Just How Much Money Did Shuttered NC Education Non-Profit Receive?

Posted on August 24, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

In 2013, the North Carolina General Assembly established the Education and Workforce Innovation Act (EWIA) under House Bill 902 with the purpose of fostering, ” innovation in education that will lead to more students graduating career and college ready.”.

EWIA was included in the 2013 Appropriations Act under section § 115C‑64.11.

EWIA’s mandates  included providing millions in grant money to school districts after they completed a lengthy set of application requirements.  This program was to be administered by NC New Schools.

How much money did NC New Schools receive and where did it go?

According to the 2013 Appropriations Act, a federal grant (Investing in Innovation Fund Grant) was also awarded to NC New Schools. A single report dated March 3, 2015 filed by NC New Schools regarding this grant was located on the General Assembly website. No dollar figures pertaining to the project at hand were mentioned in the report, however NC the grant appears to have been $15 million via the federal Investing in Innovation, or i3, fund. View NC New Schools i3 application.

Earlier this year, NC New Schools shuttered its doors and filed for bankruptcy.  The organization was heavily funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation via four separate grants totaling nearly $18 million dollars.

The largest Gates Foundation grant goes back to April 2006. That grant was  for ‘redesigning high schools’ and was over $14 million dollars.  NC New Schools also received multiple grants from the Carnegie Foundation spanning a 6 year period which totaled roughly $925,000.

The EWIA established an advisory commission.  Members include John Skvarla, Secretary of Commerce, June Atkinson, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Bill Cobey, Chairman, State Board of Education, Tom Ross, President, University of North Carolina System and Scott Ralls, President, North Carolina Community College System.

The EWIA commission also had 6 appointees; 2 each selected by the Governor’s office, the NC House of Representatives and the NC Senate.

EWIA also included mandatory reporting before September 1st of each year, yet only one report filed in April of 2015 seems to exist on the legislature website.  As of the publishing of this article, the current year’s report is still outstanding according to page ten of the list of reports due on the NCGA’s website.

According to that 2015 report the, “Governor’s Office staff partners with staff of North Carolina New Schools to administer the Education and Workforce Innovation Program and enact the vision established by the General Assembly and the Commission.”.

In the April 2015 report,  NC New Schools was said to receive 5% of all the funds appropriated to EWIA:

Appropriations Act of 2014 PART XXIII. OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE INNOVATION PROGRAM SECTION 23.1.(a) Of the funds appropriated for the Education and Workforce Innovation Program, established under G.S. 115C- 64.16, up to five percent (5%) each fiscal year may be used by the Office of the Governor to provide technical assistance and administrative assistance, including staff, to the Commission and reimbursement expenses for the Commission, and five percent (5%) each fiscal year shall be allocated to North Carolina New Schools Project. North Carolina New Schools Project shall use the funds to establish a peer learning network for all grantees to ensure high-quality implementation of grant programs that lead to strong results for students.

The list of grants and details of each one was also in the April 2015 report:

  1. Beaufort County Schools – $800,000
  2. Buncombe County Schools – $800,000
  3. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools – $800,000
  4. Chatham, Harnett, and Lee County Schools – $800,000
  5. Davidson County, Lexington City, and Thomasville City Schools – Yadkin Valley Regional Career Academy – $350,000
  6. Duplin County Schools – $800,000
  7. Durham Public Schools – $800,000
  8. Granville, Franklin, Vance, and Warren Counties – $800,000
  9. Rutherford County Schools – $800,000
  10. Surry County Schools – $800,000
  11. Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools – Kennedy High School – $350,000

The total of these grants is $7,900,000. The 5% of that $7.9 million allocated to NC New Schools would have been $395,000.

Given that no report has been filed in 2016 as of yet, it is unclear what the dollar total NC New Schools would have received prior to their closure.

A General Assembly staffer contacted by this site was unable to locate any payments to NC New Schools.

Multiple attempts to obtain comment from legislators involved in the bill that created EWIA regarding payment information to NC New Schools were unsuccessful.

Resources:

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), EDUCATION, EXCLUSIVE, NCGA | Tagged | 2 Comments

Does Size Matter? Media in 2008 vs 2016.

Posted on August 23, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

New media outlets have been ramping up the idea that crowd sizes don’t matter.

In 2008 however, apparently they did matter.

While Donald Trump was holding a rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with crowd estimates around 2,000 people, Hillary Clinton’s Vice Presidential running mate drew only about 200 to the Cape Fear Botanical Gardens in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

Staffers at the Cape Fear Botanical Gardens confirmed that the venue actually accommodates 400.

Clinton herself was in Pennsylvania that day, barely filling a school gymnasium.

While Bernie Sanders’ crowds were larger than Clinton’s, she still became the nominee.

It would seem that while the media is focused on diminishing the size of crowds at rallies, Trump appears to be gaining in national polls.

Related:

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#AmplifyChoice: A Look at Two Denver Charter Schools

Posted on August 23, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

During the annual Amplify Choice conference held in Denver this year, participants were given access to two charter schools in the Green Valley Ranch area; Strive Prep and DSST Public Schools.

About Strive Prep at Green Valley Ranch

Chris Gibbons, the founder of Strive Prep, spoke to the conference participants and listed some impressive statistics. Gibbon’s noted their combined campuses are found in three city regions in Colorado. There are 11 of these schools which serve around 3,650 students.

Gibbons said that Strive Prep schools have an “equity agenda”.  According to the Strive literature that was distributed, Strive Prep believes that, “equity is different than equality”.  The literature stated that, “An equity agenda is built on what is just; those who need more, get more.”.

7th grade smallAccording to the presentation given on Strive Prep, their population is made up of 97% students of color and 87% are low-income students.  Impressively, Strive Prep’s first senior class had a 92% acceptance to four-year college.

Strive Prep at Green Valley is a middle school serving  students in grades 6, 7, and 8 and was founded in 2012.

There are roughly over  360 students enrolled. The school is currently headed up by Principal Jessica Savage.

The school was rated as a “Distinguished – Blue” school on the DPS School Performance Framework (SPF) in both  2013 and 2014. Based on the 2014 SPF, Strive Prep’s Green Valley location is one of the top ten secondary schools in all of Denver Public Schools.

View the Strive Prep Presentation.

About DSST Public Schools At Green Valley Ranch

The campus of Strive Prep sits just adjacent to DSST Public Schools, which also gave conference attendees access.

IMG_0288 mDSST has both a Middle School and a High school at the Green Valley Ranch location.  Conference attendees spent time at the high school.

According to DSST’s website, attendees of their schools rank in the top 10% of ACT scores in the state and have an astonishing 100% acceptance rate to four-year colleges.

Similar to Strive Prep, DSST’s campuses serve a high percentage of minority students; 53.2% are Hispanic or Latino and 18.6% are African-American.

DSST CEO, Bill Kurtz, gave a brief presentation on the DSST network of schools which had a focus on “the human condition”.  Kurtz’s presentation turned a bit touchy-feely and stressed that, “each human being strives to be fully known and affirmed for who they are, and to contribute something significant to the human story.”

When first arriving at the school, a staff member engaged the group and was asked about Transgender policies for facilities and if there had been any issues with it.  The staffer responded and side-stepped the question slightly saying that, “we believe every student should be known and valued for their identity, so that would be honored in the gender group they were placed in.”

In Kurtz’s opening remarks, he said that, “our schools are hyper-segregated” and yet minority students make up over 71% of the student body of DSST Public Schools. Only a little over 18% of students are white or caucasian.

One highlighted item was that DSST encourages internship programs in an effort to help kids figure out what they like and don’t like. Down the road, this has shown to decrease wasted time at the college level for students.

DSST engages in a high degree of transparency in their operations and publishes financial reports for all their locations online.

DSST schools are considered to be some of the top performing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) schools in the nation.  According to their website, the DSST Green Valley location has been, “Ranked #1 high school in Denver every year while open, since 2012, based upon the School Performance Framework”.

View the DSST Public Schools presentation.

Related Articles: Denver Day 4: #AmplifyChoice on The Road [Videos]

More on Amplify Choice 2016:

Posted in Charter Schools, EDUCATION, School Choice | 2 Comments

16 Charters Were Approved by the NC Charter Advisory Board, Yet Only 8 Were Voted on

Posted on August 22, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

got -school-choiceAt the August meeting of the State Board of Education, 8 charter school applications were voted on and approved.  However, 16 charter schools were approved by the Charter School Advisory Board (CSAB).

CSAB members were angered and  the group issued a resolution, requesting the State Board of Education consider each application approved by CSAB in the future.

Kari Travis at Carolina Journal has reported on this turn of events, capturing the frustration of CSAB’s vice chairman, Steven Walker:

“There was a lot of effort and a lot of time that was put into [the review process], and I think that was kind of frustrating to see,” Walker said, stating that all members of the advisory board are charter school experts with strong resumes. “We spent … about 30 hours in a room talking about these things and interviewing people.”

CSAB members sifted through more than 6,600 pages of applications, and traveled across the state to meet with applicants, Walker added. There was “all the time we spent reviewing the applications beforehand,” he said, noting that the state board spent much less time studying the charter proposals.

The process for the applicants is lengthy and costly — $1,000 for each application.

The Carolina Journal article details the schools which were approved by CSAB, yet not voted on by the State Board of Education:

The charter schools rejected by the state board were approved by the advisory board by significant margins: Addie C. Morris Children’s School, by an 8-3 vote; Bonnie Cone Classical Academy, 6-3; Emereau: Halifax, 6-4; Kaleidoscope Charter High School, 7-3; and Ridgeview Charter School, 7-2.

An attempt to reach both State Board of Education and David Machado, Director of the DPI’s Office of Charter Schools, for comment went unanswered.

Related: #AmplifyChoice: The Case For Charter Schools

Posted in Charter Schools, EDUCATION, NC Board Of Education | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Do Your Kids Watch ‘StoryBots’ on Netflix?

Posted on August 22, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

Do your kids watch StoryBots on Netflix? Are they using StoryBots games in school?

CommonCoreAlignedDid you know that those games are Common Core aligned?  This is a fine example of the ‘gamification‘ of education.

Excerpt from Animation magazine, emphasis added:

After racking up more than 400 million online views for their short-form videos, JibJab Bros. Studios’ Ask the StoryBots will debut on Netflix on August 12. The original series inspired by the web video and books brand will feature a voice cast led by Judy Greer (Arrested Development, Archer) with guest roles performed by Whoopi Goldberg, Jay Leno, Weird Al Yankovic and more.

The series centers on the StoryBots, curious little creatures who live in the world beneath our screens. In each episode, the intrepid quintet of Beep, Bing, Bang, Boop and Bo go on an adventure to the human world to help answer kids’ biggest questions, like, “Why is the sky blue?” or “Why do I need to brush my teeth?” They deliver their answer at the end of each episode in the form of a musical video (an homage to Schoolhouse Rock).

Launched in 2012, StoryBots is the brainchild of the brothers behind eCard and satire video sensations JibJab. In subsequent years, over a million families have created StoryBots accounts, and the mobile app has been downloaded over 4 million times. This year the brand expanded into schools with the free StoryBots Classroom platform for teachers, with StoryBots content and Common Core-aligned games.

Of course, this content is ‘free‘ to pre-k and kindergarten teachers, as the sign up for the material tells us to “Join 10,000+ teachers around the world and get 100% free and unlimited access to StoryBots now!”.

The site also touts Kindergarten math games that are, “Common Core-aligned to make sure your child succeeds.”.

View the StoryBots privacy policy and information collection policy.

Posted in Common Core, EDUCATION | Tagged | Comments Off on Do Your Kids Watch ‘StoryBots’ on Netflix?

ICYMI – The NBA are Big, Fat Hypocrites on #HB2

Posted on August 21, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

The NBA pulled it’s All-Star game out of Charlotte, North Carolina over House Bill 2 (HB2).

The NBA said it was discriminatory to hold their event at an arena where men couldn’t pee alongside women, so they moved it from NC’s Time Warner Arena to Louisiana’s Smoothie King Arena.

There’s a bit of a problem with that move. It does nothing.

NC Values Coalition explained in a statement they issued yesterday; emphasis added:

North Carolina Values Coalition Statement on Move of NBA All-Star Game from Charlotte to New Orleans:

“It is ironic that the NBA would choose to relocate their All-Star game from Charlotte to the State of Louisiana since in June the state joined North Carolina and 22 other states to stop President Obama’s transgender bathroom directive granting boys access into girls’ bathrooms, locker rooms and shower facilities in schools and universities. Although the Supreme Court this month found the directive troublesome when issuing a stay on transgender bathroom access, the League continues to deny common sense biological differences between men and women so it can advance a political agenda that grants grown men access into the bathrooms and showers of young girls over protecting the privacy and safety of their fans.

NC Values Coalition telephone conversations with the customer service staff at the Smoothie King Center box office last month indicated the arena in New Orleans has the same bathroom policies as Time Warner Arena in Charlotte. Commissioner Silver and the NBA should be ashamed of themselves for continuing to use North Carolina—particularly its young girls—as a political pawn for an out-of-touch agenda that compromises both dignity and privacy rights.” – Tami Fitzgerald, Executive Director of North Carolina Values Coalition

The statement also included  Background Information:

A poll released on August 19, 2016 by Civitas Institute found 51% of North Carolina unaffiliated voters polled August 11-14, 2016 showed support for House Bill 2. They agreed with the statement, “House Bill 2 offers protection of individual privacy and safety in public restrooms and locker rooms, and protects the rights of business owners to make workplace decisions without government interference.”  

The NBA’s decision came despite the right to sue for employment discrimination being restored in North Carolina. That issue was allegedly what the NBA was so upset about in the first place.

In fact, the deal that the NBA was trying to strike with NC leaders didn’t even include the bathroom access issue.

The NBA are big, fat hypocrites.

Related:

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), LGBTQ Issues, YWBMTC | Tagged | 3 Comments