comment further.

On May 20, the Antioch school board had been scheduled to complete a performance review of Sims with the help of an independent facilitator, but they abandoned it when she tendered her resignation, said school board President Walter Ruehlig.

"That's how the meeting started, so there was no need to move further," Ruehlig said. "Our core business is educating kids."

Sims' current contract was set to expire in 2011, and as part of the review the board would have decided whether to extend it an additional year. The district spent $6,000 to hire the facilitator.

Ruehlig said the board agreed not to comment on Sims' resignation beyond the "talking points" of the following statement:

"The board accepts the resignation of Dr. Deborah Sims as superintendent and thanks her for her service to the Antioch Unified School District. We wish her well in her future endeavors."

The Antioch school district enrolls 19,422 students and slightly fewer than 1,000 teachers. Sims was hired as superintendent in August 2006 for a base salary of $172,500. Her current base salary is $182,712.

During Sims' tenure in Antioch, the district began a long-range reform effort to raise test scores, lower the dropout rate, and increase student engagement.

Sims oversaw the opening of two academy high schools and the development of a third, a law academy, set to open this fall at Deer Valley High School. She also led efforts to improve the district's financial standings, beefing up the rainy-day reserves and helping it obtain an AAA bond rating from Standard & Poor's.

But her tenure also had been beset by controversy.

Last fall, 86 percent of teachers cast a vote of no-confidence in her, and the district recently had been criticized for failing to promptly contact police about suspicions that an elementary school music teacher had been trying to access child pornography from a classroom computer. The district attorney's office said the delay hindered the investigation and contributed to its decision not to charge the Carmen Dragon School teacher.

Some teachers had also complained about a lack of discipline on district campuses, saying administrators were reluctant to suspend or expel disruptive students -- a charge Sims denied.

The school board will begin its search for a new superintendent in early June.

* * * * * * * *

ANTIOCH TEACHERS CAST VOTES AGAINST SUPERINTENDENT, October 9, 2008, Oakland Tribune

In an unprecedented move, Antioch teachers delivered a resounding vote of no-confidence in the district's superintendent this week, arguing that she is withholding money for raises, shutting them out of decisions affecting them and violating the terms of their contract.

Gary Hack, president of the Antioch Education Association, presented the results of the symbolic gesture to the school board before a capacity crowd as two teachers raised four large plastic bags bulging with ballots cast by those critical of Deborah Sims' management style. He held up one baggie containing the votes of those who support Sims.

Of the 863 teachers who voted -- about 75 percent of those in the district -- 837 approved the resolution of no confidence.

Hundreds of chanting teachers gathered in front of district headquarters before the meeting in a noisy display of solidarity, and once the proceedings began they paraded single-file through the rear of the board room holding hand-lettered signs aloft.

"Obviously, there is a clear concern about the ability of the superintendent to lead this district," Hack said. "The teachers have never been so upset."

Sims did not respond to attempts to reach her.

The union vote is the first of its kind in the history of the district, Hack noted, adding that the Antioch Education Association also has named Sims in a charge of unfair labor practices that it has submitted to the state.

The litany of complaints outlined in the two-page resolution of no confidence center on contract negotiations and how Sims conducts business…

Teachers also are rankled by the way Sims runs the district.

"Superintendent Sims controls the whole game," Hack said before the meeting. "All administrators are dependent on direction from her office."

Unlike her predecessor who solved problems collaboratively, he said, she embraces a top-down style…

* * * * * * * *

*The cached page of Sims’ bio on the Broad Superintendents Academy Web site is here:

http://cache.zoominfo.com/CachedPage/?archive_id=0&page_id=-1461330368&page_url=%2f%2fwww.broadacademy.org%2ffellows%2f33_Deborah%2bSims.html%3fpage_filter%3d0&page_last_updated=3%2f14%2f2009+5%3a46%3a44+AM&firstName=Deborah&lastName=Sims

John Q. Porter, Broad Superintendents Academy Class of 2006

2010-07-12T10:47:00.000-07:00

NOTE: John Q. Porter is omitted from the alumni pages of the Broad Superintendents Academy Web site.

As John Q. Porter was completing the 10-month long Broad Superintendents Academy training in November 2006, he was working as a deputy superintendent for Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland (MCPS). In April 2007, he was hired to be the superintendent for Oklahoma City Public Schools. As he arrived in July to begin his work, he was quoted as saying, "You are really running a business," and "There are things that can be taken from business to run the school system."

Just seven months later, Porter was suspended amid accusations of financial mismanagement and poor job performance. He resigned from his OCPS position in March. This scandal resulted in MCPS discovering that Porter had engaged in questionable spending and financial practices (esp. conflict of interest) while he had been working there.

Porter now works for the for-profit EMO Mosaica Education, Inc., an Atlanta-based company recently described as running “…a global empire like a corporate giant from chic offices in Lenox Towers, overseeing classrooms from Atlanta to Abu Dhabi.” He is Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Mosaica Turnaround Partners, “a new division that works with school districts across the country to improve underperforming schools.”

-------------

NEW CONCERN OVER EX-OFFICIAL'S SPENDING, March 11, 2008, The Washington Post

In 2006, while he was a deputy superintendent of Montgomery County schools, John Q. Porter spent $11,722 on travel, dining, gifts for co-workers and other items he submitted as business expenses, according to a review of his corporate American Express card for the calendar year.

That's almost twice as much as the $6,932 that his boss, Superintendent Jerry D. Weast, submitted in the fiscal year that ended in June…

A successful entrepreneur, Porter was hired in 2000 as chief information officer and rose to deputy superintendent. In a June 2006 interview with District Administration, a magazine for school administrators, Porter confessed a weakness for fine dining -- "I try to find the top 10 in new cities I travel to" -- and fine things: "I like expensive clothes, expensive cars. I collect pens. I collect Rolex watches."…

A review of receipts from Porter and his staff employees in Montgomery reveals some large travel and dining expenses, although few have been challenged by education leaders here.

On June 5, 2006, Porter dined with his second-in-command, Executive Director Sherwin Collette, at Ruth's Chris Steak House in Bethesda for $597.08. The receipt, filed by Collette, does not indicate how many people were at the table or what was served. On May 8, the two men dined at Le Boeuf Angus, a steakhouse in Montreal. The tab: $300.99. Both were listed as business meals…

School system leaders maintain that Porter's service was unblemished when he left Maryland last year as a newly minted superintendent. Some of his activities have now come into question, however, by some school board members and community activists.

Most notable is Porter's involvement in Spectrum International, the document management company he founded in 1993. Porter remained owner of Spectrum after coming to work for Montgomery schools. He is still listed as its sole agent in state corporate records. Lately, community activists, parents and a weekly newspaper columnist have pressed for an investigation of Spectrum.

School system leaders say Porter assured them that he properly divested from active duty in the company, whose customers included school systems, when he went to work for Montgomery. But Porter was listed as the contact for the company as late as 2004 in a directory of the Montgomery Chamber of Commerce. Porter said yesterday that his name remained in some directories long after he gave up an active role in the company.

"That was completely inappropriate," Edwards said when asked about the listing. "Had we known about that, we would have taken appropriate action."

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D.A., POLICE LOOKING INTO ALLEGATIONS AGAINST FORMER SUPT.: BOARD AGREES TO SETTLEMENT WORTH MORE THAN $325,000, January 23, 2008, KOCO.com

OKLAHOMA CITY -- An investigation into former Oklahoma City Superintendent John Q. Porter is not over, authorities confirmed.

The Oklahoma County District Attorney and police are looking into the 21 allegations against Porter. School board members called a special meeting on Wednesday and voted 6-1 to accept Porter's resignation.

The criminal investigation centers on allegations that Porter misused school district funds.

The board agreed to pay Porter more than $325,000. Officials said Porter will be paid more than $71,000 for his time through June 2008 as well as more than $255,000 from an Oklahoma City Public Schools foundation account…

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OKLAHOMA CITY PANEL CONSIDERS DISMISSAL OF SUPERINTENDENT: JOHN PORTER VOWS TO FIGHT, SEVEN MONTHS AFTER STARTING HIS JOB, January 18, 2008, Education Week

After just seven months under a new superintendent, the Oklahoma City schools have been tossed into turmoil as school board members weigh whether to fire John Q. Porter, whom they hired unanimously for the post last spring.

Mr. Porter, a former deputy superintendent in charge of technology for the Montgomery County, Md., schools, is facing allegations that include improper billing of the Oklahoma district for some expenses, as well as complaints that he treated some district employees brusquely…

But within the first month of his arrival, three high-level administrators who had come from Memphis, Tenn., to work with Mr. Porter had resigned, signaling to some people that trouble was already brewing…

One of the complaints, listed as the first allegation in Mr. McCampbell’s report, is that Mr. Porter failed to use an open-bidding process before recommending that the school board approve a $365,000 contract with Wireless Generation to provide electronic reading assessments across the district. The devices were already in use in 11 Oklahoma City schools that are part of the federal Reading First program. The board approved the contract Sept. 4…

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FORMER SCHOOL OFFICIAL TARGET OF INVESTIGATION; OKLAHOMA BOARD ALLEGES IMPROPRIETIES, January 17, 2008, The Washington Post

Montgomery County school officials, school board members and parent activists have been asking questions about John Q. Porter, a former deputy superintendent in Montgomery who is fighting for his job as superintendent in Oklahoma City.

Porter, 56, was suspended last week by the Oklahoma City school board. Board members there alleged a number of improprieties: that Porter arranged a $365,594 contract with a technology company without the customary competitive bid; that he had improperly sought reimbursement from the school system for personal, first-class airplane tickets to Washington; that he had been reimbursed for apparent alcohol purchases at pricey restaurants; and that he had asked employees to perform personal tasks at his home…

The questions begin with the company Porter came from when he joined the Montgomery school system as chief information officer in summer 2000.

Porter started a document management company, Spectrum International, in the county in 1993, according to state corporate records. Spectrum did work with several school systems, including Montgomery, in the 1990s, Porter said in a 2002 interview with The Gazette, a community newspaper.

It was through that relationship that Porter came to the county school system, Porter said, first as a consultant, then as chief information officer and, later, deputy superintendent.

The question now, with Porter under scrutiny, was whether he adequately divested himself from that company when he started his school system job…

Two other aspects of Porter's work in Montgomery also are being questioned as a result of the Oklahoma City investigation.

One is his relationship with a New York high-tech firm. Oklahoma City school board members alleged Porter last year arranged a contract with Wireless Generation that "was not, but should have been, open to competitive bidding." The contract provided diagnostic reading software to Oklahoma City schools.

Porter told the Oklahoman newspaper last week that the program was in the school system before he arrived. He and his attorney did not respond to interview requests from The Washington Post.

Porter had a relationship with Wireless Generation in Montgomery, where, in 2005, the school system and the company announced a partnership to develop software that allowed teachers to assess the reading skills of primary-grade students on hand-held computers. Montgomery schools paid some of the costs to develop the software and collected royalties when the product was sold elsewhere.

County Council member Marilyn Praisner (D-Eastern County), a former school board member, wrote two memos critical of the deal in 2005, focusing on the school system's failure to use a competitive bid…

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NEW OKC SUPERINTENDENT FOCUSING ON SCHOOLS AS BUSINESSES, July 23, 2007, The Journal Record (Oklahoma City)

Becoming an educator was not among John Q. Porter's goals after graduating from Catholic University of America in 1973 and receiving a law degree from Ohio State University.

"My goal out of law school was to go into business," said Porter.

He joined a Washington, D.C., law firm and took a job with Control Data in Minneapolis.

Porter later founded and was president and CEO of Spectrum International, an information services provider based in Maryland.

While serving as chairman of the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce in Maryland, Porter became acquainted with the local school system superintendent. Through that relationship, Porter's company was offered a contract to help the district develop a strategic plan and Porter became chief information officer for Montgomery County Public Schools, a district in Rockville, Md…

Porter plans to use his business experience to operate the school system.

"You are really running a business," he said. "There are things that can be taken from business to run the school system."

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As is the modus operandi of the “Broad Effect” (see description in left-hand bar), another Broad-trained leader was installed in the Oklahoma City public school district with John Q. Porter. This was John Scanlan (Class of 2007) who only stayed in OCPS for that one year, then headed north to join Jean-Claude Brizard in Rochester.

Arnold “Woody” Carter, Broad Superintendents Academy Class of 2002

2010-07-11T12:55:00.000-07:00

NOTE: Arnold "Woody" Carter is not included on the alumni pages of the Broad Superintendents Academy Web site.

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JUDGE DISMISSES EX-CAPO CHIEF'S $5.5 MILLION LAWSUIT, January 26, 2010, The Orange County Register

SANTA ANA – An Orange County judge has dismissed a $5.5 million breach-of-contract lawsuit filed by fired schools chief A. Woodrow Carter against the Capistrano Unified School District, his second such ruling since Carter's termination more than a year ago.

Superior Court Judge Steven Perk in Santa Ana said Friday that Carter had "no facts" to support the argument that he was wrongfully terminated under state labor laws, and no right to have been notified of performance-related issues before he was fired…

Carter, a retired Army colonel, was fired March 9, 2009, after a tumultuous, 18-month tenure at the helm of Orange County's second-largest school district.

Capistrano's school board released a scathing, 54-page termination report that painted Carter as an insubordinate, scheming administrator who tried to sway school board elections and double bill the district for travel expenses.

In the termination report, Carter also was accused of showing "disturbing disregard" for student confidentiality matters, violating school board policies and state laws, and deliberately working to undermine and embarrass the school board…

Carter sued the school district in May 2009, asking for 18 months' severance pay that he said he was legally entitled to receive under the terms of his contract.

After the judge tossed out the lawsuit in December, Carter re-filed his lawsuit, this time seeking $5.5 million for future lost pay and benefits, including vacation pay, sick leave, health insurance and retirement pay…

Most of the damages Carter was seeking in his wrongful-termination lawsuit stemmed from the future earnings he purports to have lost, although he also demanded to be compensated for lost pay and benefits under his contract.

-$4 million in future lost salary, fringe benefits and annuity payments
-$887,250 in lost salary under his contract, which was terminated prematurely
-$250,000 in lost fringe benefits
-$125,000 in annuity payments
-$107,000 in lost vacation and sick leave
-$4,700 in moving costs to relocate to Orange County
-$1,400 to seek comparable employment elsewhere

Carter also was seeking 10 percent interest on the $5.5 million, plus attorney fees.

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FIRED SCHOOLS CHIEF SUES CAPISTRANO UNIFIED FOR $5.5 MILLION, January 26, 2010, The Orange County Register

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO – Fired Capistrano Unified schools chief A. Woodrow Carter has filed a $5.5 million breach-of-contract lawsuit against the school district alleging his termination has resulted in "future lost salary" and benefits, his second such attempt to be compensated since he was let go nearly a year ago.

Carter says Capistrano's school board violated the terms of his employment contract when he was fired in March 2009, according to a filing last week in Orange County Superior Court…

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JUDGE DISMISSES EX-CAPO DISTRICT CHIEF'S $487,425 LAWSUIT, December 18, 2009, The Orange County Register

SANTA ANA – An Orange County judge today tossed out a $487,425 breach-of-contract lawsuit filed by fired Capistrano Unified Superintendent A. Woodrow Carter asking to be paid for 18 months remaining on his three-year employment contract.

Superior Court Judge Steven Perk in Santa Ana said the former school district chief was not entitled to money under the terms of his contract. Carter was terminated in March in a unanimous school board vote…

In spring 2008, shortly after the school board approved a permanent contract for him, Carter was accused of attempting to alter the contract by inserting a lucrative termination clause guaranteeing him 18 months' severance if fired.

The school board was forced to rescind the contract and approve a new one – without the clause. (Even so, Carter went on to claim in his lawsuit he was owed this 18 months of compensation.)

Later, after he was fired, the school district released a memo from Carter explaining how the contract was altered…

Carter, a retired Army colonel, was fired March 9 after a tumultuous, 18-month tenure at the helm of Orange County's second-largest school district.

Capistrano's school board released a scathing 54-page termination report that painted Carter as an insubordinate, scheming administrator who tried to sway school board elections and double-bill the district for travel expenses.

Carter also was accused of showing "disturbing disregard" for student confidentiality matters, violating school board policies and state laws and deliberately working to undermine and embarrass the school board.

Carter denied the allegations in a 23-page rebuttal.

The district, meanwhile, spent $66,758 in legal fees from December 2008 to February 2009 to fire Carter on March 9, according to invoices from the school board's law firm.

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NEW FAIRFIELD-SUISUN CHIEF SETTLES IN, June 30, 2005, TheReporter.Com

Three and a half months after the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District [FSUSD] board appointed Arnold Woodrow Carter as superintendent, the administrator and retired Army colonel arrived Monday, eager to get started…

Carter, 56, has served as deputy superintendent for the Oakland Unified School District for the past two years.

The Floyd County, Kentucky, native, who goes by A. Woodrow Carter, spent 27 years in the Army, serving as a battalion commander with the 101st Airborne Division during the 1991 Gulf War. Carter retired from the military in 1998 to become the state administrator of the Floyd County school district and returned to school to study education and public administration.

From July 2001 to December 2002 Carter served as superintendent of Bourbon County school district, and was nominated to attend the Broad Center for the Management of School Systems…

Carter said his interest in education began when he served as a school board member in Killeen, Texas, while still in the Army…

[In August 2007, Carter left Carter left FSUSD for the position with the Capistrano Unified School District]

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EXECUTIVES TRAINED BY TURNAROUND NONPROFIT, August 11, 2003, The Oakland Tribune

OAKLAND -- The school district's new chief of staff is among a crop of administrators produced by an increasingly influential education nonprofit that trains executives to turn around urban school systems.

Retired U.S. Army Colonel Arnold "Woody" Carter graduated last year from an academy created by the politically-connected Broad Foundation to train urban superintendents. Oakland schools chief Randolph Ward also is participating in the foundation's training program, called the Broad Center for Superintendents…

[The Broad] Center was called in by Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown and California Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell to recommend an administrator to run the Oakland schools following a state takeover.

Brown and Broad are longtime allies, and O'Connell is a major recipient of Broad campaign contributions.

"When we learned about the problems in Oakland, we wanted to be helpful," Broad said…

According to Broad, Chaconas' admitted lack of financial expertise was partly to blame for Oakland's fiscal crisis.

"The problem that Dennis (Chaconas) and others like him have is they start as teachers, and then 30 years later they become superintendents with no training in finance, labor relations, etc., and they surround themselves with people like them," Broad said. "I think people need the kind of training we give them. There's no other place I know of where they can get it."

The Broad Center for Superintendents accepts only about 1 in 10 applicants, all top executives in business, the military, nonprofits, government or education.

"I think we're going to see more and more of what we call non- traditional superintendents," Broad said, citing New York City and Chicago as examples of major cities where non-educators were put in charge of schools.

Whether that trend will prove successful in such cities as New York and Los Angeles remains to be seen.

Broad played a key role in former U.S. Assistant Attorney General Joel Klein's appointment as New York schools chancellor…

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Arnold W. Carter is listed as a graduate of the inaugural class of the Broad Superintendents Academy in the Broad Foundation’s November 2002 news release.

More about the Capistrano Unified situation here @ http://www.cusdrecall.com/page26/files/tag-woodrow-carter.html

Robert Bobb, Broad Superintendents Academy Class of 2005

2010-07-09T09:16:00.000-07:00

JUDGE INDICATES PRIVATE SUPPLEMENT TO ROBERT BOBB'S SALARY IS OK, May 21, 2010, The Detroit News

Wayne Circuit Court Judge Susan Borman indicated today Detroit Public Schools Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb is entitled to receive part of his pay from private foundations.

The issue -- challenged by the district's school board, a civil rights group and a coalition of teachers who oppose charter schools -- was whether Bobb was in conflict of interest for accepting $89,000 of his salary from a foundation that supports private and charter schools. Bobb receives $280,000 in salary and $145,000 in supplemental income from foundations for fixing the school district's finances…

Arguing on behalf of the Board of Education was attorney George Washington, who said the constitution trumps the statute allowing Bobb to collect pay from foundations.

"The precedent would be the same as if you had the British Petroleum Foundation paying one-third the salary of oil inspectors," Washington said. "One-third of that salary is being paid by people who want to deconstruct the schools. They believe charter schools and private schools can do better. It's OK to believe that, but it's not OK to pay Bobb's salary…

Under his one-year contract extension approved in March by Gov. Jennifer Granholm, Bobb receives $56,000 from the Los Angeles-based Broad Foundation. The Broad Foundation paid Bobb $28,000 last year. The sources of the remaining $89,000 in this year's contract were not identified. But the W.K. Kellogg Foundation said this week it's chipping in $39,000 to retain Bobb in Detroit, compared to $56,000 it gave him last year. It is unclear who else is paying the remaining $50,000. The governor's office has yet to release the names of the other donors…

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ELI BROAD'S ROBERT BOBB PLEADS IN COURT TO HOLD ON TO BONUSES, May 22, 2010, Schools Matter

Wherever big privatization moves are happening in America's urban schools, you will find the hand, or the underhand, of the BBC (Billionaire Boys' Club). Case in point, Detroit, and the Broad Foundation, which runs its own superintendents' indoctrination academy that teaches the corporate junk yard dog style of ed leadership.

In Detroit, the puppet in charge is Robert Bobb (Broad Class of '09), who continues defending his case in court to hold on to the $145,000 in sweetener that he collects from Broad and the infamous Kellogg Foundation, whose eugenicist namesake, John Harvey Kellogg, was co-founder of the Race Betterment Foundation and an early proponent of clitoral mutilation using carbolic acid. One other oligarch providing Bobb's bag bonus money remains unnamed.

Surely Bobb was not to be influenced to follow the wishes of his patrons when he came up with Detroit's segregation/containment/cognitive sterilization school plan to increase class sizes in Detroit by shutting down 55 schools and to shoving out all the experienced teachers and cutting the pay and benefits of those remaining. Nah, no judge would make that connection…

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ROBERT BOBB V. DETROIT BOARD OF EDUCATION: LAWSUIT ADDS TO EMERGENCY MANAGER'S DAUNTING TASK, June 20, 2010, The Associated Press

Each passing day brings emergency financial manager Robert Bobb closer to the end of his contract leading Detroit's public schools from near-financial collapse toward fiscal responsibility and respectability.

Given the urgency of the job, spending Friday afternoons in a cramped Detroit courtroom is the last thing he expected or wants.

Wayne County Circuit Judge Wendy Baxter has ordered Bobb and members of the Detroit Board of Education to attend hearings in a civil suit filed against him by the school board.

Backed by Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm and attorney general and Republican Gubernatorial candidate Mike Cox, Bobb is defending himself in the legal battle to determine academic control in the troubled district…

The state Appeals Court last month tossed out Baxter's order stopping Bobb from proceeding with the academic restructuring plan and closing school buildings.

Bobb has testified that his academic changes all are part of his plan to wipe out a deficit of more than $300 million.

Granholm agreed, saying finances touch all aspect of the district.

But that's more than what Bobb was hired to do, school board member Tyrone Winfrey said.

"The financial manager was put here by the governor to handle the finances, to make sure the district is solvent and the budget is balanced," Winfrey said. "The board still has a role — it was elected by the people. We should be able to have our marbles. We should be able to play together. I hate to see that we're in court, that we have this discord."…

Bobb has sharply decreased administration staff and the ranks of school principals, sent layoff notices to 2,000 teachers, and worked to renegotiate vendor contracts in his quest to reduce the budget deficit. And 30 schools in Detroit are closing their doors for good as part of Bobb's plan…

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DETROIT SCHOOL'S EMERGENCY FINANCIAL MANAGER ROBERT BOBB FACES FIREWORKS AT BUDGET MEETING, July 1, 2010, WXYZ

Fireworks surrounded Detroit Schools Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb as he presented his budget for the 2011 school year Wednesday night.

Parents angry with Bobb for the way he is handling the situation lashed out, with some saying the best thing he could do for the children is to leave.

The comments were in reaction to Bobb's budget, which calls for drastic cuts next school year. Detroit Schools are facing a $363 million dollar deficit. In order to deal with that, Bobb's budget calls for a 25% across the board cut to spending, increased class sizes and cuts to some special education programs…

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WITHOUT AID, DPS MAY CLOSE HALF OF ITS SCHOOLS: CLASS SIZES ALSO WOULD SWELL UNDER PROPOSAL FILED WITH THE STATE; February 22, 2011; The Detroit News (MI)

Detroit Public Schools would close nearly half of its schools in the next two years, and increase high school class sizes to 62 by the following year, under a deficit-reduction plan filed with the state.

The plan, part of a monthly update Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb gives the Department of Education, was filed late Monday to provide insight into Bobb's progress in his attempt to slash a $327 million deficit in the district to zero over the next several years. Under it, the district would slim down from 142 schools now to 72 during 2012-13…

DPS spokesman Steve Wasko said the district has laid out the path it must take to eliminate the deficit, and Bobb remains focused on working with lawmakers to pass one of three plans to restructure DPS' finances.

…A third plan would look at new systems and agencies used in New Orleans, which has converted more than half of its public schools into charter schools in the past several years…

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ROBERT BOBB'S NEW PLAN FOR DPS: TURN 41 STRUGGLING SCHOOLS INTO CHARTERS; March 12, 2011; Detroit Free Press

Detroit Public Schools emergency financial manager Robert Bobb announced a radical restructuring plan for the struggling school system Saturday that he says would save the district millions of dollars by converting 41 poorly performing schools into DPS-authorized charter schools.

Based on a similar plan in post-Katrina New Orleans, the Renaissance Plan 2012 would lease the buildings and equipment to charter operators, who would run the buildings as public school academies in the fall…

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FOR DETROIT SCHOOLS, MIXED PICTURE ON REFORMS; March 13, 2011, NY Times

In 2009, Detroit public schools had the lowest scores ever recorded in the 21-year history of the national math proficiency test.

The district had a budget deficit of $200 million.

About 8,000 students were leaving Detroit schools each year.

Political leaders had to do something, so they rounded up the usual whipping boys:

Wasteful bureaucrats. In 2009, the governor appointed an emergency financial manager, Robert Bobb, a former president of the Washington school board, to run the Detroit district. Mr. Bobb is known nationally for his work in school finance, and recruiting him took a big salary, $425,000 a year. He has spent millions more on financial consultants to clean up the fiscal mess left by previous superintendents.

Greedy unions. Though Detroit teachers make considerably less than nearby suburban teachers (a $73,700 maximum versus $97,700 in Troy), Mr. Bobb pressed for concessions. He got teachers to defer $5,000 a year in pay and contribute more for their health insurance. Last week, the Republican-controlled Legislature approved a bill to give emergency managers power to void public workers’ contracts. If signed by the governor, Mr. Bobb could terminate the Detroit teachers’ union contract.

Traditional public schools full of incompetent veteran teachers. Michigan was one of the first states to embrace charter schools, 15 years ago. Currently there are as many Detroit children in charters — 71,000 — as in district schools. Now there is talk of converting the entire Detroit district (which is 95 percent African-American) to charters. Supporters say this could generate significant savings, since charters are typically nonunion and can hire young teachers, pay them less and give them no pensions.

Since Mr. Bobb arrived, the $200 million deficit has risen to $327 million…

Nor have charters been the answer. Charter school students score about the same on state tests as Detroit district students, even though charters have fewer special education students (8 percent versus 17 percent in the district) and fewer poor children (65 percent get subsidized lunches versus 82 percent at district schools)…

Last spring, Mr. Bobb had planned to close 50 schools with dwindling enrollment. But his list was reduced to 30 after several public meetings at which parents and staff members pleaded their school’s case before the all-powerful Mr. Bobb…

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Jean-Claude Brizard, Broad Superintendents Academy Class of 2007

2010-07-08T17:41:00.000-07:00

TEACHERS VOTE "NO CONFIDENCE" IN SUPERINTENDENT JEAN-CLAUDE BRIZARD; February 10, 2010; WHEC-TV (Rochester, NY)

An overwhelming number of Rochester teachers take a stand against their superintendent.

In a lopsided vote, some educators are telling Jean-Claude Brizard change your ways or change your job.

Nearly 82-percent of eligible teachers took part in today's vote. The ballot was simple: “Yes, I have confidence in Superintendent Brizard" or "No, I don’t.”

It took hours to sort through boxes of ballots. Here are the results: just 140 teachers said they do have confidence in Brizard, compared to the more than 2713 who said they don't. A vote like this has never happened in the history of the Rochester City School District…

The vote is a symbolic one, not a legal one. It has no bearing on Brizard's contract or his employment. But some parents are already saying Brizard should look for a new job.

“He's making it clear that he does not value parents and community members as partners in terms of developing a solution to this crisis,” said RCSD parent Howard Eagle…

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PROPOSED ROCHESTER CHARTER SCHOOL HAS TIES TO JEAN-CLAUDE BRIZARD; November 12, 2010; Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, NY)

Organizers of a new all-girls charter school aiming to open in 2012 have been busy amassing supporters in the city of Rochester.

But they already have one high-profile local education leader behind their effort — City School District Superintendent Jean-Claude Brizard, who also happens to be married to one of the new school's would-be founders.

Brizard makes no secret of his support for charter schools, saying that he wants to help more of the privately run programs open in the city school district. Now, K. Brooke Stafford-Brizard could lead one such school, drawing students and state money away from city schools and raising questions about a potential conflict of interest. "We have the vision and the passion and we're working on the application," said Laura Rebell Gross, who is partnering with Stafford-Brizard.

Stafford-Brizard and Gross have been working with the Young Women's Leadership Network, known nationally for opening the first single-sex charter school in the country. Gross also serves on the network's Board of Directors…

Both Jean-Claude Brizard and Gross said they were trying to keep the proposal quiet until the women submitted the application. But word of the proposed school started circulating in the community after they hosted an informational meeting with a number of high-profile community leaders to try to win support for their effort several weeks ago…

The meeting occurred at the Brizards' house after the group went to see Waiting for Superman, a new documentary about the public school system that has been criticized for glorifying charter schools…

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EEOC FINDS BIAS IN OUSTER OF ROCHESTER SCHOOLS OFFICIAL, July 7, 2010, Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, NY)

A federal commission has determined that the Rochester School District discriminated against its former highest-ranking instructional official when it forced her out of her job earlier this year.

Acting on a complaint filed in January by the official, Marilynn Patterson-Grant, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found that the district discharged her “because of her sex, her race and her age,” according to a letter issued by the commission last week.

The findings, which are nonbinding, are the basis for a federal discrimination lawsuit filed Tuesday by Patterson-Grant against the district and its superintendent, Jean-Claude Brizard.

Patterson-Grant, a 35-year veteran of the city school system, is of African-American descent and was 57 years old when she was ousted from her position as deputy superintendent by Brizard, who is a black Haitian immigrant. He has said he discharged her because of poor performance...

The EEOC complaint charged that Brizard told Patterson-Grant and other veteran district educators, “You are all old” and “in teaching, age matters,” and implied that Brizard saw veterans as a threat to his authority under a mayoral-controled system.

“You remember that one of the charges made against me was keeping too many of the old guard,” the complaint alleged Brizard said. “(The) people most affected (by mayoral control) will be central office people. The effort will be to get rid of a lot of R.I.P.’s. You know what R.I.P.’s are? Retired in place.”

Brizard has said he does not recall making such statements.

The lawsuit is seeking punitive damages, although Patterson-Grant’s attorney, Christina Agola, said there was no reason her client could not continue working.

“When you have such a high-ranking administrator making statements that are so plainly, on-their-face discriminatory, it has to be brought to task,” Agola said.

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THE CORPORATE AGENDA FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS: IS BRIZARD ON BOARD? July 24, 2009, DragonFlyEye.Net (Rochester, N.Y.)

My daughter came home from Wilson High School one afternoon and told me the new Superintendant, Jean Claude Brizard, had recommended that the students read The World is Flat, Thomas Friedman’s anecdotal tribute to the global expansion of the corporate world. The book is notorious for completely ignoring the structural and geopolitical causes of increasing global poverty. That was the first red flag. The next red flag was at a Parent Council meeting where the superintendent read a passage of a book. The book, written by a former military officer, offered us the advice that schools should be run more like businesses. I thought to myself, “Does he mean AIG, GM or the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory?”

On the American Association of School Administrators website Brizard recommends a third book, a business management guide entitled Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done. The book was recommended to him by NYC Superintendent Joel Klein who currently is enjoying a 22% approval rating among parents. Brizard comments that the current teacher contract negotiation model is out of line with sound business management.

With Brizard eliminating over 200 teaching positions in the Rochester City Schools it is fair to start asking what his agenda is. We know that Brizard is a Broad Institute Fellow. He has talked publicly about consulting with other Broad (rhymes with “road”) Fellows. What is this Broad Institute and who is Eli Broad?

Billionaire Eli Broad is one of the wealthiest men on the planet. With Bill Gates Broad he funded and launched the Strong American Schools initiative, seeking to move Presidential candidates in the ’08 election to embrace national education standards (enforced with high stakes testing), merit pay and longer school days and years. Sure enough, these issues have been embraced by the Obama administration. The billionaires have put the public schools in their sights and they are pulling the trigger.

In The Corporate Surge Against Public Schools Steven Miller and Jack Gerson outline the corporate agenda for schools and identify the players.

According to Miller and Gerson, “The Broad Institute trains school superintendents, school boards and even union leaders in what they consider ‘appropriate corporate approaches.’ A central problem for corporate privatizers is the issue of governance, i.e. who has legal authority over the schools. Broad favors state take-overs (New Orleans, Washington DC, Oakland, Ca, St. Louis) or mayoral takeovers (Chicago, Pittsburg, attempted last year by Villaregosa in LA) to eliminate messy interference from the public.”

Perhaps it is not a coincidence that Mayor Duffy only started to make noises about mayoral control after Brizard came to town…

So far Brizard has followed the Broad management playbook, breaking up Franklin, decentralizing budgets to individual schools, laying off teachers and advocating for a longer school year and mayoral control. How far will Brizard follow Broad’s corporate lead?

Getting to know the Schwarzenegger-appointed, Broad-connected, pro-charter-dominated State Board of Education

2010-05-06T08:40:00.000-07:00

Arnold Schwarzenegger has been working overtime to expand charter schools in California. Since 2004 on their behalf, he has secured federal funding, removed school district approval obstacles, supported state bond funding, signed legislation to provide charters with tax exempt and low cost facility financing for school facilities, and removed roadblocks so charters can access millions in construction project funds (12/07/2009 press release). In addition, Schwarzenegger has insured that the California State Board of Education (SBE) is continually loaded with pro-charter members.

I suggest you take a moment to contrast Schwarzenegger’s intense, and near single-minded focus on fostering the expansion of charter schools (which serve less than 4.6% of the children or 285,617 kids) with his extreme neglect of the schools attended by the remaining 95.4% (5,966,394 kids) of California’s children. EdData figures here.

The SBE sets K-12 education policy in the areas of standards, curriculum, instructional materials, assessment, and accountability. It also authorizes charter schools and has been involved with developing charter school legislation. There are 11 members on the SBE, ten of whom are appointed by the Governor, one of which is a student. The eleventh member is the State Superintendent of Public Instruction who serves as the SBE's executive officer and secretary. SBE members are unpaid. Appointments are subject to confirmation by the state Senate.

Ending their State Board of Education terms just recently are Rae Belisle and Jorge Lopez.

RAE BELISLE, the recently-stepped-down CEO of EdVoice, had been appointed by Schwarzenegger in February 2009. She was a full SBE participant for one year until March 2010 when the Senate refused to give her a confirmation hearing. They had received staunch opposition to Belisle. For instance, this was the first time in its 39-year history that the Association of California School Administrators had taken an active stance against a state board appointee, according to Corey Johnson, K-12 Education Reporter of California Watch (a reporting initiative of the Center for Investigative Reporting ). Belisle is a strong charter school advocate, who had previously given controversial legal advice to the SBE.

JORGE LOPEZ, the executive director of the Oakland Charter Academy, had been appointed in March 2009 and fully participated on the SBE until February 2010 when he abruptly withdrew his name. His withdrawal coincided with the point in the senate confirmation process when his financial documents and business arrangements were being reviewed and concerns were arising about complicated business and real estate arrangements with his partner Ben Chavis (of American Indian Public Charter School fame).

Three new Swarzenegger appointments are awaiting confirmation.

ALAN ARKATOV who, among other activities, sits on the board for Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools, a charter management organization which has opened 16 charter schools in the Los Angeles area. Source here. Alliance received a total of $2,525,000 from the Broad Foundation between 2006 and 2008. Alliance has received $4,635,100 from the NewSchools Venture Fund since 2003.

BEN AUSTIN is an assistant city attorney for Los Angeles and the executive director of the Los Angeles Parents Union (formerly the Small Schools Alliance, aka the Parent Revolution). He used to work for Green Dot Public Schools and also served as a Deputy Mayor under Richard Riordan. Austin was involved with the “Parent Trigger,” an initiative where if enough parents can be convinced, pressured, and tricked to sign a petition, a school will be closed down and replaced with a charter. Eli Broad contributed nearly 50% of the funding for the launch of the LAPU and gave a total of $4,469,040 to Green Dot from 2005-2008. Read my 2/21/2010 entry The "Parent Trigger" and its connections to the phony LA Parents Union, Green Dot, Steve Barr, and Eli Broad

(Update: Caroline Grannan writes, "At one school where Ben Austin's Parent Revolution has succeeded in getting enough signatures to take action against the school, the community member who's the lead spokesperson for the successful effort is an alumni parent, not a current parent at the school." Also, follow Robert Skeels' valuable research about Ben Austin by starting here.)

JEANNIE OROPEZA, program budget manager for the California Department of Finance, was also nominated, but on April 28 the Senate Rules Committee recommended rejecting her nomination because her job at the Department of Finance presented a conflict of interest.

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The confirmed members sitting on the SBE with strong ties to charter schools and/or Eli Broad are:

TED MITCHELL (SBE President) is the President and CEO of NewSchools Venture Fund, an organization which supplies charter management organizations with extra funding. He has been a member of the CSE since 2007 and was reappointed in February 2010. Mitchell has multiple strong connections to billionaire Eli Broad.

Mitchell's NSVF salary was $480,000 in 2007 (Form 990). NSVF received a total of $9,115,000 from the Broad Foundation (EIN 954686318) from 2002 to 2008.

Also, 2002 news reports revealed that Eli Broad had offered to donate $10 million to Occidental College in an attempt to persuade Mitchell (then O.C. President) to run against a L.A. school board trustee. Furthermore, Mitchell revealed to his trustees that that former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan had also offered to donate money to cover a top-level executive position at the college if Mitchell ran for the seat. Mitchell did not run. Read here to learn about the close relationship between Broad and Riordan as longtime friends and allies in ed deform.

YVONNE CHAN is the principal of a conversion charter school in LA, the Vaughn Next Century Learning Center. Chan was appointed in 2005 and reappointed in 2008. Her term ends in 2012. Vaughn International Studies Academy, the high school at Chan’s “learning center,” is in the International Studies Schools Network (ISSN or Global Studies Schools), a charter management organization started by the Asia Society in 2003. Both Chan and Eli Broad have been speakers for the Asia Society. Broad donated $12,500 to the Asia Society in 2007 and $2,500 in 2008.

Schwarzenegger has been generous to Chan. From a May 2008 press release:

Today at one of the nation’s leading charter schools, the Vaughn Next Century Learning Center, Governor Schwarzenegger announced the allocation of $463 million in Proposition 1D funds for new construction and modernization projects for 29 charter schools statewide. The Vaughn Next Century Learning Center will receive $6 million of the $463 million to build seven new classrooms for 189 students at the center’s high school, Vaughn International Studies Academy…

…“This funding is exactly what our kids need to continuing excelling at Vaughn,” said Vaughn Next Century Learning Center Principal Dr. Yvonne Chan. “I will now be able to move forward with the new classrooms my students need and make improvements to our campus so we can continue to make a difference in this community.”

JOHNATHAN XAVIER WILLIAMS is a charter management organization founder and co-director (The Accelerated School network in South Central Los Angeles). He was appointed in 2004, and reappointed in March 2007. His term ends in January 2011. Williams is a member of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (NAPCS), the California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) and the Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO). (Update: See article from 1/2007 "Charter School [The Accelerated School] is in default on $9.9 million LAUSD Loan", h/t Caroline Grannan)

DAVID P. LOPEZ, President of The National Hispanic University in East San Jose, was appointed to the SBE in July 2006, and reappointed in March 2010. He is awaiting reconfirmation. The National Hispanic University is a small, private non-profit institution which also runs the Latino College Preparatory Academy, a charter high school, adjacent to its campus.

RUTH BLOOM (SBE Vice President) was appointed in 2004 and reappointed in February 2007. Her term ends in January 2011. Bloom is a partner in a jewelry company (AR Designs), and is heavily involved with collecting art, art education, and art museums, both in Southern California and Sun Valley, Idaho.

From the 1990s until February 2009, Bloom served with Eli Broad on the board of trustees for the LA The Museum of Contemporary Art. Broad is LACMA’s Founding Chairman and Life Trustee.

And here's something interesting. In September 2007, Ruth Bloom (listed as Arts Educator from Marina Del Rey), a stated Democrat, gave $20,000 to Schwarzenegger, according to ElectionTrack.

- - - - -

Only two SBE members appear to not have allegiances to the promotion of charter schools or direct connections to Eli Broad or the Broad Foundation.

JIM ASCHWANDEN was appointed in October 2006, and reappointed in February 2008. Aschwanden is executive director of the California Agricultural Teachers’ Association, and serves on advisory councils for Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo and Chico State University. In addition, he has served as Vice-Chair of the Vocational Alliance, a consortium of educational organizations supporting Career and Technical Education, for the past several years.

GREGORY W. JONES was appointed in March 2008. His term ends January 2012. Jones is a State Farm insurance executive. In addition, he is chair of the California Business Roundtable and chair of California Business for Education Excellence.

Read comments to the same posting here.

Broad defends pal facing 20 felony charges

2010-04-02T21:47:00.000-07:00

If you read “The Broad Effect”: Part Two, you’ll already know about the connections between some of these characters.

Broad’s friend faced 20 felony charges of securities fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud and making false statements in securities filings.

UPDATE ON APRIL 22, 2010: - Bruce Karatz found guilty on stock option backdating charges

“Eli Broad is latest character witness for ex-KB Home chief Bruce Karatz.” LA Times, 03 Apr 2010

The billionaire philanthropist, who co-founded the home-building firm, follows former L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan in vouching for Karatz at his stock-options backdating trial.

The celebrity endorsements of former KB Home Chief Executive Bruce Karatz resumed Friday morning when billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad took the witness stand to defend the character of the man federal prosecutors say made millions of dollars in illegal profits by secretly backdating stock options.

Broad, who co-founded the company that became KB Home in 1957 and later operated SunAmerica insurance company, told jurors that he had known Karatz for 38 years and considered him to be a man of impeccable integrity.

"I know of no instance in those 38 years where he's done anything unlawful or improper," Broad said under questioning from defense attorney John Keker…

During his brief testimony, Broad said he and Karatz were longtime friends who met regularly for dinner…

Before Broad took the witness stand, U.S. District Court Judge Otis D. Wright II said he was concerned to learn that a juror had a brief conversation with former Los Angeles Mayor Richard J. Riordan after he testified Thursday as a character witness for Karatz…

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Special features on Karatz's KB Home:

“The Broad Effect”: Part Two

2010-03-10T19:31:00.000-08:00

Read Part One here.
Because of his immense wealth and interest, billionaire Eli Broad is one member in a very small set of non-elected, extremely wealthy individuals who have acquired the power to determine U.S. public education policy and the future of our public education system. Most of the masses are not aware that public schools are being dismantled by the coup. For those who have caught on and are reading this, I offer you some information about him, all easily accessible on the internet. Just consider "The Broad Effect": Part Two my variation of the popular TV show, ""Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous."

The Inauguration Party thrown by Broad for President Obama

Broad, a longtime Democratic supporter, was so thrilled at the election of Barack Obama that he threw what was described as “the most exclusive dinner of the week” to salute his friends who are members of the new president's cabinet. As the New York Times reported:

Anyone who is anyone in Washington was at Tuesday night’s pre-ball dinner, thrown by the California billionaire Eli Broad at the Park Hyatt Hotel to honor members of the new Obama administration.
The guest list looked like a who’s who list of Washington old and new: Hillary Clinton, Mr. Obama’s choice for secretary of state and her husband, former President Bill Clinton; Lawrence Summers, the former treasury secretary and new White House chief economics adviser; Paul Volcker, former chairman of the Federal Reserve; Arne Duncan, Mr. Obama’s pick for Education Secretary, Leon Panetta, the nominee for director of the C.I.A.; Vernon Jordan, the power lawyer, as well as media celebrities like Larry King and Charlie Rose.

Jim Horn at Schools Matter expressed the feelings of betrayal felt by many when Obama selected Arne Duncan:

While many of us were out busting our humps to gather up a few dollars and votes for the change we thought we could believe in, the Harvard boys were cutting backroom deals with the multi-billionaire oligarchs to fully engage their plan to corporatize American public education, beginning with the urban schools.

(If you clicked on Horn's link, did you enjoy looking at the photo of Arne Duncan hanging out with Broad at the party?)

Eli Broad’s living quarters, lifestyle, etc.

Eli Broad’s primary residence is on Oakmont Drive in Los Angeles. (Brentwood, zip 90049). This would give Broad about a 5 mile & 11 minute commute to the Broad Foundation’s headquarters located at 10900 Wilshire Blvd. (at the corner of Westwood and Wilshire, zip 90024).

In June 2009, Broad threw a party at his home in honor of the 40th anniversary of Art Basel, an international contemporary art exhibition ("the Olympics of the art world") held each year in Basel, Switzerland, and in Miami, Florida. W Magazine describes the event:

Almost everything about a recent dinner at Eli Broad’s Los Angeles home in honor of the 40th anniversary of Art Basel was outsize, starting with the estate itself. Visitors approached the mansion—designed in part by Frank Gehry—through a private sculpture park, then entered a sitting room the size of a hotel lobby before descending a stairway into a series of double-height galleries. “This is bigger than the Gagosian Gallery,” said fashion-world fixture Richard Buckley as he arrived at the first subterranean white cube, with its cranelike Calder sculpture and pair of giant Chuck Close portraits.

High-end art collectors like Eli Broad pursue collecting as a financial investment. The article continues:

Throughout the evening, Broad loomed almost as large. “Times are tough,” he allowed, when he rose to address his guests. “But we got a lot of great things in the early Nineties, which were also tough times.”

Look at a slideshow of the amazing art party here.

As an aside, Broad’s Brentwood residence is only about 10 minutes from the Getty Center, a stunning and relatively new major art museum. J. Paul Getty (1892-1976) was an American industrialist who founded the Getty Oil Company, making him one of the world’s richest-ever men. He was an avid art collector.

Incidentally, the Getty Center was designed by Richard Meier, the same architect who Broad commissioned to design a Malibu beach house in 1999. On Meier’s Web site, scroll down near the end to see several photos of the house which is located on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu (zip 90265) along the famed Carbon Beach, “…the highest value beach neighborhood on Pacific Coast Highway…” where:

Homes here tend to be carefully designed by leading architects and adhere to very tasteful standards. Privacy has a high value along with insulation from PCH noise. Money, of course, is no object. When billionaire entrepreneur Eli Broad planned his Carbon Beach house he employed Getty Center architect Richard Meier to design a home on two adjoining parcels. Broad paid $2.5 million for one lot, then owned by Freddy DeMann, Madonna's former manager. It had 45 feet of beach frontage -- the 1952 three-bedroom 3,000-square-foot house was demolished. Next door was another 55 feet of beach frontage Broad bought for $2.6 million, including an 1,800-square-foot house built in 1955, also demolished.

But back in Brentwood...

In 2002, Barry Munitz sold a piece of Getty Trust-owned land to his close friend Eli Broad at a substantial discount. The LA Times reported the story:

The J. Paul Getty Trust sold a valuable piece of Brentwood real estate in 2002 for $700,000 less than its appraised value to billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad, a close friend and professional associate of Getty Chief Executive Barry Munitz, according to trust documents and officials.
Munitz directed his aides to delay listing the property so that he could discuss a transaction directly with Broad, despite what Getty records call "many requests to purchase the property," which is adjacent to Broad's hilltop estate.

and

Not long after Munitz took the Getty's helm, Broad invited Munitz to sail along the coast of southern France on his yacht, mixing recreation with visits to a string of small museums.
" 'Don't you think it would be nice if you actually knew something about what you are about to get into?' " Munitz recalled Broad, a noted art collector, teasingly asking him. Munitz came to the Getty with no background in the art world.
It was Munitz's first invitation to join Broad's "boat trip summers" and travels to such places as Croatia, Greece and Cuba with a circle of entrepreneurs and philanthropists. The group sometimes included then Los Angeles Mayor Richard J. Riordan and billionaire investor Ronald W. Burkle.
Back in Los Angeles, Munitz and Broad's collaborations in the arts, education and politics continued.

Did you notice Richard Riordan’s name popping up?

Riordan (b. 1930) is a longtime and good friend of Eli Broad (b. 1933). They have a strong common interest in LA civic and business affairs. Both are also strong promoters of charter schools and school choice, and, in particular these days, with supporting the candidacy of State Senator Gloria Romero for State Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Riordan served as Mayor of Los Angeles (1993–2001) and as the California Secretary of Education (2003–2005). Originally trained as a lawyer, he had become wealthy by founding a series of private equity firms which focused on venture capital investments and leveraged buyout transactions. Riordan ran for Governor of California unsuccessfully in 2002. The funding priorities of his foundation are listed as “…technology, school choice, and leadership development programs.”

Ravitch (p. 197) reminds us that, “Foundations exist to enable extremely wealthy people to shelter a portion of their capital from taxation...”

It is important to mention, that when Riordan was mayor, he employed Ben Austin as one of his Deputy Mayors. Austin, also once employed by Green Dot, has been serving as the Executive Director of the Parents Union (aka LAPU/aka Parents Revolution, a phony grassroots organization) for nearly two years. All those connections are reviewed here and here. (Maybe someday I'll write a book!)

In addition to yachting together in exotic locales, Riordan once owned a house next to Broad’s beach house along Malibu’s Billionaires Beach (aka Carbon Beach). It seems to now be officially owned by Riordan’s estranged wife, Nancy. At times, residents in this neighborhood have been annoyed with noisy, paparazzi-attracting parties thrown by the likes of Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton at beach houses which they've rented:

"On any given Monday morning, Eli Broad would be calling city hall with a list of what he'd had to put up with the previous weekend," said Jay Marose, a PR guru who worked alongside Fingerprint Communications in developing the Polaroid Beach House.

Billionaires Beach residents have also been annoyed by members of the masses who have demanded public beach access. That particular conflict seems to have been resolved:

Last Monday, two white wooden doors swung open for the first time onto Carbon Beach, courtesy of David Geffen, the DreamWorks co-founder, who owns a large shingled compound on the ocean and has the option of borrowing suntan lotion from billionaire neighbors like Eli Broad and Haim Saban. The mile-and-a-half-long beach, among the first glimpses of Malibu on the drive up from Los Angeles, is public by law, but to get to it, visitors must find a way to penetrate a wall of multimillion-dollar homes. [Here’s the solution to that puzzle, just in case you're in the area and feel like going for a beach stroll.]

Lastly, Broad has a New York City residence located on the 33rd floor of the Sherry-Netherland Hotel on 5th Avenue (zip 10022), adjacent to the bottom of Central Park on the east side. He had been trying to sell it and had even reduced the asking price, but ended up taking it off the market last June. Of course it is lovely, with a view of Central Park. Photos of the interior can be seen here.

UPDATE: More than two years after listing it, Broad's luxury apartment was finally sold in March 2011 for $8 million. Its original asking price was $15 million.

Eli Broad’s wealth was most recently listed at $5.2 billion. Imagine that you are a person with a net worth of $50,000, and you happen to drop a penny and watch it roll away. No big deal, right? Broad would have the same relative mental response as you did, if he tossed $1040 up in the air and watched it blow away.

By this comparison I am just trying to describe the degree of relative wealth; it's nearly incomprehensibly vast, which is why Broad is winning, and public school devotees are loosing.

Hopefully, the picture I’ve now painted sufficiently illustrates the nature and lifestyle of Broad, the man. It doesn't seem right to me that this unelected individual should get to control so much of the direction of the future of our city’s, my state’s, and my country’s public education, education for which ALL taxpayers, each of them as hard-working as Eli Broad, are paying their fair share, and know about the realities and needs in the public schools much more than he ever will. Does it seem right to you?

Is there anyone with political power who would be willing to stand up and stop this anti-democratic force?

“The Broad Effect”: Part One

2010-03-10T19:26:00.000-08:00

(These postings originally appeared on The Perimeter Primate. Part One and Part Two.)

“The Broad Effect” is behind the recent events in Rhode Island (the Central Falls firings ), and in Detroit, where the Detroit Public School Board has just unanimously voted to file a second lawsuit against Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb, saying the extra $145,000 in private foundation support he receives is an unlawful conflict of interest. Bobb's base salary is $280,000. The Detroit News reports:

“Bobb's supplemental income from private foundations increased from $84,000 last year to $145,000 this year, under a one-year contract extension signed by the governor and state superintendent this month. The only philanthropic donor publicly identified is the Broad Foundation, whose support of charter schools has stirred controversy among some members of the DPS community.”

Naturally, Robert Bobb (or Bob Bobb, as he was known in Oakland when served as the City Manager under former Mayor Jerry Brown) is a member of the Broad Superintendents Academy Class of 2005.

When the Broad Foundation plants one of its elements in a school district, it is highly likely that another element will be planted along with it, in order to maximize the Effect.

For instance, an element might be:

The presence of a Broad-trained superintendent, or even more (the salaries of which might even be covered by the Broad Foundation partially, or in full)
The presence of Broad Residents in important central office positions (the salaries of which might even be covered by the Broad Foundation partially, or in full)
An "invitation" to participate in a program spawned by the Foundation (such as CRSS's Reform Governance in Action program)
An offer from the Broad Foundation to provide the district with a FREE "audit" or "assessment" of some sort (eg. a "Performance Management and Diagnostic and Planning" experience), which issues a report with "recommendations." NOTE: This "diagnostic" is similar to the technique used by unscrupulous auto mechanics to drum up more business.

The Broad Foundation likes to infiltrate its targets on multiple levels so it can manipulate a wider field and cause the greatest amount of disruption. Venture edu-philanthropists like Gates and Broad proudly call this invasive and destabilizing strategy "investing in a disruptive force."To these billionaires and their henchmen, causing massive disruption for families with school aged children in (disadvantaged) communities (primarily of color) across the nation is no big deal.

“The Broad Effect” has been playing out in Rhode Island, where State Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist, a 2008 Broad Superintendents Academy graduate, worked in tandem with Frances Gallo, the district’s superintendent, to fire 93 teachers and staff members at Central Falls High School. Learn much more about the whole story here.

The April 2009 press release announcing Gist’s appointment as the new R.I. Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education stated:

“We are thrilled that Rhode Island is the first state to attract a Broad Fellow as not only the superintendent of its largest schools system, with Tom Brady in Providence, but also a Broad Fellow as a State Commissioner who can partner in addressing the challenges of transforming the state's educational systems to a position of international leadership."

As we learn from a March 2005 press release:

“The Mayor [Cicilline of Providence] today met with the School Board Monday night to discuss a plan that installs Fran Gallo as Transition Superintendent and calls for the formation of a search committee by next week. The plan is informed by counsel from the Broad Foundation (pronounced “brode”), a nationally-recognized consultant for superintendent searches.”

And as Providence Public School District eventually acquired Thomas M. Brady (Broad Superintendents Academy Class of 2004), he was joined by Sharon Contreras (Broad Superintendents Academy Class of 2010) as his Chief Academic Officer. Gallo took a position at Central Falls, an impoverished community 5.7 miles north of Providence. Read more about the Broad-in-Rhode-Island synergy here.

So now do you understand how it all works?

MORE EVIDENCE OF “THE BROAD EFFECT”

ANTIOCH, CALIFORNIA: Deborah Sims (BSA 2005) was asked to resign. The previous year, their school board had started in the Reform Governance in Action program via the Center for Reform of School Systems (CRSS) which is very heavily funded by Broad. After Sims' exit, the CRSS terminated its ties with the district. It was , "...a blessing in disguise," as one board member stated.

BUFFALO, NEW YORK: This city was targeted early on, now they are land-o-the-charters.
CAPISTRANO, CALIFORNIA: In March 2009, this school district terminated its superintendent, Arnold Woodrow "Woody" Carter (BSA 2002), for material breach.

FRANKLIN COUNTY, OHIO: It seems that Bart G. Anderson (BSA 2006), Superintendent of the Franklin County Board of Education was calling himself “Dr. Bart Anderson” years before he earned a legitimate doctorate degree in 2006. He also got mixed up with a diploma mill called St. Regis University, which issued him a bogus doctorate in 2002.

JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA: Joseph Wise (BSA 2003) was given a four-year contract as the superintendent of Duval County Public Schools in the fall of 2005. Twenty-three months later, his spending habits were being questioned. He and the school board parted ways in October 2007, but not before he implemented a controversial reorganization plan. Read local community opinions here. In February 2008, he became the new Chief Education Officer for EdisonLearning. Legal problems persisted even after he left DCPS. Trouble had followed Wise from Delaware, where he had been the superintendent of Christina School District, the largest in Delaware. This is what he's doing now.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: As you would suspect, all sorts of intertwining connections are here. Read this report about Broad taking Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to dinner.

MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE: More suckers in Memphis (or are the school district officials just sucking up?). As usual, parents are pissed off but have little idea about what has hit them. As usual, New Leaders for New Schools is right in the midst of things.

OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA: In January 2008, twenty-one allegations of improper behavior were made against John Q. Porter (BSA 2006), who had been serving as the superintendent of OKCPS for only six months (more here). He was suspended and then resigned in March amid accusations of financial mismanagement and poor job performance. Porter's spending habits were questioned during his previous work for Montgomery County Public Schools. I've looked for him online, but he seems to have disappeared. His Wikipedia page was deleted in 2008.

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA: In the summer of 2003, Jack O'Connell, the State Superintendent of Instruction (the recipient of a large campaign contribution from Eli Broad), assigned Randolph Ward (BSA 2003) as State Administrator of OUSD. Ward appointed Arnold Woodrow "Woody" Carter (BSA 2002) to be his Chief of Staff (see Capistrano above). Ward's slash-and-burn actions produced so much anger from the community, he hired a full-time body guard. Barak Ben-Gal (Broad Resident 2004-2006) implemented a controversial system called Results Based Budgeting in OUSD, then went into the private sector in Silicon Valley. Kimberly Statham (BSA 2003) hopped from job to job for years and is now at the NewSchools Venture Fund. Statham departed after only one year, and arrangements were made for Vincent Matthews (BSA 2006), who used to work for SF's (now failed) Edison school, to fill the State Administrator position. These three Broad Superintendents within five years left the district in a bigger mess, and in considerably more debt, than in which they had found it. The district regained full control in 2009, but since the district is still in debt to the state, Matthews was assigned as State Trustee.

NEW YORK CITY: Broad Foundation press release states that Broad "played a key role in former U.S. Assistant Attorney General Joel Klein's appointment as New York schools chancellor." And here's Broad schmoozing with another N.Y. billionaire.

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MARYLAND: This troubled school district thought it was finally going to get a long-term superintendent when they hired John Deasy (BSA 2006) in May 2006, but by September 2008 he was being investigated for having improperly received his doctorate. He resigned in short order and went to work for the Gates Foundation. Deasy's replacement was William R. Hite Jr. (BSA 2006) who appointed Bonita Coleman-Potter (BSA 2008) as his deputy superintendent.

ROCHESTER, NEW YORK: Jean-Claude Brizard (BSA 2007) is alienating people there. People are catching on.

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON: This group isn't too pleased with Maria Goodloe-Johnson (BSA 2003).

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION: Arne Duncan invited Broad Residents into his department so they can be in control at the the top.

WASHINGTON D.C.: Reporting that Michelle Rhee meets with Broad on a regular basis, including making multiple visits to his Fifth Ave. apartment in NYC.

WILMINGTON, DELAWARE: A 2006 article stated that Broad "plans to virtually take over the Delaware school system in 2007, pending approval from that state's legislature." He backed the winning slate of candidates for the local board of education in 1999 and helped hire the new superintendent. His energy was focused on the Christina School District. Their first Broad superintendent was installed in July 2003 ( see Joseph Wise under Jacksonville above). This is what he's doing now. In April 2006, Wise was succeeded by Lillian Lowery (BSA 2004) who served until May 2009. Lowery walked into her position and shortly discovered a huge district deficit. This is what she's doing now. Her replacement was Marcia Lyles (BSA 2006). This district is home to the incident with six-year old Zachary. His sentence was later reversed.

Note: Not all Broad Superintendents Academy graduates (called Fellows) are included on the Academy's Web site as "Featured Alumni."

This map will show you where the Effect has spread, and will link you to its players. More information is available at The Broad Report. Doing a perfect job of keeping track of “The Broad Effect” would be a full-time job!

I now share with you an excerpt from the Billionaire Boys' Club chapter of Diane Ravitch's book, "The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice are Undermining Education"(pp. 200-201):

But the offer of a multimillion-dollar grant by a foundation is enough to cause most superintendents and school boards to drop everything and reorder their priorities.

And so it happened that the Gates, Walton, and Broad foundations came to exercise vast influence over American education because of ther strategic investments in school reform. As their policy goals converged in the first decade of the twenty-first century, these foundations set the policy agenda not only for school districts, but also for states and even the U.S. Department of Education.
Before considering the specific goals and activities of these foundations, it is worth reflecting on the wisdom of allowing education policy to be directed or, one might say, captured by private foundations. There is something fundamentally antidemocratic about relinquishing control of the public education policy agenda to private foundations run by society's wealthiest people; when the wealthiest of these foundations are joined in common purpose, they represent an unusually powerful force that is beyond the reach of democratic institutions. These foundations, no matter how worthy and high-minded, are after all, not public agencies. They are not subject to public oversight or review, as a public agency would be. They have taken it upon themselves to reform public education, perhaps in ways that would never survive the scrutiny of voters in any district or state. If voters don't like the foundations' reform agenda, they can't vote them out of office. The foundation demands that public schools and teacher be held accountable for performance, but they themselves are accountable to no one. If their plans fail, no sanctions are levied against them. They are bastions of unaccountable power.

Read more about Eli Broad, the man behind the Broad Effect. Find out what makes him chuckle. Learn why he is described as a “billionaire philanthropist whose beneficence comes with not just strings but with ropes.” My previous postings with additional information are here.

IF YOU HAVE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT “THE BROAD EFFECT” IN YOUR COMMUNITY, AND CAN OFFER ANY LINKS TO THE READERS HERE, PLEASE SHARE THAT INFORMATION IN THE COMMENTS SECTION. THANK YOU.

(The Broad Foundation regularly monitors this blog, both directly and, more recently, via services provided by BurrellesLuce. When it occurs, I post the confirmation in my comments.)

And as eighth-grade students have learned at a public middle school here in Oakland, "Jefferson believed in the People. They can make good decisions when given enough information."

Connections between Eli Broad, the Parent Union (aka Parent Revolution, the creators of the "Parent Trigger"), and Green Dot

2010-02-21T16:33:00.001-08:00

NOTE: This entry was updated on 2/24/2010 with an explanation of the relationship between the entities above and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). h/t to rdsathene.

Originally conceived in Los Angeles by Steve Barr’s (of Green Dot) Los Angeles Parents Union, and largely funded by the Broad Foundation, the "Parent Trigger" has spread east, and here and here. This is an initiative where if enough parents can be convinced, pressured, and tricked to sign a petition, a school will be closed down and replaced with a charter. On each Form 990 from 2005 to 2008, Steve Barr is listed as the CEO/President of the LAPU board.

Eli Broad contributed nearly 50% of the funding for the launch of the LAPU (formerly the Small Schools Alliance, aka the Parent Revolution). The money he supplied helped pay for the propaganda to make it seem like the movement is being generated by "the people," when in fact it is a carefully planned, targeted marketing campaign designed to wipe out the public schools.

The most important thing to know is that this organization is not grassroots; it's astroturf!

An absolute lie is being spread that it was "developed by the grass-roots group Parent Revolution in the Los Angeles Unified School District.’ The lie is that group was not a grassroots group by any means. Danny Weil explains its true astroturf nature. Community members in LA have even stated that they were offered monetary compensation [by Green Dot] in exchange for their signature on a petition. But when a potential buyer for the LA Times is Eli Broad, who would there be to investigate?

Broad-supported State Senator Gloria Romero, in the running as State Superintendent of Public Instruction, has been the main pusher at the California state government level.

GRANTS AND CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE BROAD FOUNDATION

Source: Broad Foundation Form 990s (EIN = 954686318) obtained at the National Center for Charitable Statistics

Year

To Green Dot Public Schools/Green Dot Educational Project

EIN = 95679811

To the Small Schools Alliance, dba as the Los Angeles Parents Union since 2007

(This organization became the “Los Angeles Parents Union” in 2007 and uses the same EIN = 202207418. The LAPU is the same organization as the “Parent Revolution” and has the web site www.parentsunion.org, making a total of four names for the same organization.)

To the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Education and Support Fund

2005

$700,000: “To support high-quality public charter schools in Los Angeles”

(Total 2005 support in contributions, gifts, grants, etc. to this organization was $5,315,065)

$100,000: General fund

(Total 2005 revenue for the Small Schools Alliance was $980,608. Broad supplied 10% of its direct funding)

None

2006

$700,000: “To support more high-quality public charter schools in Los Angeles

(Total 2006 Direct Public Support in contributions, gifts, grants, etc. to this organization was $9,524,116)

None

(Total 2006 revenue for the Small Schools Alliance was $383,500)

$64,750: “To engage SEIU members in Los Angeles around an education reform package to change the Los Angeles Unified School District”

2007

$1,210,040 total: $9,040 to the Green Dot Educational Project, plus $1,201,000 to Green Dot Public Schools, “To support the scale up of more high-quality charter schools in Los Angeles”

(Total 2007 Direct Public Support in contributions, gifts, grants, etc. to this organization was $10,015,000)

$150,000 total: $75,000 “To match SEIU funds to support the Small Schools Alliance launch of the Los Angeles Parent Union” plus $75,000 “To match SEIU funds to support the Small Schools Alliance business plan of the Los Angeles Parent Union”

(Total 2007 revenue for the Small Schools Alliance/LAPU was $323,343. Broad supplied 46% of its direct funding)

None

2008

$1,859,000 total: $9,000 to the Green Dot Educational Project, plus $1,850,000 to Green Dot Public Schools, “To support the scale up of more high-quality charter schools in Los Angeles”

(Total 2008 Direct Public Support in contributions, gifts, grants, etc. to this organization is not available at this time on 2/21/10)

$25,000: “To match SEIU funds to support the Small Schools Alliance business plan of the Los Angeles Parent Union”

(Total 2008 revenue for the Small Schools Alliance/LAPU was $324,628. Broad supplied nearly 8% of its direct funding)

None

QUESTION: What is the relationship between SEIU, Broad, and the Parent Revolution?

A presentation delivered at the Annenberg Institute for School Reform sponsored 2008 Emerging Knowledge Forum was called “Green Dot Public Schools & LA Parents Union.” The presentation team consisted of Steve Barr (Founder & CEO, Green Dot Public Schools), Sandy Blazer (Chief Academic Officer, Green Dot Public Schools), Christine Boardman, (President, Service Employees International Union, Local 73), and Ryan Smith (Executive Director, LA Parents Union). This is from their accompanying report.

“Steve Barr noticed that at one of Green Dots’ high schools, a large proportion of students has parents who were members of Local 1877 of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). From this observation, a partnership evolved between Green Dot and SEIU’s national organization, as well as its Los Angeles affiliate. While most professional unions have opposed charter schools, SEIU has embraced LAPU’s reform agenda because their members’ children are the main victims of failing urban schools. For almost a year, SEIU has formally worked with Green Dot and LAPU, providing LAPU with both funding and technical assistance from experienced organizers. In turn, SEIU is interested in exploring how Green Dot’s model and LAPU’s organizing efforts can drive school reform in other urban districts across the country.”

Mike Garcia, President, Service Employees International Union Local 1877, is currently listed as a member of Green Dot’s board of directors. Teacher union members beware: the SEIU is not your friend.

Interesting facts from Green Dot’s 2007 Form 990

Joanne Weiss, who is now running the Race to the Top program for Arne Duncan, is listed as a board member, as well as Kevin Hall of the Broad Foundation
Steve Barr as Executive Director/CEO was paid $215,467
Marco Petruzzi as Board President was paid $204,022. His current Green Dot bio says he is also Venice chapter president of the Los Angeles Parents Union.

Also, this is the document which contains the following:

“The Corpoation's [sic] review, which was completed on August 15, 2008, concluded that during the period from January 2004 through September 2007, the Corporation reimbursed Mr. Barr in error a total of $50,866 for charges that were either not reimbursable in nature, or were insufficiently substantiated or documented to qualify for reimbursement.” More information here.

About Ben Austin, the Executive Director of the Parents Union

The section “Compensation of the Five Highest Paid Independent Contractors for Professional Services” shows that Ben Austin, with an address listed in Beverly Hills' Benedict Canyon, was paid $94,475 that year. In April 2008 he became the Executive Director of the Parents Union (aka LAPU/aka Parents Revolution). In his bio, Austin proudly states that he will be sending his two daughters to Warner Avenue Elementary. To demonstrate how exceptional and affluent the families of this school are, in 2007 the Warner Avenue Foundation (EIN 95-4072053) provided the school with an extra $449,022 (or an extra $747/kid).

Parents like Ben Austin provided supplementary funds to pay for "teaching assistants for each classroom, as well as providing all students with access to a physical education, art, computer, science and music specialist" ($330,979), capital improvements and facilities maintenance ($7,223), educational, computer, copy, emergency and cleaning supplies ($49,639), and teacher and principal grants and student scholarships ($27,583). The biggest money making events were the spring auction ($94,844), a Halloween event ($61,470), a walk-a-thon ($40,238), and a holiday boutique ($14,064). Oh, the poor public school attending children of Ben Austin, their LAUSD experience will be just like that of everyone else. By the way, Austin's day job is an assistant city attorney for Los Angeles. He was previously a Deputy Mayor under Mayor Richard Riordan, who is a longtime friend of Eli Broad and another Gloria Romero supporter and have hosted big fundraisers for her.

Read here to find out how Austin/Parent Revolution is trying to distance itself from Green Dot. Good luck with that, folks, especially since Mr. Green Dot is your board CEO/President.

More eye-popping differences between Ben Austin's LA public school and that of everyone else	Warner Avenue Elementary	Los Angeles Unified
African American	2%	10%
Asian	17%	4%
Latino	5%	74%
White	75%	9%
Socioeconomically disadvantaged (	3%	78%
Gifted and Talented Education	25%	12%
English Learners	6%	31%
Students with Disabilities	7%	12%
Average Parent Education Level: "1" represents "Not a high school graduate" and "5" represents "Graduate school."	4.47	2.22
Academic Performance Index	971	694

So now we have the Executive Director of the Los Angeles Parent Union and one of the originators/pushers of the “Parent Trigger” meeting with poor, limited English-speaking parents to convince them to sign school closure petitions and representing himself to them as just another typical LA Unified parent with children heading off to struggling schools, when in fact he resides in one of the most affluent areas of the city and will be sending his kids to one of the public schools which has absolutely no demographic relation to the schools used by his uninformed-about-the-dynamics and easily manipulated parent targets.

As a longtime public school parent who has used schools in my community with demographics much more aligned to my district as a whole, I am wise to the con Ben Austin is pulling off. ¡Qué cojones!

Addendum: Steve and Ben's project is certainly making the rounds. Arranging events and attending meetings must be what Barr has been busy with since he stepped down from his position as CEO of Green Dot last November.

From an email sent to me:

Get Smart Schools is part of a group of non-profits hosting an exciting new speaker series. Please join us at the event described below!

Want to help ensure that all kids in your community receive the very best education? Save the Date to join us for the next speaker in our series.

Speaker: Ben Austin, Los Angeles Parents Union (LAPU) and a Parent Revolution representative.

Thursday March 4, 2010

This is in Denver, Colorado.

GetSmartSchools is a program sponsored by the Piton Foundation. Christopher Scott, a parent and past Denver Public Schools school board candidate warns about this organization in the following statement submitted to the Denver Post last fall. It's more of the same:

"Secondarily, DPS senior executives have allowed the District to become the domain of special interests. Organizations such as Piton Foundation have unfettered access to District leadership, sitting important District committees like the Application Review Team evaluating charter applications for charters funded by the foundations themselves, providing recommendations to the District for more charter schools, while profiting by these recommendations. Moreover, under Michael Bennet, political action committees were brought to town to shape the school board election. This PAC, Stand for Children, poses as a pro-parent organization, but, in reality, its Chief Executive, Jonah Edelman, is a long time friend of Mr. Bennet, grew up next door to Tom Boasberg, whose sister served on Stand's Board of Directors until this month. According to Mr. Boasberg, he had no idea Stand was coming to Denver, as the decision was made while Bennet was Superintendent."

It is important to know that "The Piton Foundation is a private, operating foundation established in 1976 by Denver oil man Sam Gary. It is funded by the Gary-Williams Energy Corporation to develop and implement programs to improve education, expand economic opportunities for families, and strengthen lower-income communities." On its advisory board are

On the advisory board of GetSmartSchools are the usual ed deform/school privatization malanthropic foundations, big business interests, and charter-linked suspects:

Amy Anderson, Donnell-Kay Foundation
Jill Barkin, JP Morgan Chase & Co.
Becca Bracey-Knight, Broad Foundation
Phil Caplan, Urban West Group
Heather Carroll, Edmonson Foundation
Yee-Ann Cho, Envision Schools Colorado
Ami Desai, Denver Venture School
Wayne Eckerling, Former Assistant Superintendent, Denver Public Schools
Sandra Elliott, Gnow-How
Nora Flood, Colorado League of Charter Schools
Lisa Flores, Gates Family Foundation
Marcia Fulton, The Odyssey School
Chris Gibbons, West Denver Prep
Merlin Holmes, National Heritage Academies
Rebecca Holmes, KIPP Colorado Schools
Brooke Johnson, Carson Family Foundation
Michael Johnston, Mapleton School District
Rachel Kelley, Teach for America
Ed Kennedy, Edison Schools
Kim Knous-Dolan, Donnell-Kay Foundation
Bill Kurtz, Denver School of Science and Technology
Cathy Lund, Walton Foundation
Zach McComsey, Atlas Prep School
Alex Medler, Colorado Children's Campaign
Gretchen Morgan, Envision Schools Colorado
Alex Ooms, West Denver Prep
Reyna Perez-Oquendo, Donnell-Kay Foundation
Audra Philippon, AXL Academy
Jane Shirley, William-Smith High School
Tim Taylor, Colorado Succeeds
Sean VanBerschot, Teach for America
Brian Weber, Stapleton Foundation

To see what I've written previously about Green Dot and Steve Barr, read here and here.

The most important thing to know is that this organization is not grassroots; it's astroturf!

Saltman on Venture Philanthropy & Eli Broad

2009-11-30T13:40:00.000-08:00

Kenneth Saltman’s new piece, “The Rise of Venture Philanthropy and the Ongoing Neoliberal Assault on Public Education: the Eli and Edyth Broad Foundation,” provides an excellent overview of how the sponsors of a new form of highly manipulative philanthropy are controlling today’s education reform scene, as well as an extensive summary of the role being played by Eli Broad. Read the whole piece here.

Saltman writes:

Venture philanthropy in education whose leading proponents include the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, and the Walton Family Foundation departs radically from the age of “scientific” industrial philanthropy characterized by Carnegie, Rockefeller, and Ford. These traditional philanthropies, despite pursuing a largely conservative role of undermining radical social movements, nonetheless framed their projects in terms of the public good and sought to provide individuals with public information through schools, libraries, and museums.

Venture philanthropy treats schooling as a private consumable service and promotes business remedies, reforms, and assumptions with regard to public schooling. Some of the most significant projects involve promoting charter schools to inject market competition and “choice” into the public sector as well as using cash bonuses for teacher

pay and to “incentivize” students.

VP treats giving to public schooling as a “social investment” that like venture capital, must begin with a business plan, must involve quantitative measurement of efficacy, must be replicable to be “brought to scale”, and ideally will “leverage” public spending in ways compatible with the strategic donor. In the parlance of venture philanthropy grants are referred to as “investments”, donors are called “investors”, impact is renamed “social return”, evaluation becomes “performance measurement”, grant reviewing turns into “due diligence”, the grant list is renamed an “investment portfolio,” charter networks are referred to as “franchises” -- to name but some of the recasting of giving on investment. Within the view of venture philanthropy, donors are framed as both entrepreneurs and consumers while recipients are represented as investments.

Does this terminology sound familiar in the school districts where you work or live? If so, you can be assured that the Broad infection has spread there.