I know nothing about "this person who drove off the bridge,,,". What I do know is you keep saying that charter schools are a huge drain financially on this district which is just not true. As for mrs Hobbs quote, you have an unqualified person with a high school diploma who finds herself in the position of defending a huge shortfall at the end of the school who throws out 2 completely insane reasons. 1) substitute pay overages- subs are paid every month not at the end of the year so that makes no sense, and 2) charter schools- everyone knows fte counts are done in OCTOBEr of each school year so the district knew in October how many students were enrolled in charter schools so that makes no sense either. She is counting on people like you who believe that charter schools "cost the district money" to grasp onto that idea. Again, charter schools do not cost the district a dime. The district NEEDS them to serve populations they can't. I spent 14 years as a Miami-Dade county school district employee whose job was to review charter school applications and serve as a liason between the school district and the charter school, which included seeking out charter schools to serve our population when needed. They are not started by big corporations, they are started by parents and community members who see the need and want autonomy from the school board, which they DO have, but only after the school district accepts their charter which describes their plan for implementation. Look at Seaside charter school- the developers of seaside wanted a school to serve their community and parents and community members wrote a cnarter, the district approved it ( the district certainly could not have provided the infrastructure for a school for what started with 50 students) and the school thrives. It costs the district nothing and serves the community as intended. You seem to be so hung up on the guy on the bridge that its making you think charter schools are causing the districts problems. Look elsewhere and you might find the real problems!
No one said that Charter Schools were/are started by big corporations. What was said is that
Walton Academy is run by the Rader Group which is a
FOR PROFIT, PRIVATE company based out of Ft. Walton Beach whose employees include some rather shady individuals, one of whom (Ray Sansom) was charged with felony grand theft and conspiracy and later indicted with 2 others, Jay Odom and Bob Richburg and charged with official misconduct. Sansom is also linked to the Florida Taj Mahal scandal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Taj_Mahal_scandal.
I don't think that Charter Schools are causing the districts problems per-say but I do believe that if you employ/hire/elect individuals with shady reputations that have a less then stellar reputation handling/managing taxpayer money people do tend to get a little sideways. It also raises more than a few eyebrows and creates an environment of distrust.
My issue is also not with Ms. Hobbs. Hiring unqualified individuals with only a high school diploma is a district issue and one that should have been addressed eons ago. Anyone who has lived in this county for any length of time knows what nepotism is and how it works. We have all seen its disastrous results and the taxpayers are left holding the proverbial bag.
I also have no issue with Seaside Charter School. Had Walton Academy been developed (or more accurately the Rader Group) been as interested in developing a school with the same visions Seaside has endeavored to provide to its students rather than being a warehouse for everything that's wrong with public education, we probably wouldn't be having this conversation.
I'm not "hung up" on the guy on the bridge. I originally brought the story to these forums when the media failed to report a significant news event involving a Principal from what happened to be a Charter School in this county. Had it been a truly public school rather than one run by a private, for profit company the outcome may have been what the "cocaine teacher" got instead of the slap on the wrist it received. I do believe that teaching our children not to drink and drive should be taught by those who practice what they preach!!
"Lead by example!"