The Real Story Behind Mike Pence’s Charter School Speech

by Doug Martin at Hoosier School Heist Blog

In an address to a large crowd yesterday at the Westin Hotel, Mike Pence announced that 22 new charter schools will open in Indiana in the next three years.  Pence spoke at a conference sponsored by Charter Schools USA, a Florida-based company operated by longtime Bush family friend Jon Hage.

Charter Schools USA (which also gives money to Jeb Bush’s “school choice” Foundation for Excellence in Education) operates several Indiana takeover schools and will be opening up a “feeder” school in Indianapolis this August.  It will also be opening a new school in Clarksville.

In my book Hoosier School Heist, I dedicate an entire chapter to the Bush family’s influence on school privatization in Indiana, which includes Charter Schools USA.  Charter Schools USA has given at least $23,000 to politicians and others promoting school privatization in Indiana. 

Charter Schools USA funded former Indiana supt. of public ed. Tony Bennett’s campaign, and Tony's wife, Tina, once worked for the for-profit school company.  Charter Schools USA also gave money to the campaigns of Todd Huston, the Walmart/Amway sponsored Hoosiers for Quality Education PAC, and Mike Pence.

Mike Pence, in fact, has received $6,000 from Charter Schools USA since 2012. 

Charter Schools USA’s development branch, Red Apple Development, also hands money to Indiana politicians, to the tune of $17,000 so far.

As State Impact Indiana notes, at the conference “Pence also touted a new grant program that provides an additional $500 in per student funding for charter schools rated A-to-C and $50 million in construction loans.”

As I explain in Hoosier School Heist, Charter Schools USA has had its eyes on expanding in Indiana for quite some time, using its political connections.  It looks like Jon Hage and Charter Schools USA are liking the Hoosier state a lot more now.

Charter Schools USA, H4QED, and the Indiana State Board of Ed

By Doug Martin

UPDATE:  Charter School USA, in fact, was one of the sponsors of the school privatization rally at the statehouse today.  See pic at the end of this article:

As I point out in Hoosier School Heist, if it wasn’t for the Bush family, Charter Schools USA (CS USA) would never have been imported from Florida into Indiana.  As my book details, CS USA has been buying Indiana politicians for some time.  And now, they are at it again, out to ask the state board of education for more expansion, which is why people need to see that the battle between Pence, Republicans, and fake Democrats against Ritz over control of the state board is a battle between pro-school privatizing millionaires and everyone else.

CS USA is calling for the state to allow IPS’s Emma Donnan middle school (a state takeover school run by CS USA) to now expand to a K-8 facility.  Hayleigh Colombo, at Chalkbeat Indiana, writes that “under a less direct partnership, the school would still work with IPS and the district could count the school’s test scores under the state A to F accountability system. In return, IPS would help the charter school recruit students in lower grades to the school.”

In other words, CS USA wants to continue to make money from the school, as opposed to giving it back fully to IPS, while IPS recruits the students for the charter school company and takes the heat for bad test scores. 

SOME HISTORY AND AN UPDATE ON THE BUYOUT

Jeb Bush’s buddy (and Bush family friend) Jon Hage owns Charter Schools USA, which now operates Emma Donnan Middle School, Emmerich Manual High School, and the Thomas Carr Howe Community High School in Indianapolis.  

From the looks of recent campaign finance records, Hage and crew want to really expand operations in the Hoosier state.

In 2014, CS USA joined the Amway/Walmart/Hedge Fund PAC (now called Hoosiers for Quality Education, or H4QED, a billionaire front group holding a rally today in Indy) in Indiana, handing the PAC $5,000. 

That same year, CS USA also gave House Education Committee chairperson Bob Behning, who now desires to be an education reform lobbyist, $2,000.

Since 2012, CS USA has given $23,000 to politicians and PACS in Indiana, alone.

But it doesn’t end there.  Red Apple Development, the real estate branch of CS USA, has also given big money:  $17,000 since 2012.  This year they contributed $5,000 to the Hoosiers for Quality Education PAC, which funds David Long, Brian Bosma, and a whole slew of Republicans now attacking Glenda Ritz and teachers.

In total, Jeb Bush friend Jon Hage’s CS USA and Red Development have dropped $40,000 into Indiana campaign funds since 2012.

THIS MY FRIENDS

The school privatizing state board will do what the charter school companies want, plain and simple.  Recently, as Chalkbeat Indiana reported, state board member Dan Elsener (who is a major player in my book Hoosier School Heist) said. “We didn’t say we’re no longer intervening at Arlington and we’re giving it back to IPS. We were careful there. We took responsibility. If we just say, ‘It’s over now, everything’s fine,’ I’m not too sure that’s realistic.

Elsener stressed the school remains under state oversight even if IPS resumes operation of the school.”

Since House Bill 1638 is now in the works for the state to take over even more Indiana schools, Ritz is an obstacle to the billionaires and millionaires. This, my friends, is why Republicans and Wall Street Democrats like Gordon Hendry want Glenda Ritz out of the way.  More people need to understand this and say it loud and clear.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Behning's Corporate School Money Still Flowing

by Doug Martin

(See the important note at the end of this article.

Patrick Lockhart is running against Behning, and needs your support.  Here is his facebook page.  Spread it wide.  It is time to take this to a truly grassroots level.  Pass this article on to your neighbors, your community members and leaders and to the people in Lockhart’s district, many of them in Indianapolis.  It is time to stop preaching to the choir and to get the word out.  Doug Martin)

No sooner than I posted my article on Bob Behning’s corporate school money at the end of April, more handouts from the extremely wealthy fell into the Republican’s campaign lap.  Here is the latest rundown:

Along with his Red Apple Development real estate charter school group (which gave $2,000 on April 30th), Jeb Bush’s buddy Jon Hage at Charter Schools USA handed Behning  $2,000 that same day, sometime after my blog entry was written.   To Behning, the Indiana Chamber Business Advisory Committee handed over $2,500 , and Mike Pence’s campaign threw $5,000 to the career ALEC politician. 

On May 1^st, corporate school princess Michelle Rhee’s Students First slid Behning’ s campaign $1,000.  In November of last year, Students First handed Behning $1,000 (page 9).

Tony Bennett and Indiana state board of ed. member Dan Elsener’s former boss Christel DeHaan funded Behning $10,000 more on April 30 when I wasn't looking, after giving him $10,000 on April 19^th.

All of this has taken place since my last piece on April 30, tracking Behning corporate school money.

In my first post, I noted the following:

The Hoosiers for Economic Growth PAC, founded by an Amway/Besty Devos/Walmart/Overstock.com/hedge fund front group,  gave Behning $45,000.  Hoosiers for Economic Growth slid him $25,000 at the beginning of this April, too (page 4).  Back in 2013, the super PAC handed Behning $2,000 (page 5). This PAC is where Walmart and DeVos' American Federation for Children unloads its money.

Bush family friend Al Hubbard has thrown $5,000 (page to 2) to Behning’s reelection campaign. Hubbard also gave the Hoosiers for Economic Growth PAC* $75,000 recently.

Theresa  Rooney, whose father was the father of the Indiana voucher movement, has also tossed Behning $5,000 (page 2). 

David Shane, whose wife Anne was a Lilly and Mind Trust water-carrier, gifted Behning $500 (page 3).  Eli Lilly (known for funding the Mind Trust’s temporary teacher workforce) gave money to Republican Behning in 2013, as well (page 7).

Hedge fund and Bill Gates’ supported Stand for Children (highlighted in Hoosier School Heist) dished out $1,000 to Behning recently (page 4).

Bob Behning likes to call himself a family man, but he is a corporate man, undoubtedly. The "traditional values" he shares are the values the billionaires have shared since the beginning of time, and they do not include YOUR family.

NOTE:

Behning's endorser the Hoosiers for Economic Growth has changed its name to throw people like me off-track.  It is now called the Hoosiers for Quality Education (HQE) PAC.
 

("Like" Hoosier School Heist on facebook, and follow Doug Martin on Twitter)

 

 

GA Management Organizations Profiteering via Non-Profit Front Groups

Yesterday, the Georgia Charter School Commission awarded seven charters to various groups, including 4 for-profit schools (two of them are described here). Of course, they're not actually listed as for-profit schools on their applications - they use the same trick as the Imagine folks and set-up non-profit 501(c)(3) organizations (which are rarely denied or investigated by the IRS, as this Stanford report clearly, clearly indicates).

You can add Mosaica Education, Inc and Charter Schools USA to the list of for-profit organizations thriving in the current pro-charter chain climate (they were big to begin with, but hey, there's always room for growth!). Here's a clip from the application of the Heron Bay Academy:

HBA will be governed by an independent, fiscally responsible governing board with a breadth of experience, and will be operated by Mosaica Education, Inc., an educational service provider with 76 school programs in seven states, the District of Columbia, and the Middle East.

Included in HBA's charter application, available here, is a nice little description of Mosaica:

Mosaica Education, Inc. manages 76 public charter school programs, serving 14,000 students in seven states, the District of Columbia, and the Persian Gulf country of Qatar. It was founded in January 1997 by Dr. Dawn Eidelman (currently MEI’s Chief Education Officer and the President of the Paragon Division) and her husband, Gene Eidelman. Michael J. Connelly was named Chief Executive Officer in 1998.

The Company opened its first school in September 1997. Five of the schools it currently manages were acquired by the Company in connection with its acquisition of Advantage Schools, Inc. in August 2001. All other schools were developed by community boards in partnership with MEI as the service provider through start-up initiatives. The Company is privately held and venture-capital funded. Included in its shareholder base are a number of prominent private equity firms, including Murphy & Partners, J.P. Morgan Partners, Credit Suisse First Boston, U.S. Trust, Fidelity Investors and Bessemer Securities. [My bold]

Good to know the Wall Street fools and banksters are getting their grubby little hands on public education funds. Mosaica will also provide the following services for the non-profit charter:

Administrative Services

For the term of the Charter, MEI will provide to the Academy the following administrative services:

Personnel Management. Management and professional development of all personnel providing Educational Services and Administrative Services;

Facility Operation and Maintenance. Operation and maintenance of the charter school’s facility (the “Facility”) to the extent consistent with any and all leases or other documents pertaining to the Facility;

Business Administration. Administration of all business aspects of the charter school;

Transportation and Food Services. Provision of transportation and food services for the students enrolled at the charter school, as required by the Board;

Public Relations. Any and all advertising and public relations with the community and the media;

Budgeting and Financial Reporting.

Maintenance of Financial, Business and Student Records.

Admissions. Implementation of the school’s admission policy;

Student Hearings. Administration and enforcement of student disciplinary and special education;

Semester Reports. MEI will provide to the Board on a semester basis, (or more often if necessary for the Board to satisfy its obligations under the Charter, the Code and other applicable laws and regulations) a report detailing (A) student academic performance, and (B) MEI’s performance on administering Educational Services and Administrative Services;

Rules and Procedures. MEI will enforce the rules, regulations and procedures adopted by the charter school not in direct conflict with the management agreement, the Charter, the Code and other applicable laws and regulations. MEI will recommend rules, regulations and procedures applicable to the charter school and its students; and

Additional Administrative Services. Any other services reasonably necessary or expedient for the effective administration of the charter school.

What's left for HBA to do? Well, their board can rubber-stamp all the decisions made by Mosaica.

If you haven't lost your breakfast yet, here's some info on the the Coweta Charter Academy, the charter to be run by Charter Schools USA. Their final application - which is painful to read partly because it's ENTIRELY IN CAPITAL LETTERS - spells out how Coweta will turn over most operations to CSUSA, which uses a heavy dose of phonics and Open Court materials to "educate" their kids. And, in what looks like a Bakke-lite version of local governance, check out this little gem from their application:

Coweta Charter Academy will have a two-tiered governance structure. The Georgia Charter Educational Foundation, Inc. is the Founding Board and maintains ultimate responsibility for Coweta Charter Academy.

Here's where it gets even more interesting. The connection between the Georgia Charter Educational Foundation and CSUSA isn't entirely clear, but the foundation has a whole bunch of info on their website about CSUSA (it's also quite evident, based on these minutes from the foundation's July 16th, 2009 meeting, that the two groups are mighty friendly with each other). Additionally, the Georgia Charter Educational Foundation, Inc is the actual petitioner for the charter, and their governing board is led by John McIntyre, Jr, the executive director at Morgan Stanley's Atlanta branch. The charter's application makes no qualms about CSUSA's intent to turn a profit:

Contracting with CSUSA is in the best financial interest of the charter school because their compensation philosophy is rooted in school performance. If the school succeeds, then fees are paid. If the school is not successful, then the management company will not make a profit. As defined in the sample management agreement, CSUSA proposes a whole management method for determining fees. This method is more consistent with their comprehensive style of education management and by its nature holds them accountable for performance across all facets of school operations.

Ah, and the rabbit hole gets even deeper when the charter begins talking about their facilities:

The Georgia Charter Educational Foundation, through Red Apple Development, has executed a purchase and sale agreement for a specific parcel of land in the region specified above. Due diligence is currently being conducted on the site and actual closing on the property is contingent upon approval of Coweta Charter Academy’s Start-Up Charter Petition.

Red Apple Development, LLC shares corporate headquarters with...Charter Schools USA! It's also owned by Jonathan Hage, the President and CEO of CSUSA. Before getting into the for-profit education game, Hage was a research assistant working on foreign policy and defense studies for the neocons at the Heritage Foundation, and worked for Foundations for Florida's Future, which was the brainchild of Dubya's little bro, Jeb Bush. I smell something stinky here, don't you?

Stay tuned for more corporate charter school developments and profiteering reports. It's certain to be a wild ride.