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Deep Dive on all the Dirty ASD Audit Details

8/25/2016

 
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We're taking a closer look at the recent state and federal audits of the Tennessee Achievement School District or as those ASD hipsters like to say, "a deep dive."

​When you read how the ASD mismanaged money, we want you to think of your local school district. What would be the ramifications if your child's superintendent was caught spending tax payer dollars on wining & dining teachers and district employees? Using school monies to recruit students who do not live in the district? Getting reimbursed for undocumented travel expenses? Always purchasing on the high end with upgraded flights, black uber, premium hotel rooms, and meal overages? All the while, being derelict in duties. Putting teachers in classrooms without a state background check. Failing to verify whether employees met the educational requirements for their position.

We found gross incompetence, deception, and abuses in both audits. And we are not even going to paraphrase in our usual Momma Bear style. We are just going to lay out exactly what was written in the audit reports.

On ASD Abuse of Funds:

Federal Audit:
[T]he Achievement School District paid $1,752 for airfare for the superintendent to speak at conferences. These conferences might have been beneficial for the attendees, but they did not benefit the Race to the Top grant.
Tennessee and the Achievement School District spent $52,837 on travel and purchases without retaining any invoices or receipts.
Tennessee and the Achievement School District spent $14,975 on travel costs in excess of the maximum allowance rates, travel costs charged to the wrong account, and travel costs that did not benefit the Race to the Top grant. The costs included $8,152 for employee travel costs in excess of the maximum allowance rates. For example, the Achievement School District spent $344 on meals for the superintendent when the 1–day reimbursement rate for that location was $46 (difference of $298). Additionally the Achievement School District spent $130 on main-cabin extras and preferred seats on one flight and $120 on a seat upgrade for another flight for the superintendent and employees. The Achievement School District also spent $20 for a flight upgrade for the superintendent’s wife, who was not an employee of the Achievement School District.
The Achievement School District spent $9,447 on entertainment, such as employee parties, movie tickets, baseball tickets, and community picnics with a disc jockey and a bounce house.
Tennessee and the Achievement School District spent $14,198 on items for personal use and personal convenience, such as food and beverages, gifts for employees, and flowers for a supporter of the district and employees of the district. According to 2 C.F.R. Part 225, Appendix B, Selected Items of Cost, costs of goods or services for personal use are unallowable.
Tennessee and the Achievement School District spent $43,686 on promotional items, such as tee shirts, water bottles, cups, bumper stickers, wrist bands, laptop bags, and other items imprinted with the Achievement School District’s logo. According to 2 C.F.R. Part 225, Appendix B, Selected Items of Cost, unallowable advertising and public relations costs include costs of promotional items and memorabilia, including models, gifts, and souvenirs.
The Achievement School District spent $4,762 on public relations costs to promote the district. These costs were not necessary or reasonable for the administration of the Race to the Top grant and did not involve communication with the public and news media about the activities, accomplishments, or other matters of concern related to the Race to the Top grant. Instead, the Achievement School District was promoting itself and recruiting students.  ​
The Achievement School District spent $2,287 for a vendor to provide training to Achievement School District employees without providing evidence, such as certificates of completion or training agendas, that the vendor actually provided the services.
[T]he Achievement School District informed us that at least one employee used a district-authorized credit card to purchase items for personal use. According to an email from Tennessee’s Director of Internal Audit, the Achievement School District became aware of the abuse only after the employee notified management that she had accidentally used the district-authorized credit card to make a personal purchase. The Achievement School District then looked into other purchases that the employee made, found additional charges for personal items, and terminated the employee.
State Audit:
Management spent $2,500 on a holiday event held at the Sheraton Hotel in Memphis for all ASD schools and staff and to recognize the outgoing Superintendent. The event included expensive finger foods, alcohol, and a bartender.
Okay, we can't resist interjecting here—if we had known they were throwing a good-bye party for Barbic, we would have contributed out of our own pocket because that event was truly a reason to c-e-l-e-b-r-a-t-e!!
In recognition of ASD school leaders and support staff, management purchased $1,631 of alcohol using a purchasing card and charged the expense to Charter School Grant Funding, a private grant that provides “restricted funding for operating expenses for school year 2015-16 Achievement Schools: Corning Achievement, Frayser Achievement, Georgian Hills Achievement, Westside Achievement, and Whitney Achievement.” 
Another interjection to clarify that Whitney was the school where the students were served moldy hot dog buns out of a kitchen covered in rodent droppings. 
For four purchasing card purchases, cardholders charged hotel stays at rates that exceeded the maximum reimbursable rate, resulting in an overpayment of $130. Management could not provide any documentation, such as a conference brochure, to justify the higher rate.
The former Superintendent claimed a $75 Uber Black expense from the New Orleans airport to a hotel for himself and another employee. Uber Black is the company's most expensive luxury service, although less expensive options were available. According to the airport’s website, the flat fare for a standard taxi ride from the airport to the Superintendent’s destination was quoted at $36.
[ASD] paid $698 for all-day transportation services to drive the Deputy Superintendent to Memphis to attend a full day of meetings [and] booked this service at least six days in advance. At the time, management did not document the reason this option was the best compared to any alternatives. ​
During our testwork, we found one employee who worked at ASD’s main office in Memphis, but lived two hours away, claimed meals purchased at Memphis-area restaurants.
For one travel claim tested, totaling $65, management reimbursed the employee for the wrong amount. The employee purchased dinner for himself and a friend and paid for one meal, which they split, plus dessert ($10) and alcohol ($22). According to the employee, he meant to exclude the dessert and alcohol from the total, as he did not consume these items. However, he simply divided the meal total in half ($72.50) and submitted it for reimbursement. The employee received $65 in reimbursement, which was the maximum reimbursement allowed, but should have received $52.
For one travel claim tested, totaling $16, an employee, who stayed in Memphis overnight, purchased and claimed a meal expense for a friend who was not an ASD employee.
ASD made a $150 donation to the Denver Park Neighborhood Association, a private neighborhood association in Memphis, for a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

On ASD Incompetence…

Federal Audit:
[T]he Achievement School District authorized 12 employees to have credit cards. Each of the 12 credit card holders was authorized a $50,000 monthly credit limit. Therefore, each of the 12 card holders had annual access to a $600,000 revolving line of credit.
Before our audit, the Achievement School District identified one transaction that mistakenly charged $1,055 to the Race to the Top grant. The Achievement School District attempted to reverse the expenditure through an adjusting journal entry. However, instead of reversing the expenditure, the adjusting journal entry duplicated it. The Achievement School District eventually reversed one of the two charges, but $1,055 was still incorrectly charged to the Race to the Top grant. After we brought this issue to their attention, Achievement School District employees created two adjusting journal entries that removed $2,110 from the Race to the Top grant, although only $1,055 should have been removed. ​
We found that the Achievement School District classified travel and professional development expenditures as “office supplies and furniture;” classified expenditures for flowers, food and beverages, and security cameras as “travel;” and classified finance charges as “other supplies and materials.”
The Achievement School District spent $529 on late payment fees and finance charges for credit cards. The Achievement School District paid a total of $360 more than the monthly amount required by its lease agreement because of late payment fees. The Achievement School District also paid $70 in late payment fees for a utility bill and $99 in finance charges for its credit cards.
Tennessee and the Achievement School District spent $39,749 on contracted services without written contracts.
Tennessee spent $20,460 on contracted services for creating and branding the Achievement School District logo without an approved, signed contract.
State Audit:
By allowing employees to both initiate and approve expenditure transactions, management increases the risk that an employee may make an unauthorized purchase without management’s knowledge, thereby increasing the risk of fraud, waste, and abuse. ​
According to ASD’s General Counsel and Chief Operating Officer, ASD’s staff did not understand the need for risk-based fiscal monitoring, and federal programs staff missed trainings where they would have learned about these requirements. In addition, the General Counsel and Chief Operating Officer stated that ASD staff were overwhelmed with basic implementations, such as reimbursement processing; closing ASD’s books, and auditing, and would not likely have had time to develop and implement protocols. ​
Management did not have internal controls in place to prevent salary overpayments to terminating employees, and the Chief Operating Officer could not explain why the wages and benefits were paid. Out of 25 separated employees, 3 employees (12%) received either wages or benefits, totaling $5,891, after their employment with ASD ended.
Based on our inquiries, ASD’s main office staff did not conduct sufficient fiscal monitoring of its Achievement Schools Team, which is responsible for direct-run schools, and CMOs. We found that ASD fiscal management only obtained the CMOs’ fiscal data to determine if the CMOs achieved the desired levels of operating income, current ratio, and the days’ cash on-hand ratio. According to ASD’s Budget Manager, ASD had no formal policy to address issues in this analysis and had no policies and procedures for recourse if CMOs did not meet the desired levels. ASD’s General Counsel and Chief Operating Officer stated that monitors and auditors, rather than ASD staff, have always identified problems in ASD’s fiscal monitoring. ​
For six expenditure transactions for a dental insurance premium, donation, coffee supplies, and accrual calculations, totaling $131,637, and for three travel claims for a flight and expenses involving CMOs, totaling $4,734, management could not provide supporting documentation. ​
The supporting documentation for three expenditure transactions, totaling $41,346, was not mathematically accurate.
Just have to add some Momma Bear commentary here: So, let's get this straight. If a kid messes up on his math test, then his school can be taken over by the ASD. But if the ASD isn't mathematically accurate with taxpayer money, then no big deal. 
In our attempt to audit ASD’s human resources process, we reviewed ASD employee personnel files and noted that the personnel files for former ASD employees did not contain the appropriate documentation typically found in personnel files (resumes, college transcripts, etc.). Upon further review, we found that ASD management also did not have any personnel policies or procedures describing the types of documentation that should be maintained in personnel files. Specifically, we intended to review personnel files for nine main office employees. At the time of our testwork, management was not aware that one employee’s personnel file was missing until we told them. We found that the contents of the personnel files for the eight main office employees we selected for testwork were inconsistent. Missing documentation consisted of the following: resumes; a signed offer letter of employment; an ASD Disclosure and Authorization Form, which the employee uses to grant ASD management permission to run a background check; an Identification Badge Form; a Receipt and Authorization of the Tennessee ASD Employee Handbook; a Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System Membership form; a Basic Life Insurance Benefit Beneficiary Designation; a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Background Check; and a Payroll Information Form, which contains employees’ basic identifying information (including name, address, and phone number, etc.).

On ASD Deception...

Federal Audit:
Because we identified problems with the accuracy of adjusting journal entries for the transactions in our sample, we chose to review all 707 adjusting journal entries that the Achievement School District recorded from July 1, 2014, through September 30, 2014. We found that the Achievement School District dated 412 of the 707 (58 percent) adjusting journal entries so that they appeared to have been recorded in September 2014. However, the Achievement School District had not recorded any of the 412 adjusting journal entries until after October 6, 2014, the date that we notified it we would be examining expenditures...
The unallowable expenditures that the Achievement School District removed from the Race to the Top grant were charges primarily for contracted services, data processing services, and accounting services. The net effect of the 412 adjusting journal entries was to remove $85,385 in expenditures from the Race to the Top grant. Had the Achievement School District not removed these charges from the Race to the Top grant before our review, we most likely would have identified more unallowable expenditures during our review.
State Audit:
ASD employees backdated time and effort documentation, which suggested that the documentation was created at the time we requested the documentation but dated to match the transaction reporting period. ASD management acknowledged that they did not pay sufficient attention to the dates.
[The ASD] overrode system control best practices and allowed a terminated employee to retain access to ASD’s system; failed to take possession of a terminated employee’s laptop on the employee’s last day; and improperly continued to pay salaries and benefits to terminated employees after their last day worked, resulting in salary overpayments totaling $5,891
Based on our discussions with ASD staff, ASD management did not implement a process for verifying an applicant’s education credentials. During our examination of the eight personnel files noted in item B above, we obtained job descriptions for each position and found that each job description listed an education requirement. Because the personnel files did not contain school transcripts, it is unclear how ASD determined that employees met the minimum required education credentials as listed in their job descriptions. We asked the HR Generalist how management verified education credentials, and she stated that management does not verify education credentials.
Additionally, because of the lack of documentation, we could not determine how management or the HR Generalist determined the amount of bonuses and pay raises, and we could not verify that ASD management approved bonuses and salary raises initiated by the HR Generalist. Based on discussion with the HR Generalist, bonuses and salary raises were documented using emails. However, she failed to archive some of these emails, and the emails were deleted in accordance with ASD’s email retention policy.

Top Secret Ut-Oh

We don't know what to make of this…. But it looks like the state auditor caught something that can not be publicly discussed. Your guess is as good as ours. We'll let you try to figure it out. Here is what the audit report said:
The Achievement School District did not design and monitor internal controls in one specific area. Ineffective implementation of internal controls increases the risk of errors, data loss, and inability to continue operations. The details of this finding are confidential pursuant to Section 10-7-504(i), Tennessee Code Annotated. We provided the Department of Education with detailed information regarding the specific condition we identified, as well as the related criterion, cause, and our specific recommendations for improvement. ​
Here is the referenced T.C.A. section:

10-7-504(i)
Information that would allow a person to obtain unauthorized access to confidential information or to government property shall be maintained as confidential. For the purpose of this section, "government property" includes electronic information processing systems, telecommunication systems, or other communications systems of a governmental entity subject to this chapter. For the purpose of this section, "governmental entity" means the state of Tennessee and any county, municipality, city or other political subdivision of the state of Tennessee. Such records include:

(A) Plans, security codes, passwords, combinations, or computer programs used to protect electronic information and government property;
(B) Information that would identify those areas of structural or operational vulnerability that would permit unlawful disruption to, or interference with, the services provided by a governmental entity; and
(C) Information that could be used to disrupt, interfere with, or gain unauthorized access to electronic information or government property.
(2) Information made confidential by this subsection (i) shall be redacted wherever possible and nothing in this subsection (i) shall be used to limit or deny access to otherwise public information because a file, document, or data file contains confidential information.
(3) Documents concerning the cost of protecting government property or electronic information, and the identity of vendors providing goods and services used to protect government property or electronic information shall not be confidential. 

SMH...

We can't sum this up, we can't even wrap our brain around how these abuses and gross incompetences were allowed to go on for years at the Achievement School District—since its very inception. We have blogged on the ASD vultures for years, it's time for lawmakers and law enforcement to pay attention and take action. This type of fiscal irresponsibility would not be tolerated in our local school districts, it shouldn't be allowed in the ASD either. 

Auditors are calling for more TDOE oversight of the ASD yet again. But let's get real here. The TDOE has always been charged with overseeing the Achievement School District.  Have they ever taken that responsibility seriously? Consistently, we have seen the Commission of Education allow the ASD to get away with things that other LEAs would be called on the carpet over.

It's time for the state legislature to launch a full investigation of BOTH the TDOE and the ASD. 

Not Good, not good at all, ASD

8/24/2016

 
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The school year has not gotten off to a good start for the Tennessee Achievement School District (ASD). Just days after the first day of school, Green Dot principal of Fairley High School, Zachary Samson, was arrested at his school on two charges of tampering with and fabricating evidence. Based on the arrest affidavit, it would appear the principal advised two students to delete pictures from their phone after another student reported nude pictures of her were posted on social media. We would love to show you a copy of the arrest record but like the student's pictures, it has been deleted and no longer appears on the court's website. Apparently, the case has been expunged in a rather expeditious manner ie. removed lickety split. 

Then, things went from bad to worse for the ASD. Several days after the ASD principal's arrest, the Tennessee Comptroller's office released an audit noting some financial peculiarities:
  • The ASD did not establish adequate controls over several key human resources and payroll processes
  • The ASD failed to implement adequate internal controls over its expenditures, travel claims, and purchasing card purchases
  • The ASD did not perform sufficient fiscal monitoring of its direct-run schools and charter management organizations
That's boring accounting talk for the ASD didn't "TCB." But we already knew that. Remember when we told you about how the Barbic's loved mixing education reform with cocktails? Might want to read our Rat blog as a refresher. 

PARTAY with the ASD

Momma Bears has been telling you for quite a while about the ASD's Happy Hours. It is common knowledge in Memphis that the ASD recruits its new teachers by getting them liquored up at local bars with free drinks. We have even heard parents confront ASD officials about sponsoring Happy Hours for teachers. After shrugging their shoulders,
the ASD's response was that they also recruited at daytime events where they offered spa treatments like free mini massages. A veteran teacher was heard to grumble under her breath that she didn't become a teacher for free liquor and back rubs.
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The ASD has been offering free appetizers and two free drink coupons at area bars since 2013. One of the ASD's favorite watering holes is the Bar Dog Tavern. It's a gathering place for hipsters but there was some trouble there last week when one of Bar Dog Tavern employees was carjacked and shot in the parking lot. ​
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It comes as no surprise to us that the state audit revealed dirty details of the money spent on liquor and food at ASD parties. A list of the salacious expenditures appeared in The Memphis Daily News: 
  • $2,500 on a holiday event at the Sheraton in Memphis, in part to recognize outgoing superintendent Chris Barbic, including expensive finger food, alcohol and a bartender.​
  • $1,630 worth of alcohol for a staff recognition event and charged it to its Charter School Grant Funding, a private grant in which funding was restricted to operating expenses for five schools.
  • An employee took himself and a friend out to dinner on ASD’s dime and bought $22 worth of drinks, plus dessert, and failed to exclude them from his reimbursement. He wound up getting $13 too much, though he reported he didn’t consume the beverages or eat the dessert.

​So, the ASD fat cats were partying in hotels and feasting on "expensive finger food [and] alcohol." Meanwhile they served their students moldy food out of a rat infested kitchen. Click the rat below to read that blog again.  
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Momma Bears aren't the only ones questioning how the ASD spends its money. Both state and federal auditors have found financial irregularities with the ASD since the get-go. The ASD took over its first school in 2012. By 2013, the auditors were already reporting deficiencies in controls. Take a look below at what was reported in the most recent state audit:
We first identified issues involving ASD’s financial and federal program operations during the 2013 Single Audit, and in each of the Single Audit reports since 2013, we have reported deficiencies in ASD’s internal controls and noncompliance with federal program requirements, resulting in approximately $721,000 of federal questioned costs. ​​
The most recent federal audit from July of this year, noted the following:
We found that Tennessee and the Achievement School District spent $101,903 on unallowable items and activities and did not adequately document another $141,968. ​​
Since its inception, that ASD has racked up— 
  • Almost three quarters of a million dollars in questionable costs
  • Over a $100,000 in items not allowed 
  • Nearly $150,000 in undocumented expenses 

We think the Fairley High School principal isn't the only one who needs to be in handcuffs. 

Once a Rat, Always a Rat

12/28/2014

 
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Last year, the ASD used Happy Hour invitations to encourage Teach for America corp members to sign contracts obligating them to teach some of America's poorest and neediest children in Memphis. 

So where did this crazy idea of mixing education reform efforts with cocktails come from? Maybe it came from Houston, Texas when Chris Barbic and his wife, Natasha Kamrani co-starred in the My Houston 2040 Happy Hour circuit touting education reforms. 

In those days, Kamrani was running for school board in Houston and had to do some fast talking to convince her constituents that she actually supported public schools. As the wife of YES Prep Charter School founder, she faced heavy criticism that she would favor charter schools over her district's schools. One Houston constituent point blank asked:

Is Kamrani really interested in making Hogg, Marshall, Burbank and Hamilton better? Will the upper middle class Heights residents send their kids to the neighborhood schools? Or is she going to vote to divert more money to places like KIPP, further starving the neighborhood schools and not making them better at all?
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Photo Credit: Gabriel Suárez/Houston Chronicle
"I do not support charter schools that mismanage funds and fail to provide children with the opportunity to attain an excellent education."  --Natasha Kamrani

Well, that is what ASD Superintendent Chris Barbic's wife said back in 2005 when she was running for school board in Houston, Texas. She further responded to critics by promising, "[L]et me first say that I would never support any effort that would lead to 'starving the neighborhood schools and not making them better at all.'" 

Years later in Nashville, when no longer answering to constituents, Kamani seems to have changed her tune. 

In 2013 when Tennessee was considering a bill that would create a nine-member appeals panel to vote on charter applicants denied by local boards, MNPS Budget and Finance Committee chairman, Will Pinkston raised concerns that such a bill could have serious fiscal impacts on local school districts. “We need some sort of guardrail in place to prevent the charter appeals process from inadvertently running us off the fiscal cliff.”

Kamrani, now the state director for the Tennessee branch of Democrats for Education Reform, dismissed Pinkston's concern and calling it nothing more than a "scare tactic for political purposes." “I don’t buy it,” Kamrani said. “It sounds like folks aren’t ready to roll up their sleeves and work to solve a kid attrition issue of their own creation due to consistent low-performing schools." 

But when the shoe was on the other foot and Kamrani was responsible for the fiscal well-being of her school district, she was soundly criticized in Houston for putting greed ahead of the needs of children:
Natasha Kamrani, the executive director of the Arnold Family Foundation, was a leading backer of linking teacher employment to student test scores, and an opponent of just about anything the Houston Federation of Teachers favored, while she served on the school board.  It was the victory of two candidates backed by Ms. Kamrani, Laura Arnold and John Arnold that produced the policy where teachers can be fired based on student standardized test scores. After linking teacher evaluations with student test scores, the next area for reform is school lunches: charging more for them, cutting costs by eliminating “fresh fruit” and other quality ingredients, and firing or reducing the work hours of underpaid cafeteria workers.

Once a Rat, Always a Rat

Cost cutting in the cafeteria? Sound familiar???? 

It should, we blogged earlier about the ASD in Tennessee coming under fire for molded hot dog buns and rodent droppings in one of their school cafeterias in Memphis. Click the picture below to read our blog about it. 
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If Only the ASD came with a Money Back Guarantee

12/27/2014

 
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Momma Bears hopes everyone enjoyed the holidays but we know some of you may have gotten presents that you didn't want, need, or like. And then there are those gifts that don't work or live up to their promises. So now that the holidays are over, we need to return those useless gifts and get our money back. 

Let's start with the ASD and Chris Barbic. Back in 2010, when everyone was waiting for Superman, we all thought Barbic was it. He appeared on Oprah and collected a cool million for his charter school, YES Prep in Houston. Both he and his wife, Natasha Kamrani received numerous accolades for their efforts in education reform. 

But his leadership of Tennessee's ASD has been a bitter disappointment and it's clear that Barbic is no Superman. Under his direction, the ASD has failed miserably and been the subject of on-going litigation. It has never lived up to its promises of catapulting the bottom 5% of schools into the top 25% in only five years. Instead, the data shows that ASD charter school operators are no more successful than the school districts who ran the schools before they were taken over by the ASD.  In many cases, ASD schools are even falling behind their traditional public school counterparts. 

So we'd like our money back. The ASD is not best for our kids and we need to return it for traditional public schools that serve the needs of all children and are governed by locally elected school boards.  After all, we suspect the Barbic's would demand a tuition refund if their child's private school did not live up to its promises. 

Which bring us to a rather unusual message received over the holidays...

Momma Bears received a message from someone purporting to be Chris Barbic's child. We were asked to quit blogging about him and were blamed for his recent heart attack. We don't personally respond to those types of messages and believe these issues are best handled by adults. So we would like to publicly address the issues about our blog and its impact on the health of someone's dad. 

We would like everyone to know that we don't blog to cause heart attacks. We blog because we are directly connected to public schools across the state. People need to know our perspective as public school parents.

We know first hand, the impact stress has on the health, well-being, and personal lives of all those affected by ASD takeovers and other corporate driven reforms in public education. It's not just one person's dad who is affected. Entire communities are under stress. Children are publicly crying and begging for their schools to remain open. Good teachers are stressing out because they are being replaced by unskilled TFA corp members. Parents are confused and often mislead by the takeover process. Imagine their stress.

But unlike the students, teachers and parents across Tennessee, Chris Barbic has always had a choice in the matter. He chose to move to Tennessee. He chose to be superintendent of the ASD. He chose to collect a hefty paycheck for his troubles, not to mention the profits from nepotistic side deals. He has always had a CHOICE in the matter. 

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We, however, were never given a choice. We never voted for the ASD nor did we elect their school board. The ASD and its appointed superintendent were forced on the good people of Tennessee. We never asked for it nor do we want it. It is an unwanted present that doesn't work!! So, it is high time, we declare the ASD to be failed experiment and get our money back so we can spend it on what we really want---good quality neighborhood public schools.

Everybody Hates Chris

12/9/2014

 
Tennesseans are growing increasingly louder in their disdain for Chris Barbic and the state-run Achievement School District. We told you in our last blog, Who Loves Ya, Baby? about the ASD starting out on the wrong foot in Memphis where parents complained their children were mistreated by the new charter schools. Over two years later, things have not yet improved in Memphis and now, the ASD has set its sites on expanding in Nashville. 

Once again, Chris Barbic is facing outraged parents, community members, and concerned local officials. 

In Nashville...

Photo Credit: The Tennessean
Photo Credit: WSMV-TV Nashville
Photo Credit: NewsChannel 5 Nashville
Only one school in Nashville is currently under ASD control, Brick Church Prep. In 2012, at the direction of Tennessee's Achievement School District, LEAD charter school chain took over operations of the school's fifth grade while the older grades at Brick Church remained under the control of Metro Nashville Public Schools. LEAD, a chain that operates several other charter schools in Nashville promises that it will to do whatever it takes to "graduate 100% of their students and send them to a four year college."  

It'll be years before those fifth graders at Brick Church Prep are headed off to college. But in the meantime, LEAD has come under scrutiny for its poor performance data. In a letter dated October 27, 2014, MNPS served official notice to LEAD that its middle school is performing significantly below expectations. At the same time, Barbic has made it clear that MNPS will lose another school to LEAD.

Unlike Memphis where schools taken over by the ASD are matched with the best charter school choice, Nashville schools will not have a choice of charter schools. KIPP, Green Dot, and Freedom Prep all pulled out of consideration leaving only LEAD as the default choice for the ASD's newest takeover in Nashville. So, which MNPS middle school will be taken over by the ASD?  

Two schools are being considered: Neely's Bend Middle School and Madison Middle School. Edushyster wrote a hilarious blog based on the bachelor. We are still waiting to see which school Barbic will hand the final rose. That lucky school will then be taken over by the ASD and run by LEAD charter schools. 

But parents, teachers, students, even some Metro Nashville officials are fighting back against the ASD and are especially critical of Barbic's choice of LEAD for the charter operator:

Madison Middle School boys basketball coach Marketo Days delivered this message to Supt. Barbic:
"I think you jumped the gun a little too early because you have people here at this school who give everything that they have," shouted Days, standing a foot from Barbic. "We love this school, and we want it to stay exactly how it is."
At Neely Bend Middle School, the audience was equally unwelcoming of the ASD and the accusations flew:
"At Neely's Bend, some parents accused the ASD of trying to select one of the Madison schools because they are on the cusp of making it off the ASD-eligible list: "Would you take the worst car or the best car?" said Krishonda Lanier, a parent of a sixth-grader at the school. "Even if you like a fixer-upper, you're going to take the better of the two cars."
One Nashville dad has even accused the ASD of gaslighting parents: 
"Gaslighting is a form of mental abuse in which false information is presented with the intent of making victims doubt their own memory, perception, and sanity." "I’ve been in a fair amount of schools that are described as failing schools over the last several years. The thing that always baffles me is that they never feel like places of failure." "Last night teachers from the school were introduced at the beginning of the meeting and they were greeted like they were the Rolling Stones taking the stage." "Looking around I see a well kept school. Examples of student work litter the halls. Teachers move about interacting with students and their families. They obviously have formed strong bonds. Trust me, I know failing and this didn’t look like it."
And the angry parents have even started a petition against the ASD takeover:
"It's clear from this week's meetings that parents, students, educators, and the community do not want these schools turned into charters. Over and over parents have asked that available resources be directed to these schools before resorting to charterization. [T]ell Dr. Register and MNPS to direct appropriate resources to these schools, and tell Chris Barbic of Achievement School District to respect the Madison community's desire to reject a charter takeover."
But there's more than just outraged parents. There is real evidence. As mentioned above, MNPS has found LEAD Middle School to be significantly lacking in achievement. And there is evidence that LEAD's other charter schools are not performing well either.

Let the Data War commence:

Read More

Who Loves Ya, Baby?

12/9/2014

 
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Whoopsies, our bad, Telly is one of the good guys. Let's try this again.

Everybody Hates Chris

From Memphis to Nashville, the ASD, the state run Achievement School District, has become so increasingly unpopular among parents, students, and teachers that communities have gone from begging and pleading to now demanding that the state-run ASD and its system of low achieving charter schools stay away from their children. 

In Memphis...

Photo Credit: Commercial Appeal
Photo Credit: Antonio Parkinson Facebook Page
Photo Credit: Fox13 Memphis
Since the ASD first began operations in Memphis, parents have been complaining that their children are being mistreated at ASD schools. And the complaints from parents are growing even louder. Barbic's own, YES Prep, was recently shouted down by parents at American Way Middle School. While on the other side of town, Raleigh-Egypt High School parents successfully stopped the ASD from handing their school over to Green Dot charter schools.

In 2012, Chris Barbic promised to catapult the bottom 5% of schools in Tennessee to the top 25% in five years. But as the years pass, his promises fade as his tenure with the ASD seems riddled with mistakes and failures.  

At Lester Elementary School, one of the first schools taken over by the ASD in 2012, parents sounded off against Barbic over how their children were being treated at school. From The Commercial Appeal: 
"One mother brought her small daughter to the microphone to tell ASD Supt. Chris Barbic that she wet her pants twice because teachers would not let her use the restroom and then had to wear the same clothes until school was out. The child also said teachers took her shoes and made her walk barefoot, apparently because she failed to ask permission to tie her shoes."
Also in 2012, the first year of operations for the ASD, a SPED teacher at Westside Middle School was appalled by the lack of care for special education students. She went on to file suit against the ASD suing Chris Barbic personally. Tennessee Education Matters explains: 
"Dr. Morgan filed suit against the ASD and its officials for violating guidelines set by the Tennessee DOE, Division of Special Education as well as violating federal law including the Education for All Handicapped Children Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Her lawsuit essentially accuses the ASD of not adequately preparing and equipping Westside Middle to provide special education services." 
And now as 2014 comes to a close, the ASD is drawing more criticism than ever...

According to Tennessee Education Reports:
"The ASD’s student achievement numbers have failed to meet their own ambitious targets and also failed to grow at a rate consistent with that of district schools." And "...it seems irresponsible to allow the ASD to take on more schools."
And the Commercial Appeals says:
"The ASD, now in its third year of trying to turn around low-performing schools, is up to its neck in credibility issues." "It is also being sued over how Yes Prep was selected to be part of the stable of charters that receive 10-year contracts to run schools in Tennessee. (Superintendent Chris Barbic, 42, founded Yes Prep nearly 15 years ago.)"
Memphis is a prime example of the dismal failures of the experimental Achievement School District and its novice superintendent, Chris Barbic. In his efforts to force success on schools struggling with generational poverty and social injustice, Barbic is leaving angry parents and hurt children in his wake. And now, he has set his sites on Nashville.  

Everybody Hates Chris---to be continued 

To Read about the ASD takeovers in Nashville click here. 

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