These guys fished for schools. Got a whole city. Perfect image of a corporate coup in America.

[madfloridian]

The owners of Charter Schools USA out of Florida were so arrogant they named their yacht Fishin' for Schools.


Hage and Pozzuoli’s yacht in back of Hage’s Coral Ridge Country Club home in Fort Lauderdale.

In fact they have apparently staged a coup that we once would have thought would not happen here. They have been given all the public schools in the city of York, Pennsylvania.

The people of the city are against it. But as late as yesterday a judge gave it the go ahead even though an appeal has been an appeal has been filed by the district.

"I will be looking for a new job," Hoover said Sunday. "I do not want to be involved in a for-profit charter. I don't think that they're in it for the students. I think they're in it for the money, and I don't want to be a part of that."

She is not alone. A York County judge's ruling Friday paves the way for a state appointee to follow through with his plan, unveiled in November, to convert the district to charter schools operated by a for-profit company called Charter Schools USA.

.....The decision of President Judge Stephen P. Linebaugh gives everything but taxing power to David Meckley, a Spring Garden Township businessman who has steered the district's financial recovery process for two years. His tenure started after the state placed York City in moderate financial recovery status.

Attorney Marc Tarlow, representing the district, said he filed an appeal to Linebaugh's decision

...Bolt, a teacher in the district's Cornerstone intervention program, said she's also placed her hope in Wolf.

"I know that Wolf can't reverse receivership. But at the very least I'm hoping he can appoint someone that is a little bit more friendly to the idea of keeping the public school system for York City," she said. "At the very best, I'm hoping that Wolf kind of swoops in and makes the problem go away."

It seems Meckley prefers for Charter Schools USA to take over the York schools.

That means, if a district appeal is unsuccessful, that Meckley will assume all responsibilities of the locally elected school board except the ability to set the tax rate.

Though the judge's ruling gives him leeway there, too.

Meckley spent the past two years developing and implementing a financial recovery plan heavily focused on the need to improve the district's academics.

In the past six months, he's transitioned to advocating for a full conversion of district schools to charter schools operated by a for-profit company called Charter Schools USA.

I would like to believe that this will soon be called an attempted coup that failed.

[daleanime]

1. What the hell.....

hope I'm not alone in thinking this crazy.

[Starry Messenger]

2. I love how charter supporters avoid these threads

Like the plague. Grimly amusing.

[madfloridian]

3. It is scary stuff. It's so out in the open and in your face stuff.

Both our president and our ed secretary have called for more charter schools. I wonder if they have a clue about the monster they have allowed to grow.

[Starry Messenger]

6. I don't think they consider it a problem, sadly.

[zeemike]

8. We should be scared it is the John Birch plan for education

going back to the days of segregation.
I never thought I would live to see it implemented and by Democrats as well as the GOP.
WTF happened to us?

[LWolf]

13. Grim, anyway.

I'm not sure I can scrape up any more actual amusement at this point.

[Initech]

19. "For profit" is a virus that destroys anything it touches.

[world wide wally]

4. And now you can see what the attack on public education has been all about. It started

with Reagan's manufactured crisis in education and continues today. Don't get me started, but just know they are doing the same thing to the Postal Service and there is a ton of money to be made by Republican cronies off your backs.
Yeah, Republicans will fix it.

[madfloridian]

5. When they hijacked New Orleans schools after Katrina...we did not pay attention.

Now they are trying it again right out in the open.

[Doctor_J]

11. you believe dems are not involved in this?

[world wide wally]

15. Some Dems are involved, but the Republicans are committed.

I have been watching this closely since I began teaching in 1993.
I do support Obama for the most part, but his educational policies just suck.

[blackspade]

7. The public money siphon rolls on.

I'm so glad that these charter school raiders have been kept out of KY thus far.
That may change though, when enough money has greased the wheels.
I feel for the families that will have to endure this charter school nonsense.
A whole generation is going to loose their education for corporate profit.

[mountain grammy]

9. If it fails as an attempted coup, that would be preferable

to it failing in practice, which it most surely will with the taxpayers and children of York the losers and the CEO of Charter Schools USA buying a whole fleet of yachts.

[Doctor_J]

10. doj needs to look into rico charges. sieze all of their property and then

tear their lives apart. Make an example of them

[annabanana]

12. Oh I expect than Arne has no prob with it. . .n/t

[TRoN33]

14. Yes it will be failed coup by charter schools.

Look at Wisconsin and Illinois. 80% of charter schools has just shut down and caused students to look for a new public shools by this week.

Charter school is failed concept by Gates Foundation and other plebeian corporations.

[cachukis]

16. Tax credits.

There was an executive order signed by Obama at the behest of Duncan supporting Charter schools that offered a tax credit for up to 35% of investmenst in struggling school districts. Hedge funds jumped into the game. They also get an additional 10% credit if they refurbish an old school. Since the money funding these schools is mostly taxpayer dollars these guys are buying the golden egg. Don't remember the actual order or date, but was reading about hedge fund investments in charters not so long ago. Here is an article from the WAPO.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/06/04/why-hedge-funds-love-charter-schools/

[madfloridian]

17. Thanks so much for that link. Had been looking for articles about those tax credits.

I had a bunch of info on it, but in the move to my new computer things got labeled something else.

[cachukis]

18. You're welcome.

Glad you're still at it. Two and a half to go.

[world wide wally]

20. Just look at history and let the facts fall where they may.

Well into the late 20th century, the US lead the world or was almost at the top in virtually everything. Manufacturing, agriculture, technology, military might, and so forth and so on. What is most interesting about this was that over 90% of our people received a public school education whether at an elementary, secondary, or college level.

Then Reagan commissioned his study of public education with the results determined before it ever began. It was called "A Nation At Risk" and the sole intention was to discredit public education and manufacture a crisis to pave the way for privatization of education and watch the bucks roll in.

Bush's "No Child Left Behind" was billed as the cure and even Obama's "Race To the Top" is another continuation of this privatization master plan hatched some 30 years ago. Now we are beginning to see the fruits of their labor and it ain't gonna be pretty.

[madfloridian]

25. Nation at Risk was a shocker to teachers who knew their schools were working.

NCLB was geared to all students to fail...because it demanded everyone pass the same test as they kept raising the standards.

Unhealthy stuff.

[liberal_at_heart]

27. The fact that Democrats support Race to the Top proves that conservative values have seeped into

liberal values. The elite, intellectual liberals will rise to the top along with the elite, intellectual conservatives. Anyone who can't keep up just doesn't deserve to be at the top. It's sickening. What's worse is there is no middle class. Most Americans knew they would never make it to Harvard but wanted a shot at at least buying a house and retiring with dignity. Thus the unions were born. You could be in the middle and still have some dignity. Now, there is nothing left. There is the elite and the poor and that is it. The middle has been stolen from us. and the Democrats don't seem to have a problem with it.

[Thespian2]

21. K & R

Thanks, madfloridian. Charter schools are an excuse for governments to shed their duties of providing quality education for all students. Parents and students are meaningless to charter schools. Draining the local, state, and federal governments of all the tax monies they can get is their single reason for being.

Linebaugh and Meckley deserve a special place in Hell. You know, the worst of the worse places.

[madfloridian]

24. For years public schools have had their resources grabbed from them...

and given to charter companies and also private schools via vouchers.

They are starving the public schools and enriching private companies.

[liberal_at_heart]

22. no taxation without representation.

[AdHocSolver]

23. Privatization: A pandemic disease that destroys everything it infects. nt.

[world wide wally]

26. The nine most frightening words in the Engliah language are...

I'm from a corporation and I'm here to help.

[djean111]

28. Really scary part - a corporation may be able to directly increase tax rates -

That means, if a district appeal is unsuccessful, that Meckley will assume all responsibilities of the locally elected school board except the ability to set the tax rate.

Though the judge's ruling gives him leeway there, too.