Last year when Shelby County saw the lucrative Gates plan for turning over Memphis City schools to corporations melting away, the County filed a lawsuit against five suburban municipalities that were threatening to form their own school systems to avoid the Gates consolidation. The ostensible basis for the lawsuit was that the five new leafy suburban districts would exacerbate segregation in the remaining county schools.
When the pending lawsuit failed to block the formation of the new school districts, thanks to neo-segregationists at the state level, the County essentially blackmailed the new munis into paying a fee to settle the lawsuit. Now everyone has the money needed to guarantee a clear moral conscience, and children in Memphis are confined and segregated in corporate charter chain gangs to be culturally and behaviorally sterilized. Perfect.
When the pending lawsuit failed to block the formation of the new school districts, thanks to neo-segregationists at the state level, the County essentially blackmailed the new munis into paying a fee to settle the lawsuit. Now everyone has the money needed to guarantee a clear moral conscience, and children in Memphis are confined and segregated in corporate charter chain gangs to be culturally and behaviorally sterilized. Perfect.
. . . .The
agreement says the county commission will not sue the municipalities for any
equal protection issues. In return, the municipalities have agreed to pay the
Shelby County school board a percentage of state funding over 12 years to help
fund staff retirement benefits.
Arlington,
one of the first communities to agree to settlement costs, will pay $333,333 a
year, or nearly $4 million over 12 years. . . .
The only story I can find on WGU that has any information is from The News Tribune in Washington:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thenewstribune.com/2013/12/22/2960710/education-revolution.html
The saddest part of miseducation reform are the proliferation of crooks and scammers, who would be criminals in a sane world. This "non profit" so called university is lining the pockets of some very greedy, well-connected people who are making money off the most vulnerable and desperate. The News Tribune article states, "Mendenhall made $853,000 in total compensation in the year ending in mid-2012, according to tax filings. Some college presidents make more, to be sure. But his pay is relatively large, especially when compared with Washington presidents."
The sickest and most insidious thing about WGU is that they boast about having no grades, no accountability, etc. while those same governors continue to shove accountability, measurements, merit pay and value added measures down the throats of real teachers in real classroom with real students.
Reminds me of Wall Street's CMO's (collateralized mortgage obligations) and other junk products that ripped off the 99%, Now there is a whole new world of education crooks who have their sites on ripping off single moms with three kids who believe a degree from this on line "non profit" diploma mill is going to be the answer to a good paying job and a better life.
WGU has been recruiting heavily in NJ and looking for "coaches" or whatever they call the people who sit at home and evaluate students on tests and other money making hoops for them to jump through.
The U.S. Justice Department should be looking into WGU but like with most of DC these days, the wolf is guarding the hen house. It's just amazing how the corruption in education keeps reaching new heights. Just like the regulators couldn't keep up with the thieves on Wall Street or were told to look the other way, when it comes to regulating education or protecting "consumers" -- the Governors are in on the action.
Look for WGU to continue growing by leaps and bounds in states across the country as the 99% look for alternatives to brick and mortar schools that are unaffordable and a pipe dream for most of the nation's high school graduates. WGU will be the only pathway to a diploma, even if it's not worth the paper that it's printed on, just like the CMO's.
The pipeline of students for WGU is sure to be flowing with lots of customers. Since most of the students have been taught how to take multiple choice tests and how to fill in bubbles, Mendenhall should be quite secure in living the lifestyle that he has been accustomed to. In 2014 his salary might even top $1 million for his "non-profit" university and his performance when it comes to recruiting more suckers, students.
What a sad, tragic state of affairs. It makes a real, genuine education even more valuable and more important in navigating the endless stream of corruption, greed and fraud.
The president of the University of Puget Sound was at or near the head of the class for Washington private schools in 2012 with $623,000. Among public schools, University of Washington President Michael Young reportedly was near the top of the list nationally in 2012 with a full compensation package of $802,000, before a raise this year.
Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2013/12/22/2960710/education-revolution.html#storylink=cpy