KIPP Fresno Part 4: Will the City and State Cave to the Oligarchs?

The KIPP Fresno horrors offer a chance to view up close the "fierce" kind of schooling that edu-idiots like David Brooks and the oligarchs are calling for as the final reform spearhead that, unfortunately, must travel through the heads and bodies of innocent children in order to approach the presumed target, poverty. KIPP represents the culmination of the conservative and neo-liberal dream antidote to what Ronald Reagan viewed as an overdose of civil rights during the 60s and 70s. For those who pray to St. Ronnie, it is KIPP that will finally force the shiftless and poor urban dwellers to pay with their children's well-being for what they thought they were given through Civil Rights legislation forty years ago. KIPP is aimed at becoming the ultimate accountability tool, the final hazing, the perfect soul extraction device, the final filter applied before guarded entry is granted into the ultimate gated community of middle class drones.

If Bill Gates, Arne Duncan, and the Education Trust have their way, KIPP and the KIPP knock-offs are going to set things right with an remedy that children cannot refuse, and if they or their parents do refuse, then they will earn the poverty that their choice will have sealed. It is perhaps fitting that the denouement to this white neo-liberal telling of the American civil rights story should play out in such a "fierce" and unequivocal assault on children, the most innocent victims to embody the unrelenting effects of Poverty, that marauding perpetrator who remains, indeed, free to ravage, to breed, to infect, and to kill.

From the "Notice to Cure and Correct":

Suspension and Suspension Procedures
Investigation Determined:

. . . . that throughout the school years from 2004 to 2008, the Charter School failed to abide by the California Eduation Code grounds and procedures for suspension of students as stated in California Education Code 48900 et. seq.

Examples:
. . . . Ms. Kutzner stated that she saw ______ was left outside without supervision for three hours for a minor infraction that occurred during breakfast.

Kim Kutzner also witnessed students being forced to stay insmall rooms near the school's office for hours or even entire days withou supervision.

Ms. Kutzner stated that parents of suspended studetns were frequently not notified of the suspensions.

Ms. Kutzner stated that students were routinely sent home for non-serious offenses like talking in class, chewing gum, and bringing a mechanical pencil to school.

She also stated that students were routinely transported from school without their parents being notified.

. . . .In April of 2008, student ________ was in supervised, isolated suspension for three weeks for inappropriately touching another student.

. . . .________ was suspended indefinitely for sexual assault, and the suspension was never brought to the attention of the Board.

Board Composition
The investigation dtermined that the Charter School failed to have not more than 49% of the Charter School's Board of Directors be compensated by the school for services rendered to it within the previous 12 months.

Credentialing
The investigation determined the Charter School failed to assign teachers who hold appropriate California teaching credentials, permits, or other documents issued by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, to teach core curriculum classes.

Criminal Background Checks
The investigation determined that the Charter School failed to require each faculty and staff member to undergo a criminal background check and fingerprinting conducted by the local police department and the FBI, as well as a child-abuse registry check.

Right to Privacy
The investigation determined hat the Charter School disclosed students' information, including addresses and phone numbers, without informing parents about the existence of a directory or providing reasonable time to request information not be disclosed in a directory in violaion of the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) 20 USCA 1232g. Further, Mr. Tschang invaded students' and parents' privacy through his disciplinary methods.

Example:
_________ was a student who was disciplined for inappropriately touching another student. Mr. Tschang used what happened to _____ as an example to another student who inappropriately touched a female student. ______ stated that , "He wanted me to talk to him and tell him what consequences he might face afterward. He told me to tell ____ about my situation. He wanted me to tell him what the parents call me: sexual prdator, a nasty kid, and a pervert." Mr. Tshang responded to this by saying, "The reasoning is that we look out for each other at our school, and we learn from each other's mistakes . . . the older student was passing on advice to the younger student about his mistakes made." When discussing the incident, ______stated that, " It made me feel uncomfortable, but I only did it so I could go back to class. I also felt betrayed by Mr. Tschang and used. I was an example."