Start a Charter; Get a Green Card - Another Reason to Vote NO

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We were just reading the following article on the news site for The Times of India:  The new US visa rush: Build a charter school, get a green card , that tells about foreign investors jumping on the bandwagon to start up charter schools.  Here is an excerpt of that article:

 

Photo: Times of India.  Start a charter; Get a green card.

  Under a federal program known as EB-5, wealthy foreigners can in effect buy US immigration visas for themselves and their families by investing at least $500,000 in certain development projects. In the past two decades, much of the investment has gone into commercial real-estate projects, like luxury hotels, ski resorts and even gas stations.

 

  Lately, however, enterprising brokers have seen a golden opportunity to match cash-starved charter schools with cash-flush foreigners in investment deals that benefit both.

 

  "The demand is massive - massive - on the school side," said Greg Wing, an investment advisor. "On the investor side, it's massive, too."

 

Read more here.

 

We then read the following local post on The Tucker Patch by Dana Teegardin.

 

 Here's an excerpt:   

 

Charter School Advocate and Mom Will Vote No.

Georgia is in the midst of an intense debate over a proposed charter school amendment that will be on the ballot in November. Whatever your position, you need to read my story.

 

Why Local Control is Critical

Proponents of the amendment declare that if a charter school is performing, it will remain open and if it is not performing, it will close. It's not that simple when a charter group is willing to break the rules.

 

The problems I encountered at Fulton Science Academy Charter School in Alpharetta could not have been anticipated by our local and state board of education or by educators across the country. The proper charter school board protocol did not work because the group running the school was not transparent.

 

I asked for help from the local school board and from my legislator, Representative Jan Jones, who also crafted the charter school amendment. It was the local school board that took action.

It is irresponsible of Gov. Nathan Deal, Jan Jones and our legislators to lobby for a constitutional amendment that does not stop the known problematic consequences of charter schools.

 

Problem? My son attended Fulton Science Academy charter school for three years when I found out about problems that also led to my learning that the school was being operated by followers of the influential Turkish imam, Fethullah Gulen.

 

Fulton Science Academy’s problems were serious and later validated, by an external audit, commissioned by the local school board. Details can be found in this New York Times article, Audits for 3 Georgia Charter Schools Tied to Gulen Movement, by Stephanie Saul: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/06/us/audits-for-3-georgia-charter-schools-tied-to-gulen-movement.html?_r=0

 

Turns out the Gulen movement was the least of my worries.

 

The real problem? Legislators with tunnel vision, hoping to open the Georgia education frontier to more charter groups at any cost. My legislators demonstrated that they will look the other way as long as a school has high test scores. The legislators were willing to ignore financial mismanagement and reported federal investigations.

 

Read more here.

 

Dana goes on to urge readers to vote NO on Amendment 1:

 

Vote No .. Amending the constitution is serious business. Don't vote for an amendment to the Georgia Constitution that contains weak legislation and does not address current problems we face in our state.

 

 

Thank you Dana.  We agree.  We intend to vote NO to Amendment 1 tomorrow and urge our followers to do the same.  It is not about children or education.  It is about money for a select few at any and all costs to the rest of us. 

 

It is about virtual education which is one of the reasons, if not the sole reason, that the cell towers were brought to our schools and now will put our neighborhoods at risk of health issues and a loss in value. 

 

It is about the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), one of the most UN-American groups perhaps ever founded on American soil.  It is about an old fashioned bait and switch trick where you are promised the things you want but are given something very different.