by David Safier Ah, the joys of semi-focused googling. I just found with this gem from 2007. Imagine Schools wanted to open The Environmental Charter School at Frick Park, but Pittsburgh Public Schools turned them down. Get ready for the reason . . . Imagine's Environmental Charter School hadn't developed an environmental curriculum. True, they … Read more
by David Safier I have never witnessed as many ex-teachers and administrators with ill feelings toward a school as I have heard coming from people who used to work for Imagine Schools. I've received comments and emails from teachers, principals and upper level administrators in Arizona and across the country who left with very bad … Read more
by David Safier Until a few court decisions come out, the fate of the Mexican American Studies program is up in the air. Is the anti-MAS bill HB 2281 unconstitutionally vague? Is it too targeted at one program? We don't know how the judge will rule or whether the ruling will be appealed. And we … Read more
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.
by David Safier Ask a question Jesse Kelly doesn't like, and his answer is he's focused on some combination of jobs, energy, lower taxes and the national debt. So when MSNBC's Chuck Todd asked Kelly if he would vote to keep student loan interest rates from doubling, his answer was, wait for it . . … Read more