Fewer Equals Better

Just a quick link to a post on redefinedonline.org

This Is What Sen. Jeff Brandes Needs To Fight

Instead of grabbing for publicity, and bullying school board members, Florida state Senator Jeff Brandes should be fighting for the state's tax paying citizens.

Good Question

The TampBay Times poses a good question in this article. So, whatever did happen to Alliance?

Strong Arm Tactics

  So, the hot mess that is Windsor Prep/ East Windsor Middle Academy may have caught a wee break, in that the Pinellas County school district's director of charter schools and home education, Rick Wolfe, is trying to win them an extension until May 18, to submit their "Corrective Action Plan. 

  Remember, they were given until yesterday, April 5, to come up with an acceptable "fix it plan",or face the districts' withdrawing its sponsorship of the charter

   Apparently the drafts they submitted Friday were too vague ( i.e. poorly done) when it came to detailing how they correct things, other than that they were trying to disassociate from Newpoint Education Partners.

  Shocker...

Meeting

This Blogger would love to have been a fly on the wall at tonight's meeting. We neighbors are all looking forward to hearing the update from Mark Douglas  on WFLA.

I've been doing some digging myself. This new company Alliance Education Services really has their information locked down, but the dots are all there to connect if you're patient ( and determined).

I wonder if they were more forthcoming at the meeting, and how many questions were really answered...or there more questions now as a result?

Open letter on Newpoint Website

Busy Saturday

Pretty full parking lot at the "Last Earned Grade Was An F" school Windsor Prep today. It's Saturday, so no school....wonder what's up?

File shredding? Resume writing workshop for the teachers? Golly gumdrops...if one could only be a fly on the wall.

You Ask, They Answer

So, today was the deadline for the response to the letter sent sent by the Pinellas School Board to Windsor Prep, and East Windsor's board.

Surprisingly, they answered on time. Not surprisingly, the response pushed back, and tried to justify all wrongs.

When Your Chickens Come Home To Roost

Well, part two of the WFLA investigation into the latest Newpoint Education Partners/ Windsor Prep Charter School financial discrepancies aired last night.

You parents, and staff must just be so proud.

ONE MILLION $$$ IN Debt And Counting

Oh dear readers...the "Last Grade Earned Was An F, but now the State granted them a C " school Windsor Prep never lets us down, now do they.

So...lets check out this interesting story regarding the latest investigation into Newpoint Education and Windsor Prep.  It's comedy gold folks!

David Turner Has Something To Say

Oh what fun, more comments, but this time not from Satan.

Mr Turner feels it's wrong of me to not allow free commenting on my blog, even going so far as to state I am pathetic, yet he still feels compelled to comment....twice.  Hmmmm

Good Morning Boys and Girls. New comments, LOL

So dear readers, another idiot snide reader has left a comment.This one calls itself "Basically Satan" and  has left much to be amused by. Please feel free to play along...

Makes You Wonder

So, Newpoint Education Partners...so many questionable dealings...grade tampering, Illegal allocation of equipment, mishandling of funds, poor management and oversight, multiple schools under their management with failing grades, staff resigning left and right, not meeting target enrollment, State and County investigations, and more.

PTA Meeting

For years the school has had very modest turn outs for the Board meetings and PTA Meetings. Last nights crowd was huge. Cars filled the parking lot, people lined up to get inside. Finally, some real parental involvement.

Guess there is a lot of concern, frustration, and worry on the parts of parents who really believed they were sending their special little kiddos to what they thought of as practically a tuition free private school. Aw, sad when your entitled behavior and mistreatment of the folks in the surrounding neighborhood doesn't pay off quite like you expected, huh?

Just imagine...all of the obnoxious behavior, harassment, traffic tie ups, issues with kids getting dumped, lack of diversity and few handicapped being allowed to attend, students getting rejected or turned away, cherry picking of students, construction mishaps, property damage, mishandling of state funds, high teacher turnover, not teaching the promised curriculum, being an "F" school, cleanliness issues, lack of classroom resources, etc.

Boyo...maybe the parents should have taken five minutes in front of a computer doing a little research on the problems that seem to plague Newpoint Education Partners run schools. But then that would mean being responsible, knowledgeable, and better prepared to make solid decisions. Can't have that, now can we?

Certainly not when someone is dangling a shiny new building and making promises left and right about how awesome things are going to be and how special they are...and without any proof or history to back that up. I guess all that glitters really isn't gold, huh?

You honestly would think that three years into this operation they would at least have figured out how keep the school clean and developed an effective curriculum, wouldn't you?

But then, maybe that's why so many Charter Schools fail. They are opened and run by shady, often inexperienced, and frequently fly by night groups who are just in it for the money.

inthepublicinterest.org

Tampa Bay Times Gets It...Finally

A few days ago, the Tampa Bay Times published an editorial that makes for pretty good reading.

Editorial: Taxpayers assume risk, little gain for charter schools

Many of my previous posts reference the same facts the Times cited. Please read it. Research the numbers and facts on your own. Research Newpoint Education Partners, and Windsor Education LLC. Research the history of the individuals that established both. 

Further, research the facts on this school, it's teachers, the curriculum, and the many problems they have had. 

Don't just take my opinion, or the word of any of the staff...look for facts. Then decide if this is all worth it.

Facts? Cute

Oh dear sweet readers...another meaningful comment was recently left on the blog by yet another brand new, no profile, no other activity individual.  I have to admit, I'm always curious as to whether these people are actually parents, or members of the staff.

Yard Sale

So, is everyone excited to get a chance to waste hard earned money purchase some "F" school Windsor Prep cast offs treaasures?

It's D-day for the F school

   Well folks....that day we all dread has arrived. "F" school Windsor Prep is back in session.
    It has been a lovely and peaceful summer, hasn't it? Or did some of you miss our streets being used as a parking lot, fighting parents ( off course one of this writers neighbors did see two parents going at it this past Wednesday during the open house for kindergarten and first graders...Classy), speeding, stop sign running, lanes being blocked, mail boxes being run over, lawns and landscaping being damaged, and of course the traffic back ups.

Fl House Bill SB1448 Addresses Conlflicts of Interest, Failing Schools, and more

From an April article on the League of Women's Voters site: http://lwveducation.com

  Hmmm...conflict of interest...you mean like when the deputy assigned to handle the traffic complaints made by over thirteen residents, complaints of property damage, false 911 calls etc is actually married to the assistant to "F" School Windsor Prep's principal. That kind of conflict? No, I guess not. I guess that would be something that you would have expected the deputy to have been decent, and honorable enough to have divulged. Sadly, it shows all too clearly, that as a neighborhood seeking help, we expected to much of the members representing that agency.

  Or maybe it's addressing a Charter having a board that has members integrally involved with the management company? That is actually what the bill is striving to prevent, as Charter boards have had a less than stellar history of unbiased governance. In Florida alone, there have been incidents of investors, family members of investors and administrators, and even family members of legislators serving on boards. 

Just the facts folks

Keep in mind folks, just because you find info on a blog doesn't mean that is all there is. Or that it is true. Research it. Dig. Know where your tax dollars are going. I have learned so much from some of these incredible bloggers who have incredible time and effort into what they post. BUT, I have only used the info I find there as a launching point to do my own research. It's amazing how much you can find. Thank God for the Sunshine Law which means everything has to be available for review. 

That said....

Reminder

 I have previously posted a link to this article, but it's worthy of reposting, so here's the text.
 I mean seriously, out of 168 or more schools, these four get yanked up because they suck, and have no meaningful plan for improvement, Windsor and NewPoint are affiliated. Does this not give anyone pause for thought?

This is the entire text from the article, which you can find here: tampabay.com

LARGO — The point of charter schools is to do greater for students. They have the freedom to feel outside the box, innovating with longer school days or years, gender-segregated classrooms and a lot more, all in the name of delivering superior alternatives for youngsters than the conventional program can.

But four Pinellas County charter schools came under fire this week from the School Board immediately after standardized test scores indicated subpar student functionality.

University Preparatory Academy, Windsor Preparatory Academy and Newpoint Pinellas Academy all earned F grades last school year, when Alfred Adler Elementary earned a D grade.

Newpoint is in Clearwater, whilst the other 3 charters are in St. Petersburg.

The schools have been needed to present plans for improvement to the board, which reviewed them at a Tuesday workshop.

Adler's principal, Greg DeCosmo, mentioned his 89-student college supplied a nurturing environment. The school performed improved than the district average in reading, but under the typical in math and far below it in writing. Just 9 percent of students showed proficiency on the FCAT writing test.

DeCosmo mentioned this was an location the college was targeting. They would also devote this year attempting to bring up the achievement of its lowest performing students in all topic places.

"We're not tucked away in an affluent suburb," he mentioned. "We're ideal in the middle of St. Petersburg, and that's simply because that is exactly where the actual educational challenges are that will need to be resolved."

College Board members have been skeptical of Adler's improvement program, saying it lacked the particular methods to make its targets a reality.

"The 'how' is not there for me," board member Robin Wikle mentioned.

Board member Rene Flowers mentioned she wanted to see "what it is that you strategy to do, actions A, B and C" whilst board chairwoman Carol Cook mentioned she wanted to see Adler name employees members responsible for making each and every aim occur.

Christopher Wiand, the director of Newpoint, stated the Clearwater middle school desires to enhance the number of students taking algebra 1. He also hopes to boost FCAT scores, and thus the school's grade, by better monitoring data throughout the school year.

Windsor Preparatory Academy also took tough inquiries from board members right after principal Jessica Clements stated the charter college had decided to use the standard college system's curriculum this year.

"What are you undertaking differently than we're performing in Pinellas County schools? You're working with the exact same curriculum, doing the identical testing," said Cook.

Clements stated that Windsor Prep's approach to instruction differed from the school system's simply because they typically broke students into smaller groups.

Just after the charter school leaders left, School Board members said they have been unsatisfied with some of the responses to their questions, like Clements'.

"I consider your query at the finish was profound, and it wasn't answered," stated Wikle, although Flowers stated, "We do significant groups and little groups, that's what we do."

Superintendent Mike Grego agreed, saying he was "glad" he wasn't the one to have to say it. "The complete notion (of charters) was once an innovative, let's see what we can discover from them circumstance," he mentioned. As an alternative, "in numerous techniques we're studying together."

All credit to Lisa Gardner at the Tampa Bay Times: Speak to Lisa Gartner at lgartner@tampabay.com. Adhere to @lisagartner.

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