WTF

Charter School Making Teacher Who Left For Job At A Public School Pay $6,000, Meanwhile Pitbull (The Rapper) Opened Up His Own Charter School

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Want more proof that charter schools are just scams run by professional assholes and con artists? Check out what happens to a charter school teacher who tries to leave a charter school for a better paying real teaching job at a public school:

As a teacher, you’d have to do something pretty bad for your school to come after you for $6,087, right? You would think so — unless, that is, you were a teacher at the Mystic Valley Regional Charter School in Malden. Three recent Mystic Valley employees came to the MTA for help when they received letters billing them for thousands of dollars. Their offense? Resigning before the start of the upcoming school year to take better jobs with public schools in the Greater Boston area. 

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“It was shocking, hurtful and, of course, very stressful to get that letter,” said Matthew Kowalski, a high school history and economics teacher. “I felt I was a good employee at Mystic Valley for seven years. I didn’t run out on my responsibilities. I didn’t leave the school in a damaging way. I can only assume they are coming after me to scare other teachers because they lose so many teachers every year.”

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Anyone who thinks more charter schools is a good thing is a moron. You know what’s not good for kids? A brand new faculty every year. Charter schools have insane turnover rates because no one with any self respect or desire to own a home would ever work at a charter school. It’s a stepping stone for inexperienced Teach for America 22 year olds so they can throw it on their resume before making a killing in the private sector. 

Kowalski worked in the business world for five years before deciding to become a teacher. He taught in a Catholic school and then earned a master’s degree in education at Boston College. He landed a job at Mystic Valley in the fall of 2009, heading there with a positive impression of charter schools.

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“I saw some of the good things they are doing, but also a lot of problems with the system,” he said. “A big one is that teachers feel powerless. Their opinions are not always valued. A lot of decisions about the curriculum are made by the trustees, who for the most part don’t have any background in education — at least not in the classroom.”

“Decisions about the curriculum are made by the trustees.” That’s because charter schools do not have elected school committees. Thus they are not governed or overseen by the people. Yet the taxpayers finance them out of their own pockets. When you’re run by an elected board of “trustees” they get to decide what kids learn. Look no further than Seven Hills Charter School in Worcester, which has been taken over by social justice warriors who force their kids to hold plagiarized signs about microaggressions that they stole from Buzzfeed:

So what this teacher is experiencing is not surprising in the least. 

The grinding schedule at the school also presented problems for family life. The school year is a month longer and the school day is an hour longer at Mystic Valley than at most public schools, and the teachers there have no job security. With three children under the age of 6 and another one due in November, Kowalski was eager to get a more stable job in a public school. Because they are not in a union, charter school staff members are at-will employees. At Mystic Valley, employees have to sign a new contract each year, no matter how long they have worked there. The contract for 2016-17 stipulates: “The School reserves the right to terminate this agreement at any time, for reasons it determines are in the best interests of the School.”

So basically they have about the same amount of rights as a unskilled industrial worker in a factory in 1872. No self respecting person with a family and a mortgage would ever consider working for an employer that could arbitrarily get rid of them without ANY recourse. Not even an HR department. You’re completely on your own. I mean, if you’re anti-union, I get it. But who is gonna teach at these schools? You’re not gonna have ANY qualified people willing to put up with garbage like this. It’s gonna be a revolving door of 22 year old SJW’s. This is what “conservatives” are getting behind. Makes sense. 

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It goes on to say, “If Employee unilaterally terminates his/her employment with the School, Employee shall remain obligated to pay liquidated damages and to refrain from working in other sending district schools for the remainder of the school year.”

Wait…..what?? They make them sign non-compete agreements? You know who doesn’t sign non-compete contracts? People who work in the public sector. So if charter schools are really “public schools” then they wouldn’t be having their teachers sign non-compete agreements. So if you find a better job somewhere else you can’t take it because the charter school owns you? You know why they do this right? Because they know how much it sucks to work at a charter school. If they didn’t do this then their teachers would constantly be leaving in the middle of the year. What a scam. 

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It gets worse. One might think that this unusual clause must refer to employees who leave in the middle of the school year, but that’s not so. The school demands that employees sign the contract in the spring for the upcoming school year — and then pay damages for terminating the contract at any time after that.

“Last year, the contract for the following school year came out in April,” Kowalski explained. “I asked for more time because my wife and I were still considering our plans for the following year after we found out we’d be having another child.

“They gave me some extra time, but then I got called into the office and was given an ultimatum to sign by April 29 or give up my position,” he continued. “With three young children at home, I couldn’t risk not having a job in the fall, so I had to sign. It’s tough for teachers, because a lot of openings come up in May, June, July or even later, but I had to sign.”

Top 14 Reasons To Vote No On Question 2 Because Charter Schools Are A Scam

In fact, many jobs do not become available until after June 15, the date by which districts in Massachusetts have to notify teachers who don’t have Professional Teacher Status that they won’t be rehired in the fall.

“I was offered a job in Walpole a couple of weeks after I signed at Mystic Valley,” Kowalski said. On May 20, exactly three weeks after I had signed the contract, I gave Mystic Valley written and verbal notice that I was offered this other job and I wanted to rescind my acceptance of the contract. I felt confident there were no damages. If I’d just been sent to a training because they expected I’d be back next year, maybe then I would understand that they’d want reimbursement. But there was nothing like that.”

In fact, Mystic Valley quickly hired Kowalski’s replacement, whom Kowalski trained and provided with all of his curricula and materials. He also assured students who were juniors that he would write their college recommendations in the fall, even after starting his new job. Mystic Valley administrators didn’t even sign Kowalski’s contract until two weeks after he had rescinded his signature. He was sure there wouldn’t be a problem.

“I was shocked in the middle of July to get a letter demanding a payment of over $6,000 for liquidated damages,” he said. “What damages?”

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So just to review. The school came out with a contract in April. They gave him an ultimatum, and since he had another baby on the way he could not afford to take a risk that he wouldn’t have a job the next year, so he signed. Two weeks later he was offered a better paying job at a public school, so he signed on with them instead. But the charter school still hadn’t signed the contract, so he rescinded his signature. And then they signed the contract anyway, knowing he had no desire to work there and already had a new job. Just to be dicks. Just because they can. Just because they wanted to steal $6K from him on the way out.

Obviously most public schools aren’t gonna start hiring until the end of the school year when they know what positions will be available the next year. This is why charter schools make you sign contracts in April – because they want to put you in this position. This is how they treat their teachers. 

This just proves once again that charter schools are NOT public schools. They’re paid for by tax dollars, but there’s nothing public about them. Public schools allow teachers to leave if they don’t want to be there any more. They are not legally allowed to force their teachers to sign contracts that forbid them from working for a competing charter school. But charter schools can. Even though they’re “public.” Makes sense. 

You know why they’re trying to make this guy pay $6,000? Because it’s all about the money. He didn’t cost them any money. He didn’t receive any training from them before leaving the job. There’s no justifiable reason to try to get this from him except for the fact that they’re driven by profits. This is why people like Pitbull are opening charter schools. Yes, you read that right. Goddamn PITBULL the rapper owns a charter school:

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Ya see all those suits behind him and holding the shovels? They’re the board of trustees. The investors. They’ve never spent a day in their entire lives working with kids, and don’t have any clue how actual education works. But they like money, and they use the front of “helping kids” to steal from the taxpayers. And morons fell for it. 

Newflash conservatives – if you support charter schools then you’re not a real conservative. You’re a big government liberal. Because charter schools are brand new schools that come with brand new costs that are added to the budget. The public pays for this. But they also continue to reimburse the public schools for every student they lose to a charter school. In year 1 the sending school gets 100% reimbursement, followed by 25% reimbursement for the remainder of the student’s academic career. This is what “small government” apparently looks like. 

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All this story does is prove once again that charter schools are really just for-profit brainwashing academies that try to steal money from employees when they have the audacity to seek greener pastures. They don’t care about what is in the best interest of the kids, and they certainly don’t treat their teachers like professionals with Master’s Degrees.

Vote No on Question 2. 

 

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37 Comment(s)
  • Angus W. Mann
    October 6, 2016 at 8:59 pm

    All Schools Suck! Send the kids back into the fields and factories.

  • True Reality Speaks
    True Reality Speaks
    October 6, 2016 at 5:17 pm

    This liberal propaganda brought to you by the Boston Globe, and the union hacks at the MTA & NEA.

  • A List of People I Like in Here:
    October 6, 2016 at 3:36 pm

    1.

    2.

    3.

    4.

    5.

    etc.

  • meh
    October 6, 2016 at 1:41 pm

    Another question: what about kids that go to private schools? Does the public school still get the amount of funding for that kid as if they went to public school?

    • Chris
      October 6, 2016 at 3:04 pm

      No.

      • True Reality Speaks
        True Reality Speaks
        October 6, 2016 at 5:37 pm

        Actually they do. Your property tax bill is paid to the city or town. The majority of that money goes to the public schools, whether you have kids or not, public or private schools.

        No surprise the number of uninformed people posting here. Products of public school education. Supporting charters makes even more sense after reading their comments.

    • Tony
      October 6, 2016 at 11:14 pm

      That’s a real question?

  • E. Warren
    October 6, 2016 at 1:37 pm

    Public schools in Worcester are simply an extention of the welfare system. They feed the kids free welfare meals (sometimes even the parents) and babysit the kids (aka welfare meal tickets) while the mother sits home in her section 8 apartment and smokes some of the weed her baby-daddy sells.
    Things have changed since TB attended the schools here. Now 100% of the students receive free welfare lunches. This is the new reality and the public schools aren’t breaking the welfare cycle. In some neighborhoods these are 4th and 5th generation welfare people. The answer has been to move out of the City into one is the towns and attend the schools. If your stuck in the City you need options if your a decent employees and married family oriented person.
    Things are getting worse not better…this system is like pouring money into a bottomless pit.

    • Chris
      October 6, 2016 at 3:04 pm

      If you want a private school pay for it yourself. Catholic schools were cheap until the nuns threw their habits in the trash, and they never asked for a state handout!

      • Tony
        October 6, 2016 at 11:13 pm

        And now they are unaffordable and most are closed . What is your point?

  • Teachers rock
    October 6, 2016 at 1:26 pm

    Instead of lifting the cap on charter schools they should lift the cap on suspensions (in-school especially) so students ruining class for their peers trying to learn have to either get their act together or leave

    • Chris
      October 6, 2016 at 3:01 pm

      Public schools should be able to expel any student who commits a serious crime in school and don’t provide them with an “alternative” education. You screw around you’re gone!

      • Tony
        October 6, 2016 at 11:10 pm

        Yes that def sounds legal.

    • True Reality Speaks
      True Reality Speaks
      October 6, 2016 at 5:31 pm

      Another reason parents want their kids in charters. Keep them away from the savages and their enablers.

  • Chris
    October 6, 2016 at 1:03 pm

    Noticing a pattern here: Turtleboy attacks Superintendents, principals and charter schools. (All non-union.)

  • chinese food tastes good
    October 6, 2016 at 12:57 pm

    Talk about sounding like a hack. You know who is an at will employee? Almost everyone that has a job. Guaranteed jobs only exist in public schools or government unions, nowhere else.

    Also picking 1 charter school and saying it is exactly like every other charter school is absolutely moronic. That is like saying hillary is just like your grandmother because they are both old women.

    Don’t let the idiocy of Massachusetts blind you to the reality that public funded anything is bad.

  • Paul
    October 6, 2016 at 12:08 pm

    You so anti charter school and pro teachers union, this article didnt suprise me at all. Most are against charter schools because it takes money out of the unions pocket.

  • meh
    October 6, 2016 at 11:44 am

    I guess I don’t understand how Charter schools screw public schools. You’re saying that public schools still get money for the child even though the child is not educated in the public school system? Did I read that right? So the public school gets more for less kids and still can’t work it out? I don’t get it.

    • Kevins 9 Iron
      Kevi bashed in my skull
      October 6, 2016 at 1:18 pm

      Meh you don’t get it because it isn’t true. Schools get less not more. Congrats on paying attention and discerning what is bullshit by the “yes” idiots. 400 million got drained by Charter Schools last last year so that like 4% of school children can go to there.

      • meh
        October 6, 2016 at 1:23 pm

        Thanks for answering my question like a dick instead of being civil. I’m asking a legitimate question. Both sides say the money goes in the others direction, I’m asking what the truth is. But no, keep being a fucking jerk.

        • Kevins 9 Iron
          Kevi bashed in my skull
          October 6, 2016 at 1:46 pm

          Relax Francis. I was agreeing with you. It means less money for public schools.

          • meh
            October 6, 2016 at 2:37 pm

            Still not being clear. The public school gets “less money” than if the child were enrolled, but they are still getting a percentage of what they WOULD HAVE GOTTEN even though the child is not being taught in that school system. Correct? Meaning they are still getting money, AND have one less child overcrowding the classroom. Right or wrong?

      • Mediocrity
        October 6, 2016 at 3:24 pm

        Kevi – The sending school makes up the cost by accepting incoming school choice students in the place of outgoing charter school students. This balances out the cost.

  • Emily
    October 6, 2016 at 11:20 am

    It’s the one question on the ballot I was unsure of. The NO’s have it. Thanks for the article and information

    • biff tannen
      October 6, 2016 at 11:39 am

      Well technically they are not defunding normal public schools, charter schools are also public and the money follows the kid. Everyone I talk to think that funding is being removed from public schools, totally not the case.

      • Kevins 9 Iron
        Kevi bashed in my skull
        October 6, 2016 at 1:13 pm

        Um no, I work in finance in a municipality and the charter school in the next town assesses us (through the state) a million dollars a year. If you have a better definition of defunding I’m all ears.

        • October 6, 2016 at 3:22 pm

          They are only assessing funds per student, it’s not like they are demanding a ransom. If a child is not attending that school anymore the money follows them from the public school to the charter school. Do you think the public schools should get funding for the kids not attending that school? Because thats how it sounds

          • True Reality Speaks
            True Reality Speaks
            October 6, 2016 at 5:27 pm

            Right. Because the towns and unions think the money is THEIRS, not for the student.

            In fact, the public school is 100% funded for the kids that leave for charter school their 1st year, and then a sliding percentage for the next several years afterwards.

            So not only is it a blatant LIE that charters are “siphoning” money from the regular public schools, they are actually getting MORE money because the state is still paying them for the kids that left.

            This is the sort of thing you get when you vote for Democrats. When will the lemmings ever learn?

    • Masspike rider
      October 6, 2016 at 11:40 am

      The Yes have it. Turtle boy loves carrying the water for the teachers union. If you want to see a scam the teachers union is a good starting point.

  • October 6, 2016 at 11:14 am

    Isn’t that the great thing about school choice? If your kid ends up in a shitty charter school, pick another one! Your point is invalid on this one. More schools, more choices

  • Adam
    October 6, 2016 at 11:05 am

    You have no consistency on this issue TB. 20-30% of your blogs are about how corrupt and inefficient public schools are in Worcester, then you have charter school which gives parents a choice to get out of those schools, then you complain about them. I’ll grant you that the local government is horrendous, that being said, some of the blame needs to go to the teacher’s union too. There has been decades given to public schools to improve and they are not doing it. If the schools won’t budge, and local government won’t budge, than why not try something different? Secondly, this teacher is a big boy. He signed the contract, he’s responsible. Just like the bozos who took out loans for McMansions making $40k a year, its time to realize that adults should be held personally responsible for their own decisions.

    • October 6, 2016 at 11:12 am

      You’re obviously not good at reading. He signed the contract, and then rescinded his signature. Since they had not signed the contract at that point it was his right to. Public schools are constantly looking for ways to improve. Teachers and unions aren’t failing the kids – their parents are. It’s simply indisputable at this point that if you support more charter schools then you are a big government liberal in every sense of the word. Facts are facts. Sorry.

      • Kevins 9 Iron
        Kevi bashed in my skull
        October 6, 2016 at 1:09 pm

        To rescind his signature, legally he must follow certain steps. If he sought advice from a lawyer he is all set and can fight the charge. If he didn’t tough nuts.

        • FiestyLawyerLady
          October 6, 2016 at 1:46 pm

          What certain steps must he follow? No harm, no foul. Executory Contract. The terms are usually set to be fulfilled or performed at a later date. Now, obviously I don’t have the contract in front of me and haven’t read it, so I’m not quite sure if there are any provisions, although, I would find it hard to believe a provision(s) is listed in said contract that would be legally binding regardless of signatures. There may be a “repayment” or “penalty” provision as the matter states he was charged $6,000 – although again, they must provide proof that rescinding his job offer has cost them monetary loss. In way of him not having job training, I can’t see that actually happening.

          As TB writes, the employer did not sign the contract before he rescinded. Even if he did, it’s a fundamental concept of contract law that if neither side has begun to perform (paid job training, sign on bonus, ect) the contract is not enforceable and thus, voidable by either side.

          They need to show proof that they have already invested in his position at this Charter School. He states he never started job training, and has proof of actually training a prospective employee (who I’m assuming was already hired by this charter school to fill his position) costing the school no monetary loss. What other damages would the charter school seek? There are none.

          • Kdub
            October 6, 2016 at 6:25 pm

            If anything the charter owes him for his time training his replacement!

          • unreal
            October 7, 2016 at 11:43 pm

            you are full of it to make yourself look so smart you that fucking stupid. everything you got is wrong. what a science project you got be.

    • Credible source
      October 6, 2016 at 2:56 pm

      Think of it like when Turtleboy posts a blog that is a completely fabricated lie. Sure he may state someone died one day but it’s okay if the next day he say’s oops I didn’t get that one right, blame someone else.

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