TRONA CHARTER SCHOOL SCAM

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Re: TRONA CHARTER SCHOOL SCAM

Postby ergot » Tue Jun 04, 2019 7:39 pm

shadylady wrote:tronagirl: Resigning would make a lot of sense, but the board would have to push the issue. I doubt that the current supt would frame the situation as being his fault. He'd probably push the idea that he was victimized by the scammers just like everybody else. Even if he took payoffs under the table, that's what he'd try to sell to the public. It will be very interesting to see how this situation develops over the next few months!

To play the victim card in this situation would be a total and complete cop out! He was in charge and so he should accept responsibility. The only dignified thing to do is to resign. Pretending to be a victim in this situation is totally cowardly! Only a worthless scumbag or sniveling crybaby would fail to take responsibility. How can anyone on the staff have an ounce of respect for a dipshit who is incapable of taking responsibility for something that turned out to be a total con job!
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Re: TRONA CHARTER SCHOOL SCAM

Postby wildrose » Wed Jun 05, 2019 3:45 pm

ergot: Although your language is a little harsh, I wholeheartedly agree with what you say. I just wouldn't say it using such strong language. Several people I have discussed this situation with also feel the same way. It's clear that there were clear warning signs against sponsoring the charter school and it was bad judgement to do it anyway. Which does provide sufficient reason to be suspicious. So, yes, I can understand why you used such harsh language, but I still find it somewhat objectionable. However, as one of the administrators on this board, I will allow your statement to remain.
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Re: TRONA CHARTER SCHOOL SCAM

Postby ergot » Thu Jun 06, 2019 8:37 am

wildrose: Perhaps my language was strong, but I'm sick and tired of nothing being done about situations like this. Leaders need to be held accountable and it's frustrating that leaders so often make stupid decisions or abuse their power in some way and no one does anything about it. Mismanagement of public funds is a big deal and I'm sick and tired of incompetent idiots making mistakes with my money!
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Re: TRONA CHARTER SCHOOL SCAM

Postby twister » Fri Jun 07, 2019 4:16 pm

Massive California Charter Scandal Highlights Need for Accountability Legislation
This case will probably creep forward for months, if not years.
A3 Education recruited small public school districts to sponsor the charter schools in exchange for oversight fees. Prosecutors say A3 enrolled about 40,000 students throughout the state, none of whom received any services. The grand jury returned its indictment May 17 after hearing six weeks of testimony from more than 70 witnesses.

https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Charter-School-Scandal-Suspects-Appear-in-San-Diego-Court-districtattorney-stealing-money-finance-crime-510920821.html
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Re: TRONA CHARTER SCHOOL SCAM

Postby wildrose » Sun Jun 09, 2019 9:50 am

DeVos, unions drive Democratic candidates to back away from charter schools
The backlash against charters has been going on for a few years. They have become more of an opportunity for con artists than an opportunity for kids!
In 2009, a newly-elected President Barack Obama called on lawmakers to remove limits on charter schools, saying it “isn't good for our children, our economy, or our country” to hinder their growth. Ten years later, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., announced an almost mirror-image position: A national moratorium on federal funding for charter schools pending an audit, and a ban on for-profit charter schools. "Charter schools are led by unaccountable, private bodies, and their growth has drained funding from the public school system," his campaign said in a press release.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/unchartered-territory-2020-democrats-back-away-charter-schools-n1014706
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Re: TRONA CHARTER SCHOOL SCAM

Postby surfsteve » Mon Jun 10, 2019 7:12 am

Like our political system, It seems like education has become such a scam these days. I suppose it's due to mechanization. The vast majority of employers only need physical labor and someone to push buttons. Instead of solving more complex problems, education has focused on making easy problems more difficult to solve on paper. I would much rather see them solve story problems to prove they understand the concept than a bunch of ridiculous dots but that would require everyone learning how to read which is apparently racist.
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Re: TRONA CHARTER SCHOOL SCAM

Postby wildrose » Mon Jun 10, 2019 7:53 am

It's not that education is a scam, but that education is a target for scammers. Here are a few examples:

1) Companies that sell textbooks - Often they lobby at the state level to force local school districts to only use their texts. They justify this by paying for "scientific" studies which prove that their materials facilitate learning better than other curricular materials. Politicians are easily duped by fake science and campaign contributions don't hurt either.
2) Educational technology - Administrators want to be on the "cutting edge" and pay exorbitant fees to companies that promise to get them there. Not only is educational software often overpriced, but also often equipment is also often overpriced. However, sometimes large companies offer great deals in order to hook students as future customers and to collect data. Over-pricing was more common in the 1990s and free (but with a hidden agenda) has been the trend since around 2008 or so.
3) Charter schools - Exempted from restrictions and regulations in order to make them thrive turned them into a wonderful opportunity for scam artists.
4) Testing - Big money in testing and companies (often the same ones that sell books) use fake science to justify various trends that exclude competitors. Testing is mostly a scam and many of the tests contain material which is agenda driven and doesn't actually provide any useful information about student learning.
5) Liberal agenda - Libtards have a stranglehold at the state level in most states, but especially in California and so we get all sorts of "inclusionary" course content which contradicts traditional values. However, much of this is camouflaged in various ways to be more palatable or to escape detection.

There are probably other scammers that I haven't included on this list, but you can't blame the teachers.... at least not all of them!
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Re: TRONA CHARTER SCHOOL SCAM

Postby surfsteve » Tue Jun 11, 2019 6:15 am

I don't blame the teachers. At least not all of them. Also this problem goes way beyond education. It's a systemic problem that permeates society. We have the most expensive health care system in the world and yet in terms of functionality it is closer to the bottom than it is to the top where it should be. I imagine the same is true of our educational system, our government and our news media. We live in a fake world where Facebook, CNN, Google and Youtube pretend to represent reality. These days reality is just an algorithm.
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Re: TRONA CHARTER SCHOOL SCAM

Postby drdesert » Tue Jun 11, 2019 6:22 am

panamint_patty wrote:This does not look good, but that doesn't mean the superintendent is a crook. I'll admit that such is a possibility, but I'm not ready to go their yet. It does sound like this will get a whole lot worse before it gets better, but I don't think it is a disaster for the local school district. Obviously a whole bunch of people are saying I TOLD YOU SO right about now!

That's because it should have been obvious that an ONLINE CHARTER was the perfect set up for con artists to take advantage of the system. You couldn't ask for a better set up to provide cover for dishonest people to get away with something. With a normal school it's at least possible to show up and take a body count. With an online school an auditor would be required to go around and visit each home of each individual student to verify that such a person actually exists! The same could be true of teachers supposedly employed by the company. Even they might work from home making it way difficult to verify that they actually exist also!
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Re: TRONA CHARTER SCHOOL SCAM

Postby cactuspete » Fri Jun 14, 2019 6:24 am

Charter School Scam Targets San Juan Hills High Students
Quite a few small school districts were caught up in this scam. It wasn't just Trona by a long shot.
As part of a wide-ranging scheme, the defendants sought out small school districts with limited experience in oversight and proposed they authorize online charter schools to earn additional public funds in the form of oversight fees.”

https://www.thecapistranodispatch.com/charter-school-scam-targets-san-juan-hills-high-students/
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