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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAnother Milwaukee voucher school goes poof.
And the kids are left in the lurch, again.
Milwaukee Voucher High School Closes
Nearly 200 kids need a new school by Monday, but at least the owner of the failed voucher school got paid well.
Voucher schools around the country are proving to be an epic failure and are leaving students and their parents stranded with little or no warning.
It's no different in Milwaukee:
A private Milwaukee high school run by a voucher-school operator that's come under scrutiny this year has been barred from receiving more taxpayer money, state documents show.
And now Travis Technology High School on Milwaukee's north side has closed, forcing about 200 teenagers, almost all of whom attended on a taxpayer-paid voucher, to find different schools to attend when winter break ends.
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction on Dec. 22 barred the high school from participating in the Milwaukee voucher program because it failed to obtain a special bond this month that was part of an agreement the school's operators signed with the state in October.
On Monday, a receptionist at Travis Tech confirmed the school was no longer operating.
Travis Tech, 8350 N. Steven Road, had 179 children enrolled as of fall 2014, according to state enrollment figures. The high school is one of two voucher schools run by Ceria M. Travis Academy Inc. The other is Ceria M. Travis Academy, 4744 N. 39th St., a much larger school with 437 students enrolled in kindergarten through 12th grade, according to state enrollment figures.
The nonprofit running the schools is headed by CEO Dorothy Travis Moore and her daughter, Executive Director Wilnekia Brinson.
Both are paid six-figure compensation packages, according to their organization's federal tax filings. Meanwhile, current and former employees have complained to the state and to the Journal Sentinel of lacking textbooks and other adequate classroom materials and resources to help children learn.
They also complained that Travis Moore has regularly employed teachers without bachelor's degrees the state requires teachers at voucher schools to have degrees while employing family members with dubious job titles and responsibilities.
http://crooksandliars.com/2014/12/milwaukee-voucher-high-school-closes
Blue Owl
(50,374 posts)The King of Vouchertopia...
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erronis
(15,257 posts)to have gotten into the cookie jar.
mopinko
(70,103 posts)accountability?
blackspade
(10,056 posts)Voucher and charter schools are a scam.
meow2u3
(24,764 posts)Question is, will the "school choice" advocates admit it's a con that hurts the kids, or are the rethugs who push vouchers and charter schools getting kickbacks from the owners?
erronis
(15,257 posts)don't believe in things like science or statistical evidence that these con-jobs don't work (except for the con artists.)
valerief
(53,235 posts)scamming thieves who run failed schools, because they're in the biz to scam funds and don't give a flying fuck about education.
Hmm, who should get the taxpayer money? Gee whiz, that's a real toughie.
Frustratedlady
(16,254 posts)I never could understand how taxpayers should pay for the vouchers. If they want to send their child to a charter "school" then pay for it.
How often do you see the staff either locking up the place with no notification to parents, or simply leaving town? How often do they hire sub-standard/non-degreed teachers and family members? We even had a pre-school in our state that hired family members and paid them dearly, covered their beauty shop charges, bought items for their homes, etc. As I recall, one mother was pushing 80.
Are any of them successful?
This concept never should have passed Congress.
valerief
(53,235 posts)Bandit
(21,475 posts)colsohlibgal
(5,275 posts)It's all about screwing the 99%. We'll give you a voucher for $125 to pay for your health care all year. It's all so the health insurance companies can still pay their executives tens of millions a year - and for what exactly?
The same thing goes no matter where they want to use them.
TRoN33
(769 posts)This is big news since MSM are cheerleaders of voucher schools, touted it as the next generation of American decline in educational and turn school kids into mindless drones for future low wage corporate jobs. MSM also mentioned how important for CEO and investors of vouchers to get a lot of money so they can "create" more jobs by paying low wages to faculty members and janitors.
n2doc
(47,953 posts)Unless people wise up and toss out the grifters and their buddies, it will keep on going on .
d_legendary1
(2,586 posts)In Florida these charter schools are not held up to the same standards as public schools (they have to jump through a number of hoops to keep getting funded), they pick and choose their students and the agendas they learn (to keep the money coming in), they're FCAT exempt (stupid Jeb Bush test that made him millions while bankrupting our children's education), they pay their teachers less, and best of all results don't matter! If your kid is illiterate then blame the parents, the hood/trailer park they come from, A.D.D, the guys posted on the end of the block, etc. Just don't blame the charter schools because public education is the devil!
hue
(4,949 posts)Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)I would bet most of the parents are hate radio addicts, so I don't have much sympathy for them, but the kids are innocent victims