BESE OKs BR charter school for dyslexics

Overriding the recommendation of a national evaluation group, Louisiana’s top school board Wednesday gave conditional approval for a new charter school in Baton Rouge that would serve students with dyslexia.

Dyslexia impairs the ability to read.

The school, which will be called Louisiana Key Academy, includes Dr. Laura Cassidy, who is the wife of U.S. Rep. William Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, as the president of its board.

A team of experts from the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, which the state uses to review applications, said the plan should be rejected because of leadership problems.

In a written report, a three-person panel said the proposed school leader lacked vital experience and “did not demonstrate the type of initiative necessary to learn the myriad of details required to successfully run a public school.”

But officials of the state Department of Education urged BESE to approve the application subject to finding a leader that meets state requirements.

In a report to BESE, department officials said the application met every standard set by the review team except school leadership.

“The board has demonstrated capacity to oversee a school leader and should therefore be given the opportunity to provide a school leader for review,” state education officials said in their report.

BESE’s approval is contingent on state officials agreeing on a leader for the school in February.

Dr. Laura Cassidy said Wednesday she was pleased by BESE’s vote.

“We are confident we will find a principal,” she said, adding that officials here are being helped by a Houston group.

Charter schools are public schools run by non-governmental boards.

They are supposed to offer alternatives to traditional public schools, including innovative missions and teaching methods.

About 57,000 students attend the 104 charter schools that operate now.

Teacher union leaders and other critics contend charter schools drain dollars from traditional schools, and arguments over proposed and existing charter schools sparked arguments before a BESE committee until about 9 p.m. Tuesday night.

The school plans to open for the 2013-14 school year and be located south of LSU’s central campus.

It would initially serve 186 students in grades kindergarten through second grade.

Officials hope to have 412 students in grades K-5 by the 2016-17 school year, draw students from East Baton Rouge and surrounding parishes and that half of the enrollment would be children who qualify for free and reduced lunches, which is a sign of family poverty.

BESE also approved a second charter school for students in grades K-8.

It will be called the East Baton Rouge Charter Academy and is under Charter Schools USA, which already operates two charter schools in Lake Charles.

In a report to BESE, state education officials said Charter Schools USA has a good track record with K-8 charter schools in Florida.

However, the state panel, also at the urging of department officials, rejected plans for another charter school — called North Baton Rouge Charter Academy — that would have been run by the same group.

The issue sparked controversy Tuesday on BESE’s School Innovation and Turnaround Committee.

But state Superintendent of Education John White said Wednesday that, after discussions on Tuesday night, he and others held to their original view that the application should be denied.

State officials said Charter Schools USA has not proven that it can operate multiple schools serving high-needs populations outside of Florida.

Comments

1) Comment by Concerned_Parent - 07/12/2012

iteachkids.....Dr. Cassidy is not planning to run the school, fine and dandy, the problem is that there is NOBODY chosen to run the school, yet BESE still approved the application! If you went to the bank and applied for a loan to start a business, yet you had no idea who would run it, do you think you would get approved? No, because it would not be a wise decision by the bank to do so. The firm they PAID to give them advice told them NOT to do it, but they did it anyway. Why? If you are a teacher, answer this. If you gave your students instructions NOT to do something, but they go ahead and do it anyway, what would you do? By the way, go read up on the 4 charter schools in Mr. Whites beloved NO RSD that are being shutdown after this year. The ones he claims are saving the children. I would like to see a report from him on WHY these schools failed. He is quick to point fingers at the public schools/teachers, so what is the excuse for the charter schools?

2) Comment by 1ryben - 07/12/2012

Doesn't the school leader answer to the board? Either way, I do stand corrected that Dr. Cassidy will not be the school leader. As for how folks profit from charters, have you seen some of these salaries paid to charter leaders? Have you read about the corruption in other states with similar ALEC inspired charter policies? I may have missed the mark on labeling Dr. Cassidy as the school leader, but I stand by my larger points that Mr. white and the BESE board have been acting rather arrogant and that these school leaders are no more qualified to dictate education policy than I am to dictate medical policy. In my frustration I may have made a rush to judgement about the Cassidys but as a teacher I think it reasonable that with the constant feeling of being unappreciated and constantly portrayed as money grubbing and lazy, and responsible for society's ills that my emotions can overwhelms. After all that we've been through lately and the arrogant, spiteful attitude stemming from BESE, Jindal, White, a nod company, please excuse me if I am very distrustful. Everything we've been told about charters thus far has been a lie. Sorry if I offended.

3) Comment by iteachkids - 06/12/2012

I just wanted to make a few points: 1. Dr. Laura Cassidy is not planning to "run" the school. She is a member of the board of directors which is responsible for hiring a school leader. According to state law, the school leader "runs" the charter school. This article clearly states that the school board is searching for a school leader. 2. Page 23 of the Charter School Bulletin 126 (found at http://www.doe.state.la.us/divisions/charters/ ) clearly states: "No member of the board of directors of any Type 5 charter school shall be an elected official as defined by the Louisiana Code of Governmental Ethics. No individual formerly classified as an elected official may serve on the board of directors of any Type 5 charter school for a period of one year following his or her termination from elected service." The Louisiana Key Academy will be a Type 2 Charter School. 3. I am not clear on how you believe the Cassidys or anyone else will profit from this endeavor. Several people, including Dr. Laura Cassidy, spent several months and many, many hours researching and writing the application for this charter. Each person did so at his/her own expense. Unlike schools boards for regular school districts, board members for charter schools serve with no compensation. In fact, board members are often expected to make individual contributions to the school whenever school fundraisers take place. 4. Proposed salaries of all employees, including the school leader, will be very similar to those of similar positions in the surrounding 7 parishes. Pupil-teacher ratio will be low. If you know anything about school budgets, salaries take up about a very large portion of the budget, particularly in schools with low pupil-teacher ratios. Frankly, there will be no money available for anyone to "profit" from it. I could go on, but I don't think I will at this time. If anyone is interested, copies of ALL charter school applications can be found on the Department of Education's website. I suggest that before you blast others you do a little more research.

4) Comment by 1ryben - 06/12/2012

I am not opposed to a school for dyslexic students either. I am opposed for the blatant disregard for the ethics rules set forth by the ethics board. I do not have a problem with the parent of a dyslexic student being involved with a school for such students. The issue is that this is the wife of a Congressman wanting to run the school. Look, my kid has the flu, but I am not qualified to run a hospital. Now if they were building a children's hospital, consulting parents may be a good idea, but you'd want medical professionals to be in charge of the operation (pun intended). It's only in the highest levels of education that being an education professional is looked at as being a liability.

5) Comment by dtd2112 - 06/12/2012

Sorry, problem with the address in my previous post. http://manshipdigital.wordpress.com/2012/10/09/proposed-charter- school-seeks-to-educate-dyslexic-children-in-baton-rouge/

6) Comment by dtd2112 - 06/12/2012

I am not a big fan of most charter schools, but I like the idea of this particular specialized school available to students who might otherwise be unable to get the help they need in a regular school setting. The Cassidys may indeed have other motives, however I'm pretty sure their interest in dyslexia is not just tied to the charter school movement--one of their kids is dyslexic. Some more info about the proposed school: http://manshipdigital.wordpress.com/2012/10/09/proposed-charter- school-seeks-to-educate-dyslexic-children-in-baton-rouge/

7) Comment by 1ryben - 06/12/2012

Such arrogance from Mr. white and the members of BESE! I guess that's par for the course. Just this week alone they ok virtual schools though their funding mechanisms have been ruled unconstitutional, but don't worry, they'll worry about the funding later. Plus,they'll appeal and although the state amendment specifically dealing with MFP is quite clear that even my child understands what it says, they're confident it will get overturned. Or they'll find funding somewhere because let's face it, Louisiana is awash in cash. Then they hire a firm to vet the charter school applications and completely ignore their recommendation. Absurdity! You'd almost think they had their minds already made up to give this charter to the spouse of a powerful legislator. We know that kind of stuff wouldn't happen here. Jindal promised us a government with high ethical standards. Remember? There is no way an immediate family member of an elected official could profit from the board on which that family member sits...right? Hello Roemers! Lunacy! Oh, and if Dr. Cassidy can start a school for which she is not qualified for, can I open a Dr's office? Probably not, I don't know the right folks and I didn't grow up in a well connected family.

8) Comment by Noel Hammatt - 06/12/2012

I wish to correct something I wrote earlier this morning. Raymond Allmon pointed out to me on FB that it is not his group, Stand For Children, that is supporting BAEO and the call for protests over the decision by the Federal Judge in the Tangipahoa case. Instead, it was the Federation for Children. Forgive me, it is hard to keep track of the "astro-turf" so-called "non-profits" used by the reformers to work behind the scenes using a combination of lies, myths, and outright chicanery to take over public schools. I guess one of the reasons I mixed them up is they have the same funding streams. DeVries and Walton families are the major supporters of both, and while Stand For Children doesn't actually advocate for vouchers, their Billionaire buddies do! And the net effect of both is the same anti-public school mentality. Sometimes I am not even sure if the local leaders of these groups, with their checks covered by the Billionaires, even know when they are being used as pawns. I don'[t remember ever seeing anything in print about Stand For Children opposing ANY of the "reformers" policies in the legislature, in the newspaper, or in any real practical sense. I wrote, and will continue to write "Stand ON Children" for this group, because the practical results of their efforts all have one goal, the destruction of public education, the bashing of teachers, and the privatization of the schools. All while their leaders claim to be for children and draw salaries to accomplish something quite different.

9) Comment by Noel Hammatt - 06/12/2012

Dr. Laura Cassidy was an excellent Doctor and Surgeon, though I have no idea how that qualifies her to lead a charter school. More than anything else, I suspect that the connection to an elected official tipped the scales easily on this one. When Charter schools began, there was a clear (but disingenuous) lie being told about how charter schools were going to be totally focused on education, with three certified teachers required to be on the board, and how they were going to be showing us new ways to teach. What charters and charter policies have shown us, over and over again, is that they are designed to drive apart the education market place, and destroy public education for the sake of a few well-placed "leaders" who will be well paid for their roles. Charter school law in Louisiana prohibits (as @civitasiveritas pointed out below) elected officials from serving on their boards, but that is no problem, since we can have spouses, sisters, and other family and friends clearly involved, even though all other sections of ethics laws prohibits immediate family members just as they do the elected members themselves. A clear conflict of interest. But then, the state seems to ignore most charter school laws, and The Advocate and other such media ignore the laws, since they were early supporters of the scam. Those of us who questioned the motives and modus operandi of the charter proponents were told, over and over that charters were forced to ensure that their student bodies included the same percent of at- risk (students qualifying for free or reduced meal prices) as the local schools, but this law is a joke, and totally ignored by the leaders promoting privatization at all costs. The claim is that the school's leaders "hope" that their school will contain "half" of their students who qualify for "free and [sic] reduced meal prices." So, the "plan" is to violate state law. EBR, where the school will be located, has over 80% qualifying for free or reduced meal prices. But no surprise here. And even the proponents of charter schools recommended that this school not be approved. The very board PAID by BESE to give recommendations is ignored in the full-court press to get as many of our students in profit-making schools before the public wakes up to the total disdain these reformers have for the democratic process. Lies, back room deals, and a total lack of transparency is the real modus operandus of the reformers. Did anyone else notice that we have ABSOLUTELY NO INFORMATION ON THE VOUCHER STUDENTS SOCIOECONOMICS? IT IS NOT EVEN CLEAR, according to many in local districts around the state, that the students selected even qualified for their vouchers. But, they can't have access to the very data they could use to verify the status of those students. Now BAEO and Stand ON Children (which should be their true name) are calling for protests against a judge who is upholding the law, when he pointed out the lies that had been told about local money not being used for vouchers. Shame on BAEO and Stand ON CHildren, whose leaders are extremely well- paid for their lies.

10) Comment by Concerned_Parent - 06/12/2012

If this doesn't prove the REAL push for school vouchers, I don't know what will. How many kids will get labeled as dyslexic, who aren't, so that they can transfer them to this new charter school and fund it with taxpayer money. "We are confident we will find a principal,"....Of course you are, I'm sure the Cassidy's, Jindal, or White already have a buddy in need of a job just waiting in the wings.

11) Comment by crabby - 06/12/2012

When our superintendents and school board administrators don't have the education or the certificates to be allowed in a classroom, why would we expect a charter school leader to be qualified. Anyways, we have no right to stand in her when there's money to be made and children to be exploited.

12) Comment by Ivy - 06/12/2012

This is the hypocrisy that keeps us from having any real dialogue about what's best for our children. Is Dr. Cassidy (wife) a specialist in education? Never heard of her before now. Which may only be indicative of my ignorance, but I fear it is because she hasn't been on the forefront fighting for our children until now. This is wrong on so many levels. Nice how they waited until Dr. Cassidy (husband) was re-elected to come up with this gem.

13) Comment by civitasiveritas - 06/12/2012

Move along folks. Nothing to see here. Just a highly connected (spouse of a Republican Congressman) charter school applicant is NOT going to be denied her wishes. After all, look at who her husband is? These charter folks are not stupid. Unqualified, illegitimate, self-serving, profiteering yes, but NOT stupid. Who better than an elected official to run get your school past BESE, even when the national charter promotion group who is being paid to vet the school applications recommends a pass! Oh wait, you can't have an elected official on your board (though the state looks the other way at most violations of its own charter school law) but I guess having the elected member's SPOUSE is ok. Kind of like having a BESE member's SISTER running the Charter School Association is ok... Why didn't the North Baton Rouge Charter get a pass? Can't have competition with John Spain's newest pet project in North Baton Rouge, the Achievement Zone. You have to hand it to these people, they have no shame, and no ethics whatsoever. The only transparency in their operations is the transparency of their own self-interests being served at the expense of the citizens of Louisiana. It will take decades to overcome the damage to our state done by these denizens. White said that "after discussions on Tuesday night, he and others held to their original view that the application should be denied." Wonder who the "others" were. Who is pulling the strings binding the future of Louisiana to a few wealthy outsiders? White lies.