School Check Books Should be Online

The following piece appeared on the Hartford Courant.com.   Another reason why blind faith should not be placed on government employees or school superintendents.  School checkbooks should be online for anyone to view.  An honest government agency has nothing to hide.  A former superintendent made 147,000 dollars a year, used the school district credit card to pay for her personal expenses.  See full story below.

Cathy

Former Hebron School Official Seeks Special Probation

By Steven Goode and David Owens contact the reporters

A former Hebron schools superintendent arrested by state police for allegedly misappropriating thousands of dollars from the district has applied for a special form of probation.
Notice of the application prompted the Hebron Board of Education to hold a special meeting Thursday to discuss a response.

The board voted 4 to 1 to oppose Eleanor Cruz's application and also instructed its chairwoman, Maryanne Leichter, to attend the May 8 hearing in Rockville Superior Court and make a public statement to that effect.

Leichter said Friday that although one board member felt the district had spent enough money pursuing the case against Cruz, the majority felt that it would send the wrong message to walk away now.

"We wanted to be consistent that what she did was not in the best interests of our community," Leichter said.

Cruz has applied for accelerated rehabilitation, a special form of probation for first-time offenders who are not accused of violent crimes.

Victims must be notified of the application and can oppose it. A prosecutor can oppose it as well.

If a judge finds the defendant's offense is not of a serious nature and the person isnot likely to break the law again, he or she can grant the program.

After a specified period of probation, the charge is dismissed and the defendant's criminal record is purged.

Cruz, 64, was arrested by state police last August and charged with first-degree larceny following an investigation that began in February 2013.

State police began the investigation after Cruz left Hebron after 71/2 years to become superintendent of Plymouth schools, and more than $15,000 in questionable credit card charges and personal reimbursements in Hebron came to light.

Hebron school officials ordered a forensic audit of Cruz's district credit card over a one-year period, which found that about $5,900 had been improperly paid to Cruz or spent on her behalf. The auditor also raised questions about another $9,100 spent by Cruz or on her behalf.

The audit commissioned by Hebron alleged that Cruz, who made $147,000 in the last year of her contract and carried a district credit card with a $50,000 balance during her final 14 months in the district, made improper personal purchases. According to a summary of the audit, they included:

* $2,400 for the use of her car on school business. Her contract called for her to be reimbursed for actual mileage driven at the Internal Revenue Service mileage rate. Her previous contract had provided for $400 a month in reimbursement for the use of her car. She did not turn in an itemized accounting of mileage.

* $390 on her school credit card for fuel, although she was to be reimbursed for actual mileage.

* $352 on the school credit card in personal purchases at stores such as Nordstrom Rack and a Wegmans grocery store in Maryland.

* $2,375 for a consultant to analyze data from the Plymouth school system. The auditor described the contract as personal, because Plymouth is where Cruz was going to work next, and said it had nothing to do with Hebron.

* $960 on a school charge account at Ted's grocery store in Hebron for items including $89.72 for baking supplies, on Dec. 15, 2012, the day after her last day of employment with Hebron. The board could not determine whether most purchases were for legitimate school business because receipts were not provided.

* $1,406 on the same school charge card for gardening and landscaping supplies at two businesses, although no receipts were provided.

* $790 on the district credit card for purchases at a grocery store in Essex. Because no receipts were provided to the board, the legitimacy of the purchases could not be determined.

* $6,066 at area food stores, farm markets, restaurants, online retailers, florists, a toy store and a car wash. Receipts lacked details or the receipt was cut, eliminating the detail.

Following the state police investigation, Cruz was charged with first-degree larceny by defrauding a public community, which alleges the theft of $2,000 or more from a government entity.

Following her arrest, Cruz, who was making $175,000 a year in Plymouth, was placed on paid administrative leave by the school board and agreed to resign in September. The agreement cost Plymouth about $70,000.

Hebron has spent more than $60,000 on legal fees, according to district officials.
Copyright © 2015, Hartford Courant

Croydon School Choice

Some people believe the school choice issue is not resolved.  Some people would rather have other people's children in a failing system than let parents do what is best for their own children.  Some people are about protecting a failing system, and not giving a rat's behind about actually doing what is educationally best for some children.  Croydon is paying well over $100,000 to send one child to a private school.   All children of Croydon have that right, some people want to block that right. The children that want to exercise that right cost Croydon taxpayers a lot less than the one children that is going to a private school.  It is time that certain members in our community and the neighboring community stop protecting a broken system and let parents do what is right for their children.  It is both fair and equal.

The following piece appeared in full on the Union Leader.

Cathy

School choice issue still not resolved in Croydon
By MEGHAN PIERCE
Union Leader Correspondent

CROYDON — With the school year coming to a close, the Croydon School District and New Hampshire Department of Education are no closer to resolving their disagreement over school choice.

The school district had started offering parents local private schools as an alternative after ending its area agreement with the Newport School District the year before.

In February, the state ordered Croydon School District to stop paying tuition to private schools.

Croydon School District Chairman Jody Underwood maintained her position Wednesday that school choice is supported by state law and precedent.

Commissioner of Education Virginia Barry disagreed, saying state law prohibits it. In a Feb. 25 letter to Cynthia Gallagher, superintendent of SAU #43, Barry wrote, “It has come to the Department’s attention that the District is sending its pupils to private school using taxpayer funds to pay tuition. Please be advised that this practice is contrary to law. Districts may only assign children to public school.”

In an email Thursday, Judith Fillion, director of the Division of Program Support at the Department of Education, said Barry plans to meet with representatives of the school district.

Underwood said a meeting was planned, but had to be canceled and has yet to be rescheduled.

The Croydon School District, though, has the law on its side and plans to continue to offer school choice to Croydon parents, Underwood said.

“We’re doing the right thing and nobody has told us why we can’t,” she said. “We fully intend to continue on doing this.”

Amanda Leslie, of Croydon, said not all residents support what the school board is doing. She said in an email that she supports school choice, but said the school district should adhere to the state Department of Education’s interpretation of state law.

“I am not opposed to school choice. I am opposed to fighting the Department of Education to change their interpretation of the law,” she said.

Gallagher said the vote to abolish the Newport area agreement and use a mix of public and private schools as an option was very close.

Gallagher added she has heard from some Croydon residents who have said they didn’t realize they were supporting paying tuition to private schools when they voted to end the area an agreement with Newport.

Gallagher said, as of right now, the SAU cannot continue to pay tuition to private schools, barring a change in state law or a court order.

“The SAU can’t process it in the current setting,” Gallagher said. “I’m working very hard with Jody to find a solution.”

The SAU can, however, continue to pay tuition to public schools that Croydon makes agreements with.

It’s been an interesting development from Croydon’s move to school choice, Gallagher said, how successful it has been in terms of public school choice.

Gallagher said when she worked at New England College in Henniker many years ago, she had wanted to tuition her child to attend kindergarten in Henniker, but it was too expensive for her.

It would have been ideal, though, being able to commute together and being close to her child in the case of an emergency.

Gallagher said the SAU has been helping Croydon parents who work out of the area and want to investigate possible tuition agreements with schools near their work.

Some people have even inquired about moving to Croydon just to access school choice, she said. She has advised people against moving to Croydon to access private schools as a choice, she said.

As long as the public school agrees to accept the child, an individual agreement can be made for that family, Gallagher said.

In fact, the Newport School District plans to look into offering school choice for public schools at its next board meeting she said.

Newport School District is also planning to discuss not accepting outside students anymore because it no longer relies on outside school district tuition, Gallagher said, which could be a dilemma for Croydon.

There are currently about 60 students from fifth to 12th grade in the Croydon district.

Most of the students continue to go Newport Middle/High School.

But since ending the agreement with Newport, it has forged new agreements with multiple school districts and some private schools.

Five students have chosen schools outside of Newport including a student who attends a public school in Sunapee.

One student had already been attending Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, so the school district paid tuition this year to the private school. Tuition at the prep school is about $30,000.

Croydon uses the cost to send students to Newport as a guide. This year, it costs $15,000 per student to send a student to Newport, so Croydon paid half of the Kimball Union Academy student’s tuition this year.

The student is a senior, so it was a one-year benefit for the student’s family, who are Croydon taxpayers, according to Underwood.

Then there are three students who are attending Newport Montessori through the Croydon School District this year, Underwood said.

That school only goes up to the eighth grade. Tuition at the private Montessori school is $8,200 a year.

mpierce@newstote.com
- See more at: http://www.unionleader.com/article/20150526/NEWS0606/150529482/0/SEARCH#sthash.RrOjY558.dpuf

The Truth about School

Your Child; Your Choice.

The following piece appears on the Lincoln Report.com click on the link to view the associated video and to learn more.

May 25, 2015 12:08 pm

Education is one of the most important aspect of a child’s life. Parents spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy a house in what is classified as a great school district. Others spend thousands of dollars for private school, private tutors and other avenues to try and give their child the best educational footing possible.

• As children starting growing, they further develop their interests.
• If your child like football, you find a football program and sign them up.
• If your child like baseball, you find a baseball program and sign them up.
• If your child like swimming, you find a swimming program and sign them up.
• If your child like music, you find a music program and sign them up.
• If your child like theater, you find a theater program and sign them up.
• If your child like chess, you find a chess program and sign them up.
• If your child like robotics, you find a robotics program and sign them up.
• And the list goes on.

As we know all schools do not have every program you child may be interested in so many of these choices are found with private organizations, park districts and other venues. This raises the question of what happens if the education programs available in your local public school does not meet your child’s interest of learning needs.

• What are your choices for school if you student learns by reading?
  • By being hands on?
  • By seeing?
  • By memorizing?
  • Etc?
• What happens if your child has a learning disability that is aided by external stimulation like an equine program?
• What happens if you have multiple children each with a different learning style?
• Choices for many of these issues may be somewhat of very limited depending on your local public school. What are your options currently?

For most parents’ choices are limited to the following:

1. Move to a different school district
2. Spend thousands of dollars to put your child into a private school
3. Homeschool
4. Hiring tutors

Each of these above options have their own advantages and disadvantages but for the most part these are not even an option for many parents and probably most parents. This lack of real options leaves their children trapped in a public school that may not meet the needs of their child.
What are some of the remedies you hear repeatedly?

• Give more money to public schools
• Change the curriculum
• Make new standards schools must meet
• Increase testing
• Change grading systems
• Year round school
• Longer school days
• Better Teacher evaluations
• Vouchers/Tax Credits/Education Savings Accounts/etc
• Charter Schools
• Increase mandated attendance
• Smaller class size

While many agree with some of the above remedies for improving educational outcomes, there is a fundamental question that needs to be asked that makes the improvement strategies secondary. Only one of the potential remedies even approaches the overarching question that should be addressed. That question is:

Do you, as a parent, have the right to direct the education of your child?

The answer to this question should be a resounding yes. Unfortunately this is not the case. Many legislators, education professionals and teacher union leaders don’t want parents to have that right. They want to be able to tell you how your child should be educated. They do this for several reasons:

• Parents cannot possibly know as much as the educators
• Reduces their power and influence
• Cut into their gravy train

Those in the education bureaucracy and its legislative supporters talk continuously cite statistic after statistic that claims their curriculum works; statistics showing smaller classes works; statistics showing charter schools don’t excel. They spin the results to their advantage. Those opposing find their own studies to prove just the opposite or prove the study from the other side was false or misleading. It goes on and on. These tactics of the education bureaucracy are utilized for them to maintain their control over the system and thus the money. Discussing the minutia a distraction from the real discussion of parental rights that should be taking place.
Do we need to point out statistics at times in these debates? Absolutely we do to combat misinformation, spin and hyperbole. It is needed to convince others to think about the bigger picture and the compassion needed to also help those that are in the most need.
Parents discussing their rights over the education of their own children is still the most important and vital part of any discussion. Watch this short video from Give Me Choice IL

Bullying in Schools

The public education system is a system based on bullying. It is forced system through compulsion and forced taxation. Unions force the taxpayers and administrators. The whole system stinks so much of it is corrupt and wasteful.  But if your child is bullied this much, why the hell do you keep him in the school, homeschool for Pete's sake. One year of bullying is too much, several years of bullying is unthinkable.  Take your children out of these awful places.  This poor child should have never endured all those years of bullying.   Parents need to raise better humans as well.

Cathy

Ten Reasons to Oppose Common Core

Superintendent Arrested for Luring a Minor

“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority; still more when you superadd the tendency of the certainty of corruption by authority.”  Lord Acton

"Доверяй, но проверяй."  Russian Proverb

"Trust but verify."  Ronald Reagan

Parents blindly hand over their children to a broken system. A system that is compulsory, a system created through forced taxation.  Compulsory and forced, has lead to corruption and abuse.  We blindly trust these people as if they are not human and without fault.  Why? 

The following piece appeared on ValleyNewsLive.com.

Cathy

North Dakota Superintendent Arrested for Luring a Minor

(KMOT) Police say they have arrested the Superintendent of Sawyer Public Schools.
The Minot Police Department says it has arrested 50-year-old Charles Soper for having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old boy.

Police say they received information that the boy and Soper had contact through a social media app, and that led to a sexual relationship starting last fall.

Investigators discovered enough evidence to charge Soper with luring minors by computer, solicitation of a minor and human trafficking.