It was pretty much a done deal, but to further nail the coffin closed, the Lancaster School District formally rejected – again -- the absurd application for the proposed Academy of Business and Entrepreneurship Charter School (aka Gulenists dba). This was the second round for this proposal and the second time it was shut down. It’s kind of hard to win approval when the entire board, the community at large, the mayor, and city council all say – go away!
The Board handed the boys 41 pages of reasons to deny the application. Further, the Board cited the cut and paste techniques that the boys seem to have mastered so well when applying for charter schools. They continually deny that they are interconnected but surprisingly their applications more often than not are made up of borrowed material from their other schools (which of course are not connected).
As a refresher, this is the charter school that had planned to transport the elementary school attendees to summer internships at various companies around the Lancaster, PA area. Sure, that’s what I’d want – a bunch of Gulenists taking my child to some business (most likely run by fellow Gulenists) and pretending like the kids are working towards an MBA at the age of six. Who needs basic math and reading when the Gulenists can offer candy making and Turkish classes? (As an aside, Godiva is a Gulenist company, so perhaps they’re recruiting future truffle makers; and think about how you’re helping to support Gulen the next time you reach for a Godiva truffle).
But the thing about the Gulenists is that they don’t care how much of our tax money they throw at lawyers, because it’s not coming out of their collective pockets. Perhaps if they were required to break open their own personal piggy banks instead of that of the tax payers, they would stop filing, appealing, and pulling whatever other legal (and not so legal) maneuvers they could to open their schools.
The School Board, Mayor, and City Council have collectively warned these guys that if they should decide to appeal this latest decision that they will sue them and use every possible resource available to stop them. So let’s hope that the Gulenists will take their “tail between their legs whipping” and slink out of Lancaster once and for all.
Below is the article from Lancasteronline:
http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/school-district-of-lancaster-board-to-vote-on-charter-school/article_0b2f9eb4-98b3-11e3-8e02-0017a43b2370.html
By Kara Newhouse, published on February 19, 2014 on the Lancasteronline website.
School District of Lancaster rejects charter school, approves preliminary budget
The second time wasn’t a charm for the Academy of Business and Entrepreneurship Charter School.
Repeating a decision made last March, the School District of Lancaster board unanimously rejected ABECS’ proposal for an entrepreneurship-focused charter school on Tuesday night.
“The next time (they apply) we should definitely sue them,” said SDL board member Harvey Miller of the group’s multiple attempts to create a charter school in the city.
The ABECS board submitted its second application in November. Some ABECS board members also were involved with Lancaster Science Academy, a proposed charter rejected by SDL’s board in 2008.
ABECS board president Indrit Hoxha said the board would read the district’s 41-page rejection before deciding whether to appeal to the state.
He said the district’s vote was disappointing. “We were expecting to make a change in Lancaster city,” Hoxha said.
In its written decision, the SDL board called ABECS’ new application “essentially identical” to the previous one.
Among the issues identified in the decision were curriculum plans that refer to other schools advised by Harold Kurtz, an ABECS consultant.
“It appears plain to this board that the entirety of these high school course descriptions are merely copied from the curriculum of another charter school advised by Dr. Kurtz,” the decision said.
The decision also said that the application fails to show ABECS’ community support, “ability to provide comprehensive learning experiences” and ability to “satisfy the legislative intent of the (charter school law).”
n In other business, the board approved a 2014-15 preliminary budget that allows the district to raise taxes by up to eight percent.
The district must apply to the state for exceptions to raise taxes above its Act 1 index of 3.1 percent.
Only Fanny Castellanos voted against the $187 million preliminary budget. Linda Owens was not present. Jennifer Desmarais attended via Internet but was not present during the vote.
The board faces a $7.7 million deficit for the 2014-15 school year. Contracts and operations chairman Randolph Carney said he would prefer to stay within the Act 1 index, but voted to apply for exceptions to create flexibility moving forward.
An eight-percent tax hike would amount to a $215 increase on a home assessed at $100,000.
Superintendent Pedro Rivera pointed out that the district qualifies for Act 1 exemptions because of its excess costs for special education and pensions — state-mandated expenses.
If the board chooses not to raise taxes above its index, the district will have to cut programs or draw money from reserves.
Matthew Przywara, SDL’s chief financial and operations officer, said at a contracts and operations meeting on Feb. 11 Przywara that the district will have $12.8 million in its reserves at the end of this year. If the board decides to use those funds to balance the budget, the reserves would go into the red by 2015-16.
“We’ve got some serious work ahead,” said board president Stacey Marten after the preliminary budget vote on Feb. 18.
The board must finalize its budget in June.
The Board handed the boys 41 pages of reasons to deny the application. Further, the Board cited the cut and paste techniques that the boys seem to have mastered so well when applying for charter schools. They continually deny that they are interconnected but surprisingly their applications more often than not are made up of borrowed material from their other schools (which of course are not connected).
As a refresher, this is the charter school that had planned to transport the elementary school attendees to summer internships at various companies around the Lancaster, PA area. Sure, that’s what I’d want – a bunch of Gulenists taking my child to some business (most likely run by fellow Gulenists) and pretending like the kids are working towards an MBA at the age of six. Who needs basic math and reading when the Gulenists can offer candy making and Turkish classes? (As an aside, Godiva is a Gulenist company, so perhaps they’re recruiting future truffle makers; and think about how you’re helping to support Gulen the next time you reach for a Godiva truffle).
But the thing about the Gulenists is that they don’t care how much of our tax money they throw at lawyers, because it’s not coming out of their collective pockets. Perhaps if they were required to break open their own personal piggy banks instead of that of the tax payers, they would stop filing, appealing, and pulling whatever other legal (and not so legal) maneuvers they could to open their schools.
The School Board, Mayor, and City Council have collectively warned these guys that if they should decide to appeal this latest decision that they will sue them and use every possible resource available to stop them. So let’s hope that the Gulenists will take their “tail between their legs whipping” and slink out of Lancaster once and for all.
Below is the article from Lancasteronline:
http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/school-district-of-lancaster-board-to-vote-on-charter-school/article_0b2f9eb4-98b3-11e3-8e02-0017a43b2370.html
By Kara Newhouse, published on February 19, 2014 on the Lancasteronline website.
School District of Lancaster rejects charter school, approves preliminary budget
The second time wasn’t a charm for the Academy of Business and Entrepreneurship Charter School.
Repeating a decision made last March, the School District of Lancaster board unanimously rejected ABECS’ proposal for an entrepreneurship-focused charter school on Tuesday night.
“The next time (they apply) we should definitely sue them,” said SDL board member Harvey Miller of the group’s multiple attempts to create a charter school in the city.
The ABECS board submitted its second application in November. Some ABECS board members also were involved with Lancaster Science Academy, a proposed charter rejected by SDL’s board in 2008.
ABECS board president Indrit Hoxha said the board would read the district’s 41-page rejection before deciding whether to appeal to the state.
He said the district’s vote was disappointing. “We were expecting to make a change in Lancaster city,” Hoxha said.
In its written decision, the SDL board called ABECS’ new application “essentially identical” to the previous one.
Among the issues identified in the decision were curriculum plans that refer to other schools advised by Harold Kurtz, an ABECS consultant.
“It appears plain to this board that the entirety of these high school course descriptions are merely copied from the curriculum of another charter school advised by Dr. Kurtz,” the decision said.
The decision also said that the application fails to show ABECS’ community support, “ability to provide comprehensive learning experiences” and ability to “satisfy the legislative intent of the (charter school law).”
n In other business, the board approved a 2014-15 preliminary budget that allows the district to raise taxes by up to eight percent.
The district must apply to the state for exceptions to raise taxes above its Act 1 index of 3.1 percent.
Only Fanny Castellanos voted against the $187 million preliminary budget. Linda Owens was not present. Jennifer Desmarais attended via Internet but was not present during the vote.
The board faces a $7.7 million deficit for the 2014-15 school year. Contracts and operations chairman Randolph Carney said he would prefer to stay within the Act 1 index, but voted to apply for exceptions to create flexibility moving forward.
An eight-percent tax hike would amount to a $215 increase on a home assessed at $100,000.
Superintendent Pedro Rivera pointed out that the district qualifies for Act 1 exemptions because of its excess costs for special education and pensions — state-mandated expenses.
If the board chooses not to raise taxes above its index, the district will have to cut programs or draw money from reserves.
Matthew Przywara, SDL’s chief financial and operations officer, said at a contracts and operations meeting on Feb. 11 Przywara that the district will have $12.8 million in its reserves at the end of this year. If the board decides to use those funds to balance the budget, the reserves would go into the red by 2015-16.
“We’ve got some serious work ahead,” said board president Stacey Marten after the preliminary budget vote on Feb. 18.
The board must finalize its budget in June.
