Month: February 2013

Judge reinstates Board at Florida [ex?] Imagine charter school

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by David Safier

For those of you following this story (a shout-out to Floridians who are reading and commenting here on Blog for Arizona), Imagine North Port charter school is trying to sever ties with Imagine Schools, one of the main reasons being North Port is tired of sending money — it would be $890,000 next year — to Imagine and getting little in return. Tuesday, a judge said the principal, Justin Matthews, could stay on even though Imagine tried to suspend him. "He's trying to steal a school," Imagine's lawyer said in court. Today, according to an email from a parent I'm communicating with, the judge ruled the original Board, not the one Imagine tried to create in its place, will be in charge until the end of the school year, at least. The Imagine lawyer asserted, "We have the sole right to replace the Board," but apparently the judge doesn't agree.

This is a victory for the Board and what I understand to be a large majority of the parents (though one commenter said some parents are upset by the Board's move and aren't happy with the principal).

The issue of who controls, or runs, or "owns" a charter school that's part of a national chain is problematic. Is it really a local school if it's run out of headquarters in Virginia where the hiring, firing and allocating of resources takes place — and, in some cases, the curriculum is created? Is this what was envisioned when people first promoted charter schools as being close to their communities and able to create educational options that take students' and communities' needs into account?

UPDATE: More information from an email I just received from my parent contact below the fold. Imagine schools is looking ever more underhanded as this farce continues.

Quote of the day

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by David Safier Asked about the concerns that Brewer's Performance Funding model rewards schools with high income students and punishes students with low income students, Dale Frost, Brewer’s education policy adviser, said, “Are they completely unfounded concerns? No. But are they blown way out of proportion? Yes.” Translation: Sure it rewards the winners and punishes … Read more

Constantin Querard reaches out to BfA

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by David Safier

I considered writing a snarky post but changed my mind. This is a pretty interesting event without any attititude from me.

This Sunday I got a short email from Constantin Querard referring to me as his "designated Go To Baja Arizona Leftie [followed by a smiley face]." He said he wanted to run a bill by me to see if I might support it. I replied sure, tell me more.

If the name isn't familiar, Querard is an Arizona conservative political operative who has run campaigns for many of our legislators on the far, far right, which makes him about as far away from me politically as he can possibly get. He has a reputation for using underhanded tactics that have infuriated even some highly placed Republicans. But he and I had a back-and-forth on BfA a number of years ago, so we've had some previous contact.

The bill is HB2551: "financial institution records; disclosure; notice." Querard wrote a long email trying to convince me it was a wonderful bill that Democrats would agree with if only they understood how wonderful it was. I got the impression he thinks the bill might not get enough Republican votes, so he was hoping to pull in a few Democrats, and I might help him secure a few votes. (I hope he doesn't think Dem legislators kiss my ring and beg for favors and advice. Not likely.)

The bill's sole sponsor is David Gowan (R, LD-14), a right winger from the area around Sierra Vista. That was my first clue I might not like the bill. My second was an article about the bill in the Phoenix New Times by Stephen Lemons, one of the best pull-no-punches investigative reporters in the state. To give you an idea of how strongly he dislikes Querard and HB2551, here's how the article begins:

Obama administration to file amicus brief to overturn California’s Prop. 8

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie: The Obama administration will file a brief in Hollingsworth v. Perry to overturn California's Prop. 8 before the deadline later today. Pete Williams at NBC News reports, Obama administration to express support for gay marriage before Supreme Court: Administration officials say the Justice Department will urge the U.S. Supreme Court to allow … Read more