The former director of the now-closed Milwaukee's New Hope Institute of Science and Technology Charter School was indicted today in federal court on two counts of embezzling $300,000, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.Rosella Tucker, 54, of Milwaukee, established the school in 2003 with a charter from Milwaukee Public Schools. It was a subsidiary of Tucker's umbrella corporation, New Hope Child Development Center, which also included her voucher school, Tucker Institute of Learning, a press release said.The indictment alleges that from 2003 to 2005, Tucker embezzled over $300,000 in funds from the charter school, the release says.In 2006, MPS closed the school for failure to meet its financial obligations. The indictment charges two counts of theft from a program receiving federal funds. Tucker faces up to 10 years on each count but it is unlikely she would get that much time under federal sentencing guidelines.
Here are your tax dollars at work...
"Small schools" are ruining something that was close to broken already.
So you take kids out of the big traditional schools where every teacher is certified and teaching in their own subject area, move them into the latest fly by night "small school" that in some cases have one or zero certified teachers. While the kid is at the school watching movies, sleeping or at best reading from a 10 year old text book, teachers at the big school are being cut and treated like crap.
Great plan!!!!
This is what the head of MPS thinks is a great idea. It is failing miserably and just about everyone knows it.
Where is the data that these small schools work?
Next up...middle schools trying to save their hide by turning into 6-12 schools.
No plan, no direction, nothing by chaos and cut-throat schools.
So good bye Bay View, your thousands of grads don't mean anything, the fact that you offer students many more choices, are in a building that is made for high school students and create an actual high school environment doesn't matter.
Lets have every school do whatever they want.
why not just have every school be K-12...no sports, no special programs, no plays, no arts, nothing...just as many kids as possible all together.
What a bunch of BS
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Head of former charter school indicted
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So you take kids out of the big traditional schools where every teacher is certified and teaching in their own subject area, move them into the latest fly by night "small school" that in some cases have one or zero certified teachers.
All of New Hope's teachers, believe it or not, were certified. As a charter, it had to meet many more regulatons than the voucher schools--which you may be thinking of instead--and because it didn't, MPS shut it down.
I have a long post mostly written in my head about why all of this is happening. Andrekopoulos is not blameless, but I would point fingers first at everyone who, for decades, bad-mouthed MPS and demanded "change." Well, we've changed. We've done everything you asked us to do, from vouchers to charters to multiplexes and beyond. What's left? What else would you ask of us?
And who was it who demanded that "change" and insisted we try all those outlandish schemes? I would start on the AM dial ...
I thought I wouldn't live long enough to see it, but now I really
think MPS will be dissolved-shut down in my lifetime. I might live long enough to see it happen.The true incompetence of "leaders" such
as awful Andrekopoulos,and their horrible decision making will lead to the downfall....
There is no question that conservatives are wrong on this issue. In this case, more choice is not good since all you are doing is destroying the entire framework of MPS.
Now, some will say that is fine because MPS is crap, but what is happening right now is worse.
Jay, you are flat out wrong to say that Andrekopoulos should only take a small part of the blame (how I took your statements). He IS the reason for this terrible situation. You live it every day, and I think you understand that his "small school" program will be the end of MPS, period.
There is no vision, no direction, no plan. Everyone to fend for themselves. I don't know of any school district run this way.
It is complete chaos, and if you don't agree Jay, peak your head out into the hallway and then watch and see how more and more and more teachers are cut from big schools and replaced by less professional teachers in the small schools.
And to point this out again, I get kids from these small schools that tell me that watch movies every day, they lie about attendance, they have no structure, no rules, no disapline...not like it is MUCH better in MPS, but it is still better...we can have a talk about how admin. in MPS need to start being more conservative in their standards and expectations...
Also, a few teachers that I had in masters classes also said they could only find a job at these schools and they were the only certified teacher or one of a few.
why should the schools provide extracurricular programs like plays and sports on the taxpayer dime?
For those of us who had a full and enriching high school careers, many of the life lessons and memories from high school come from extra-curriculars. They make you care about your school, they help struggling students looking to find motivation a chance to be successful in the classroom.
For those who did nothing in high school and hated every minute of it (unless you found the drugs or alcohol to numb you for awhile), and are still looking for meaning and fulfillment, you are not going to understand what a healthy high school career is all about.
and when I said "you" I meant anyone who was unhappy that they didn't get a chance to partake in extra-curriculars...
ridiculous, what about a smart kid, who goes home and actually studies, rather than getting "passes" from his coach
i've seen the by-products of both approaches, and i'll hire the kid who excelled in his classes without preferential treatment every time
plus, extracurriculars are far more prohibitively expensive for school districts to administer, then they were when you were coming up
outsource the extracurriculars, and let the schools concentrate on their primary mission, academics and vocational training
the taxpayers can no longer afford touchy-feely "meaning and fulfillment", they are paying to have their children educated, full stop
The tax payer can no longer afford
one or two kids on a school bus...
more social workers..more psychologists..breakfast,lunch,and supper being thrown out or thrown on the floor...security that doesn't secure the building...small
schools that have small chance to be successful...overpaid administrators who don't earn their
salary...school board members who are more concerned with other issues rather than the public schools they supposedly serve... and on and on and on.............
i absolutely agree with you, scorpion, costs have gotten out of control, and the extras must be sacrificed
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