20 thoughts on “Innovative Schools will save Pencader! #netDE #PCHS”
Yeah, that lasted long – no CPA/Treasurer as of last week! But, Bill Bentz, the loan holder, he’ll stay on and help even though Innovative has exited Pencader…
Any of these guys have no-compete clauses in their contracts with Inno?
The video is from last summer (2011). Quite a preview, huh?
Bill Bentz is an upstanding man of character. The problem lies in that he can’t MAKE Lewis follow his advice.
Bet Bill (if he could talk), has some stories to share!
Bill may be a great guy. But, if I were him, I’d recall my loan and run for my life.
Innovative Schools road into town on one of those wagons with a bottled remedy that will cure arthritis, lumbago, hair-loss and any and all ills that threaten education. If it smells like snake-oil and looks like snake-oil and tastes like snake-oil you don’t have to wait to hear the rattlers warning run for your lives (your kids lives) until the good guys wise up and bring out the rail and tar and feathers.
It’s beyond frustrating that someone in your position leaves the solution to this crisis up to the victims, the students and parents (teachers too). The advice to leave the school is somehow blaming the victim. This needs to be addressed and fixed by the Pencader Board with “help” from the DOE. Why then does it keep coming back to the parents and kids. This is wrong!
I believe there are students from your district currently attending Pencader. I guess their parents now know not to expect any viable solutions from you.
are you replying to John Kowalko?
yes, I’m sorry that wasn’t clear.
Jim, Get a grip. Pencader functions as it’s “own school district” under Delaware Charter Law. (Charters exist in two ways either under a SD or AS A SD).
It would be absurd for someone from the Christina SB to approach and try to fix problems in the Appoquinimick SD (as just an example). It’s obvious the DOE is not going to do anything, and this is a totally independent SB so IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE PARENTS and taxpayers to do something about this mess.
Agreed, Kathy. I don’t want to pile on, because I do feel badly for Pencader, but… what’s going on with Pencader is a feature, not a bug, of charters. This is what local control looks like.
Jim, what exactly do you want people/school board members/politicians to do? What charges are you making?
However, and this is a slight kink in the armor, people who have kids in charters also live in and vote for Board members in traditional districts. There are kids at Pencader with siblings in the CSD or any of the other districts. So it is not so unusual to look to people in the traditional districts for some guidance from time to time. Because of the uniqueness of charters and their independent missions/visions it is not unheard of to have traditional school board people send a child or children to a charter. Many teachers in traditional schools do just that, so everybody shares an interest. Charters are public. It’s your tax money and my tax money that is being used to support these schools so we have an interest in doing all we can to make them successful. You wouldn’t stand by a well and just dump a couple of thousand dollars down it would you with no concern about it ever floating back to the top? Well, maybe that’s just what we’re all doing there…. What is perplexing is that DOE/SBE is the authorizer of the Pencader School yet they just watch and “investigate” — their word, not mine. It is more and more apparent that the Pencader Board is paralyzed and cannot act. So, does this school year become the mysterious deep, dark well? We k;now already there’s no Ph.D. where one was claimed, we know that there was a scheme to defraud the government of pension monies; we know that the non-profit status of the school evaporated; etc. etc. etc. Is it okay to just say, “oh well?” If this mismanagement had happened in any Christina school where I taught for 18 years believe me, by now nobody would even remember the administrator’s name, they would have been gone that fast, and that far, and definitely that soon. Why is this different?
Agreed. We all (as taxpayers) have a vested interested interest. I am sure there are valid arguments as to why even non-tax payers (kids in other districts, etc) should be outraged at this scandal. The point is well taken that we ALL need to jump on the bandwagon and stick together to right this horrible wrong.
However, Jim seemed to be attacking John as if he should be the leader of this fight and not the parents, etc. He went on to say (sorry, Jim, I know you now get it) “I guess their parents now know not to expect any viable solutions from you.”
This isn’t something John can do by himself, and John was elected to Christina SB not the Pencader SB. What he does to help out Pencader should be viewed as a “bonus” and not criticized. He is going above and beyond what most parents are doing by far. John is also trying to empower us all by giving us the information we need to make informed choices and decisions.
So my comments weren’t to say that other SB members can’t get on the bandwagon, but their role on their SB shouldn’t be judged based upon the time they spend fighting other SB battles.
Why do I feel like my head is spinning???? lol
Elizabeth is also on CSD BOE. My closest connection is 200-250 feeder pattern students in PCHS. That. and an honest desire to get information into the marketplace, damn the political implications. Parents cannot make effective choices without it.
IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE PARENTS and taxpayers to do something about this mess.
….since Markell (etc.) and the DOE won’t…
Kathy – I hear you now. Think I’ve got it.
Okay. I know it’s all confusing and there really isn’t much info about this stuff out there (how charters work).
But John Young is a great guy, who is taking his own time to expose this mess at Pencader. He’s one of the heroes.
Jim,
My apologies if you misread the point of my comment. Nowhere in my comment do I suggest that parents/kids flee this school (Pencader) or that they are on their own. The entirety of my comment is meant to reflect on the ongoing process of education reform being instigated by the fly by night and seat of their pants consultants (and “non-profits”) such as “Innovative Schools and (“others” -who know who they are) who suck public dollars out of the education system without any idea or inkling of valid, verifiably proven plans that come close to needed/necessary change that would improve public education. I was one of the only legislators to show up a year ago at a Pencader meeting to voice support for the school and I was the only legislator to raise the question of needed reform in existing Charter School Law and one of the only ones to actually write and introduce legislation to address some of those flaws. I was also the only legislator to publicly register and declare my objections to the false and incendiary dialogue perpetrated by certain “leaders” in the Charter School community that was intended to condemn traditional public schools and frighten parents into feeling their children would be doomed if they dared to enroll at schools such as Newark High. None of these fear tactics were based in fact and most were knowingly promoted as true to the detriment of the children.
Have you ever wondered how it happened that a huge majority of Pencader students live in Christina School District, a good 30 minute drive away?
Just to further clarify “flee from the snake-oil salesmen and hide your kids from the traveling “medicine shows” that these consultants bring to town.
John, I have such respect for you for coming out to Pencader last summer. I did meet you that night. You are sincere and I feel your heart is in the right place. I live dead smack between Glasgow and Christina high school and I have to say, if I had a kid in one of those two schools, or if I were a kid in one of those two schools, I would be saddened by the lack of mention, by almost everyone (except John!!) of those two schools. Are Glasgow and Christiana High School so bad that we can’t mention them by name? Newark seems to be the example used when defending Christina School District. Why is that? I don’t think anyone would argue that kids are not doomed if they attend Newark. How about Glasgow and Christiana? Your answer is important to me, first and foremost as a parent, because as of today, I have an upcoming senior at Pencader and I have been told that choice is not open.
It’s also important to me because I have neighbors with young kids and we talk about schools. Our feeder is Glasgow. There is always choice available into Christiana. Tell me why I should tell my neighbors not to move to Middletown when their kid turns 14.
Yeah, that lasted long – no CPA/Treasurer as of last week! But, Bill Bentz, the loan holder, he’ll stay on and help even though Innovative has exited Pencader…
Any of these guys have no-compete clauses in their contracts with Inno?
The video is from last summer (2011). Quite a preview, huh?
Bill Bentz is an upstanding man of character. The problem lies in that he can’t MAKE Lewis follow his advice.
Bet Bill (if he could talk), has some stories to share!
Bill may be a great guy. But, if I were him, I’d recall my loan and run for my life.
Innovative Schools road into town on one of those wagons with a bottled remedy that will cure arthritis, lumbago, hair-loss and any and all ills that threaten education. If it smells like snake-oil and looks like snake-oil and tastes like snake-oil you don’t have to wait to hear the rattlers warning run for your lives (your kids lives) until the good guys wise up and bring out the rail and tar and feathers.
It’s beyond frustrating that someone in your position leaves the solution to this crisis up to the victims, the students and parents (teachers too). The advice to leave the school is somehow blaming the victim. This needs to be addressed and fixed by the Pencader Board with “help” from the DOE. Why then does it keep coming back to the parents and kids. This is wrong!
I believe there are students from your district currently attending Pencader. I guess their parents now know not to expect any viable solutions from you.
are you replying to John Kowalko?
yes, I’m sorry that wasn’t clear.
Jim, Get a grip. Pencader functions as it’s “own school district” under Delaware Charter Law. (Charters exist in two ways either under a SD or AS A SD).
It would be absurd for someone from the Christina SB to approach and try to fix problems in the Appoquinimick SD (as just an example). It’s obvious the DOE is not going to do anything, and this is a totally independent SB so IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE PARENTS and taxpayers to do something about this mess.
Agreed, Kathy. I don’t want to pile on, because I do feel badly for Pencader, but… what’s going on with Pencader is a feature, not a bug, of charters. This is what local control looks like.
Jim, what exactly do you want people/school board members/politicians to do? What charges are you making?
However, and this is a slight kink in the armor, people who have kids in charters also live in and vote for Board members in traditional districts. There are kids at Pencader with siblings in the CSD or any of the other districts. So it is not so unusual to look to people in the traditional districts for some guidance from time to time. Because of the uniqueness of charters and their independent missions/visions it is not unheard of to have traditional school board people send a child or children to a charter. Many teachers in traditional schools do just that, so everybody shares an interest. Charters are public. It’s your tax money and my tax money that is being used to support these schools so we have an interest in doing all we can to make them successful. You wouldn’t stand by a well and just dump a couple of thousand dollars down it would you with no concern about it ever floating back to the top? Well, maybe that’s just what we’re all doing there…. What is perplexing is that DOE/SBE is the authorizer of the Pencader School yet they just watch and “investigate” — their word, not mine. It is more and more apparent that the Pencader Board is paralyzed and cannot act. So, does this school year become the mysterious deep, dark well? We k;now already there’s no Ph.D. where one was claimed, we know that there was a scheme to defraud the government of pension monies; we know that the non-profit status of the school evaporated; etc. etc. etc. Is it okay to just say, “oh well?” If this mismanagement had happened in any Christina school where I taught for 18 years believe me, by now nobody would even remember the administrator’s name, they would have been gone that fast, and that far, and definitely that soon. Why is this different?
Agreed. We all (as taxpayers) have a vested interested interest. I am sure there are valid arguments as to why even non-tax payers (kids in other districts, etc) should be outraged at this scandal. The point is well taken that we ALL need to jump on the bandwagon and stick together to right this horrible wrong.
However, Jim seemed to be attacking John as if he should be the leader of this fight and not the parents, etc. He went on to say (sorry, Jim, I know you now get it) “I guess their parents now know not to expect any viable solutions from you.”
This isn’t something John can do by himself, and John was elected to Christina SB not the Pencader SB. What he does to help out Pencader should be viewed as a “bonus” and not criticized. He is going above and beyond what most parents are doing by far. John is also trying to empower us all by giving us the information we need to make informed choices and decisions.
So my comments weren’t to say that other SB members can’t get on the bandwagon, but their role on their SB shouldn’t be judged based upon the time they spend fighting other SB battles.
Why do I feel like my head is spinning???? lol
Elizabeth is also on CSD BOE. My closest connection is 200-250 feeder pattern students in PCHS. That. and an honest desire to get information into the marketplace, damn the political implications. Parents cannot make effective choices without it.
IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE PARENTS and taxpayers to do something about this mess.
….since Markell (etc.) and the DOE won’t…
Kathy – I hear you now. Think I’ve got it.
Okay.
I know it’s all confusing and there really isn’t much info about this stuff out there (how charters work).
But John Young is a great guy, who is taking his own time to expose this mess at Pencader. He’s one of the heroes.
Jim,
My apologies if you misread the point of my comment. Nowhere in my comment do I suggest that parents/kids flee this school (Pencader) or that they are on their own. The entirety of my comment is meant to reflect on the ongoing process of education reform being instigated by the fly by night and seat of their pants consultants (and “non-profits”) such as “Innovative Schools and (“others” -who know who they are) who suck public dollars out of the education system without any idea or inkling of valid, verifiably proven plans that come close to needed/necessary change that would improve public education. I was one of the only legislators to show up a year ago at a Pencader meeting to voice support for the school and I was the only legislator to raise the question of needed reform in existing Charter School Law and one of the only ones to actually write and introduce legislation to address some of those flaws. I was also the only legislator to publicly register and declare my objections to the false and incendiary dialogue perpetrated by certain “leaders” in the Charter School community that was intended to condemn traditional public schools and frighten parents into feeling their children would be doomed if they dared to enroll at schools such as Newark High. None of these fear tactics were based in fact and most were knowingly promoted as true to the detriment of the children.
Have you ever wondered how it happened that a huge majority of Pencader students live in Christina School District, a good 30 minute drive away?
Just to further clarify “flee from the snake-oil salesmen and hide your kids from the traveling “medicine shows” that these consultants bring to town.
John, I have such respect for you for coming out to Pencader last summer. I did meet you that night. You are sincere and I feel your heart is in the right place. I live dead smack between Glasgow and Christina high school and I have to say, if I had a kid in one of those two schools, or if I were a kid in one of those two schools, I would be saddened by the lack of mention, by almost everyone (except John!!) of those two schools. Are Glasgow and Christiana High School so bad that we can’t mention them by name? Newark seems to be the example used when defending Christina School District. Why is that? I don’t think anyone would argue that kids are not doomed if they attend Newark. How about Glasgow and Christiana? Your answer is important to me, first and foremost as a parent, because as of today, I have an upcoming senior at Pencader and I have been told that choice is not open.
It’s also important to me because I have neighbors with young kids and we talk about schools. Our feeder is Glasgow. There is always choice available into Christiana. Tell me why I should tell my neighbors not to move to Middletown when their kid turns 14.