"A child's learning is the function more of the characteristics of his classmates than those of the teacher." James Coleman, 1972

Tuesday, February 04, 2014

Camelot Education's Todd Bock Accuses Schools Matter of "Slander"

In two emails today to me from Mr. Todd Bock, President and CEO of Camelot Education, he alleges that I have slandered his company with a blog post from May 2009 (please do have a moment to read it).

To substantiate his claim, Mr. Bock enclosed a letter from Chief of School Operations for Philadelphia Schools dated May 29, 2009.  The letter reports on an investigation based upon unspecified complaints about Camelot Schools' connection to the now-defunct Brown Schools.  In a carefully worded document that offers a limp recommendation of Camelot's performance and conclusion on Camelot's business relations with Brown Schools, Philadelphia Schools officials concluded
Camelot Schools has a five (5) year history of generally satisfactory work for the School District. . . . . Camelot Schools’ management gave us explanations consistent with the record we independently verified. Based on our investigation, we find their account reasonable and credible. Camelot Schools and Brown Schools remained businesses distinct from one another. Accordingly, we do not attribute to Camelot Schools the concerns associated with the Brown Schools. Camelot Schools has documented its financial responsibility today. We plan to pursue alternative education contracts with Camelot Schools, subject to the final negotiation of mutually acceptable terms hereafter. 
Why did it take Mr. Bock almost 5 years to express his concern for a blog post that he claims in today's email to have had "zero impact to Camelot?"  For a statement to be defamatory, Mr. Bock, it must be shown to have had some negative effect.  You have just admitted there has been no effect of any kind.

Are there factual inaccuracies in the 2009 post that Mr. Bock would like to challenge?  Would Mr. Bock like to set the record straight?  If so, I invite him to send specifics in a letter so that I can post them here at Schools Matter?  After all, none of us mere mortals is perfect.  

Or would Mr. Bock simply prefer to scrub history to conceal the deep moral stench that seeps up from no excuses lockdown penal schools, residential and otherwise.

When Mr. Bock accuses me of slander, he obviously means "libel."  For a statement to be libelous, it must be demonstrated that it is factually incorrect.  So Mr. Bock, here is your chance.  I hope that you take it so that you can stop wasting my time with these threatening emails.

2 comments:

  1. FROM TOOD BOCK LINKEDIN SUMMARY OF EXPERIENCE:

    Summary
    Todd joined Camelot in 2003 and is responsible for leading Camelot’s transformation in the alternative education field. His vision and passion for helping at-risk students succeed sets the tone and direction for our organization. Under his leadership, Camelot has grown from one alternative education program to 33 in the year 2014.
    In 2011, Todd was named CEO and President of Camelot by the second equity company that has purchased Camelot. Since that time, Todd has assembled a highly experienced senior resource team focused on continuous program improvement and high standards of program accountability. He provides leadership for Camelot by overseeing the organizations strategic imperatives and design.
    Camelot’s programs serve over 180 school districts and charter school organizations in the alternative education and therapeutic day school education space. With Todd’s guidance, these programs have served over 6,000 students in a school year and have graduated over 3, 500 students since opening. Within these school systems, Camelot currently works with multiple school districts that are ranked within the 15 largest districts in America.
    Todd, a graduate of the Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, began his career as a teacher/counselor at the renowned Glen Mills Schools, a residential facility for young men with disciplinary issues. From there he became Director for Public Education for the Brown Schools, responsible for all public educational programs throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

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  2. I would be interested to see what resolution has come regarding this.

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