Imagine Prep at Superstition: four years of dysfunction and disarray
June 7, 2012
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by David Safier
NOTE: Since Imagine School at Superstition made news by firing 11 of its 14 teachers, I've been writing about it, reading up on Imagine Schools and talking to people who know more than I do. This is the second of what will be a few posts trying to make sense of the nation's largest charter school corporation which has drawn more controversy for its practices and low student achievement scores than any other (Here's the first post). What I write may be incomplete or incorrect in places. If you have information to add, please leave comments or email me at safier@schooltales.net. I keep all email correspondence confidential.
Dennis Bakke, founder and CEO of Imagine Schools, has an unusual and ineffective strategy for running his charter school empire, which is the largest in the nation. He pitches his philosophy of the workplace — integrity, justice and fun — to his staff, which he detailed in his book "Joy at Work" (required reading for employees). Then he practices "decentralized leadership," which he says results in "high levels of employee satisfaction and dedication." While this may have worked for Bakke when he was building Applied Energy Services where he made his fortune (before the company collapsed in the wake of the ENRON scandal), its hit-or-miss approach to creating schools has resulted in hit-or-miss schools. Some Imagine Schools have succeeded, but many others have been failures for the students and staff. Often, "employee satisfaction" approached zero.
Imagine Prep at Superstition in Apache Junction, a high school with a middle school housed in the same building, is a prime example of a dysfunctional Imagine school. In its four years of existence, it has experienced three nearly total turnovers of staff and four different teaching strategies. By the end of this year, things were bad enough that the Republic wrote an article about student protests against the administration and an almost total exodus of the teaching staff.
Imagine Prep at Superstition began in 2008 with 100 students and 4 1/2 teachers. It was a computer-based school. Students spent most of their time sitting in front of computer screens working their way through curriculum supplied by Apex Learning with little or no classroom instruction. Only two teachers returned for Year 2.
Mittens makes stuff up, the media villagers just yawn
June 7, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
If the media villagers are not interested in doing their job — informing the public — then why don't they find another line of work that is more suitable for them? The pathological liar Willard "Mittens" Romney continues to make stuff up, and the corporate media villagers just yawn.
The latest example: Mittens claims that President Obama doesn't have a plan to create jobs, and at the same time blames President Obama for failing to pass his jobs plan through the obstructionist Tea-Publican Congress. Is this some version of "heads I win, tails you lose"?
It would be in line with Romney's "I'm rubber, you're glue" strategy. It appears that Romney's intellectual development was arrested around the age of 5. When adults are solicitous of lying little 5 year olds, it just encourages the evil ittle bastards to lie even more.
Steve Benen reports The jobs agenda slips down the memory hole:
Many of us have become painfully accustomed to Mitt Romney making claims that aren't true, but once in a while, his most egregious falsehoods strike a nerve. This week in Texas, for example, the Republican presidential nominee told a whopper that Andrew Sullivan called "a classic of total disingenuous crap."
"[W]ith America in crisis, with 23 million people out of work or stopped looking for work, [President Obama] hasn't put forth a plan to get us working again," Romney said Tuesday. "Now I know we're getting close to an election so he'll come out with one soon, but three and a half years later, we're waiting."
Plenty of fine folks have noted the absurdity of the argument, but I'd like to echo their sentiments. When Romney says things like this, he's obviously lying. There's no gray area; it's not a claim that's partially true; it's simply 100% false. It's not even a close call.
Fact Check: Karl Rove’s pants on fire – the stimulus worked
June 7, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Satan's spawn, Karl Rove, and his eccentric conservative Texas oil billionaire-funded American Crossroads has entered the CD8 Special Congressional Election race with mailers that assert the standard GOP talking point that the economic stimulus package did not work, and was "reckless spending." Funny how Karl Rove fails to mention the Bush tax cuts, … Read more
Explorer editorial rips Kelly on ALIPAC endorsement dodge
June 6, 2012
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by David Safier Thelma Grimes, managing editor of The Explorer, thinks it's a reporter's job to ask candidates tough questions and it's the candidate's responsibility to answer them. According to her editorial, KGUN asked Jesse Kelly a tough question, and Kelly, to his discredit, wimped out, over and over and over. [Full Disclosure: I write … Read more
Willard ‘Mittens’ Romney had better things to do during the Vietnam War
June 6, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
The AP ran this story on Tuesday about Romney's (non) military record faces new scrutiny:
Though an early supporter of the Vietnam War, Romney avoided military service at the height of the fighting after high school by seeking and receiving four draft deferments, according to Selective Service records. They included college deferments and a 31-month stretch as a "minister of religion" in France, a classification for Mormon missionaries that the church at the time feared was being overused. The country was cutting troop levels by the time he became eligible for the draft, and his lottery number was not called.
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[B]ecause Romney, now 65, was of draft age during Vietnam, his military background — or, rather, his lack of one — is facing new scrutiny as he courts veterans and makes his case to the nation to be commander in chief.
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Romney's recollection of his Vietnam-era decisions has evolved in the decades since, particularly as his presidential ambitions became clear.
He said in 2007 — his first White House bid under way — that he had "longed in many respects to actually be in Vietnam." But his actions, Selective Service records and previous statements show little interest in joining a conflict that ultimately claimed more than 58,000 American lives.
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Political rivals, military veterans among them, suggest that Romney's own decision not to serve in the military is in conflict with his pro-military rhetoric.
"He didn't have the courage to go. He didn't feel it was important enough to him to serve his country at a time of war," said Jon Soltz, who served two Army tours in Iraq and is the chairman of the left-leaning veterans group VoteVets.org.
Critics note that the candidate is among three generations of Romneys — including his father, former Michigan Gov. George Romney, and five sons — who were of military age during armed conflicts but did not serve.
Sorry media villagers, ‘independents’ are not nonpartisan or centrists
June 6, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Over the years i have posted about political science studies which demonstrate that "independent" voters are actually partisan "leaners." Data from the American National Election Study analyzed by political science professor Alan I. Abramowitz of Emory University showed that in 2008, independents made up 40 percent of eligible voters, but only 33 … Read more
Gaming open primaries
June 6, 2012
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by David Safier California's open primary system may be coming to Arizona if people vote for it in November. If it passes, caveat emptor: let the most disciplined and cynical party win. Case in point. In California's 31st Congressional District, two Republicans will square off in November to see who will be the district's representative. … Read more
A silver lining in Wisconsin? Democratic candidate wins, wrests control of state senate
June 6, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: A funny thing happened this morning when Wisconsin began counting the remaining ballots to be counted. Democratic former state Sen. John Lehman, who had been narrowly trailing at the end of counting on Tuesday night, is the unofficlal vote final winner by by 779 votes over Republican state Sen. Van Wanggaard. That … Read more
