2015 Charter Renewal Application:
Fulton Science Academy High School,
Fulton Sunshine Academy Elementary School
Page created Nov 16, 2014
Fulton Science Academy High School and Fulton Sunshine Academy Elementary School are Gulen charter schools in the greater Atlanta, Georgia area. The high school is in Alpharetta, the elementary school in Roswell. Their "sister" middle school, the first school founded in the chain, was formerly Fulton Science Academy Middle School, a charter school. In 2012, Fulton County Schools revoked the middle school's charter, and it converted to a private school named Fulton Science Academy Private School.
The charters of the high school and elementary school are set to expire in June 2015. Fulton County Schools is currently considering their renewal applications, and their Charter Raters Committee has recommended denial of both charters. The County's final decision will be made on November 20, 2014. The documents can be downloaded here:
Fulton Science Academy High School and Fulton Sunshine Academy Elementary School are Gulen charter schools in the greater Atlanta, Georgia area. The high school is in Alpharetta, the elementary school in Roswell. Their "sister" middle school, the first school founded in the chain, was formerly Fulton Science Academy Middle School, a charter school. In 2012, Fulton County Schools revoked the middle school's charter, and it converted to a private school named Fulton Science Academy Private School.
The charters of the high school and elementary school are set to expire in June 2015. Fulton County Schools is currently considering their renewal applications, and their Charter Raters Committee has recommended denial of both charters. The County's final decision will be made on November 20, 2014. The documents can be downloaded here:
fsahs_renewal_motion_supporting_documentation.pdf | |
File Size: | 815 kb |
File Type: |
fulton_sunshine_academy_motion_supporting_documentation.pdf | |
File Size: | 1249 kb |
File Type: |
Bond default, audit and collusion
Fulton County Schools' decision to rescind the middle school's charter led to vicious, emotionally-driven criticism, particularly directed at the Superintendent, Dr. Robert Avossa. The reasons for Avossa's decision became clearer some time later, when an audit that mainly focused on the middle school was publicized. The New York Times reported that this audit (link) "found the schools improperly granted hundreds of thousands of dollars in contracts to businesses and groups, many of them with ties to the Gulen movement." A 2011 Times article on similar related-party deals in large chain of Gulen charter schools in Texas was mentioned. (Parenthetically it is worth noting that charter school audits are very rarely significant enough to receive coverage by The Times.)
The loss of the middle school's charter forced the chain to go into default on a $18.9 million bond deal with the Development Authority of the city of Alpharetta that the chain had obtained without the consent of Fulton County Schools for the purpose of new school facility construction. While Wells Fargo, the trustee for the bondholders, filed suit, they were forced to settle for an amount far less than what was owed. The loss fell on private individuals who had invested in the bonds. The land was sold at a foreclosure auction, and the winning bidder, a company called Truglobe, obtained it for around $3 million. A local blog, "Roots in Alpharetta," researched Truglobe and found that its corporate officers had Gulenist ties, including to the Turkish American Chamber of Commerce. The purchase of the land by members of the same group that defaulted was a clear case of collusion, which in principal was quite illegal but in practice is difficult to prosecute. At the end of all this, the Gulen Movement had netted millions of dollars at the expense of private investors.
Fulton County Schools' decision to rescind the middle school's charter led to vicious, emotionally-driven criticism, particularly directed at the Superintendent, Dr. Robert Avossa. The reasons for Avossa's decision became clearer some time later, when an audit that mainly focused on the middle school was publicized. The New York Times reported that this audit (link) "found the schools improperly granted hundreds of thousands of dollars in contracts to businesses and groups, many of them with ties to the Gulen movement." A 2011 Times article on similar related-party deals in large chain of Gulen charter schools in Texas was mentioned. (Parenthetically it is worth noting that charter school audits are very rarely significant enough to receive coverage by The Times.)
The loss of the middle school's charter forced the chain to go into default on a $18.9 million bond deal with the Development Authority of the city of Alpharetta that the chain had obtained without the consent of Fulton County Schools for the purpose of new school facility construction. While Wells Fargo, the trustee for the bondholders, filed suit, they were forced to settle for an amount far less than what was owed. The loss fell on private individuals who had invested in the bonds. The land was sold at a foreclosure auction, and the winning bidder, a company called Truglobe, obtained it for around $3 million. A local blog, "Roots in Alpharetta," researched Truglobe and found that its corporate officers had Gulenist ties, including to the Turkish American Chamber of Commerce. The purchase of the land by members of the same group that defaulted was a clear case of collusion, which in principal was quite illegal but in practice is difficult to prosecute. At the end of all this, the Gulen Movement had netted millions of dollars at the expense of private investors.
Local conservative talk show host decides to support the Gulen Movement
On November 13, 2014, Erick Erickson, who hosts his own show on 95.5 FM/AM 750 News/Talk WSB, an Atlanta area radio station, performed a great service for the Gulen Movement by taking up the "cause" of Fulton Science Academy High School in a segment that took up much of his podcast that day (link). In a lengthy and repetitive introduction, Erickson notes Fulton Science Academy High School's purported academic accomplishments, including the "Silver award" from US News and World Report for 2014, a 96.3% graduation rate compared to Fulton County's 78.7%, a higher ACT score than Fulton County's average, and higher AP test scores than Fulton County. Erickson lauds the school with phraseology such as "I
mean, it outperforms Fulton County on everything, it outperforms Georgia on
everything, it outperforms the national average on everything. You might want to send you kid to school there." In a highly sarcastic tone he insinuates that Fulton County Schools is moving to deny the charter renewal despite the academic performance simply out of a desire to micromanage the school.
ACT mentioned but not SAT: Fulton County 1567, Fulton Science Academy 1563
Erickson makes quite a point of the fact that Fulton Science Academy High School's ACT scores are higher than the Fulton County average. "They’re kicking Fulton County’s butt on the ACT," he exclaims at one point. On the 2013 SAT scores, however, Fulton Science Academy was slightly lower than the Fulton County average.
Test score comparisons are MEANINGLESS unless demographic differences are accounted for
Erickson is comparing ACT scores (and AP test scores, etc) between the school and its district without any accounting for the fact that Fulton Science Academy has a very selective student body.
Fulton County Schools' student body (source) has 44% free or reduced-price lunch (FRPL) eligible students; this is the widely-used measure of percent of students who are economically disadvantaged. In contrast, Fulton Science Academy High School had only 10% FRPL students. SAT and ACT scores correlate strongly with FRPL. The following graphs show that the SAT and ACT scores of FSAHS are not at all impressive when considered against other Fulton County schools of comparable FRPL.
Erickson makes quite a point of the fact that Fulton Science Academy High School's ACT scores are higher than the Fulton County average. "They’re kicking Fulton County’s butt on the ACT," he exclaims at one point. On the 2013 SAT scores, however, Fulton Science Academy was slightly lower than the Fulton County average.
Test score comparisons are MEANINGLESS unless demographic differences are accounted for
Erickson is comparing ACT scores (and AP test scores, etc) between the school and its district without any accounting for the fact that Fulton Science Academy has a very selective student body.
Fulton County Schools' student body (source) has 44% free or reduced-price lunch (FRPL) eligible students; this is the widely-used measure of percent of students who are economically disadvantaged. In contrast, Fulton Science Academy High School had only 10% FRPL students. SAT and ACT scores correlate strongly with FRPL. The following graphs show that the SAT and ACT scores of FSAHS are not at all impressive when considered against other Fulton County schools of comparable FRPL.
Fulton Science Academy HS lie below the trend line for
ACT score vs. percent FRPL (economically disadvantaged)
ACT score vs. percent FRPL (economically disadvantaged)
Fulton Science Academy HS lie below the trend line for
SAT score vs. percent FRPL (economically disadvantaged)
SAT score vs. percent FRPL (economically disadvantaged)
Further demographic data show that the school's student body is not at all comparable to the district's:
Fulton Science Academy HS
29% black 43% white 6% Hispanic 16% Asian |
Fulton County Schools
42% black 33% white 13% Hispanic 9% Asian |
Data sources:
- SAT scores and percent FRPL for Fulton County high schools: "Metro Atlanta SAT scores tied to poverty," October 3, 2013, Atlanta Journal-Constitution (link).
- ACT scores for Fulton County high schools: http://www.scribd.com/doc/237325744/ACT-2014, embedded in http://patch.com/georgia/roswell/fulton-act-scores-surpass-state-national-average
- Fulton County student demographics http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/05/23/32fulton.h31.html
- Fulton Science Academy High School demographics http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/georgia/districts/fulton-county/fulton-science-academy-high-school-5922/test-scores
Graduation rates: games with numbers
Erickson is so taken with Fulton Science Academy High School's reported graduation rate of 96.3% that he repeats it at least 4 times. He contrasts it with the
Fulton County graduation rate of 78.7% and the state graduation rate is 72.5%. While all the points raised above about demographic differences certainly apply here as well, it is also important to examine closely just how such a figure of 96.3% was arrived at.
Enrollment numbers of student cohorts suggest a substantial attrition in this school as students progress from 9th to 12th grade. The student counts for the classes of 2012 and 2013 are shown in the following figures.
Enrollment numbers of student cohorts suggest a substantial attrition in this school as students progress from 9th to 12th grade. The student counts for the classes of 2012 and 2013 are shown in the following figures.
Even more revealing is a document from the Georgia Department of Education giving the "2012 4-year cohort graduation rate" (link). Fulton Science Academy's graduation class size is listed as 50. Of these 50 students, 44, or 88%, are reported to have graduated. The problem with this is that FSAHS had a 9th grade class of 80 students in 2008-09; this was the pool of 9th graders that was supposed to graduate in spring 2012. The fact that FSAHS is officially reporting only 50 of those 80 students means they must have assigned "leaver codes" to a large number of students, reporting them as having "chosen" to transfer to another school. The idea of leaver codes was originally developed to correct for the fact that if, say, a child's family moved to another district, it was unfair to penalize the school as if that child had dropped out. The problem is that some charter schools now use these leaver codes to disguise the fact that many students are not moving away, but rather are dropping out of the charter school and returning to its sending district. To absolve the charter school of all responsibility for keeping these students in high school by saying they "chose" to transfer back to the district is absurd. Unfortunately, until the leaver code system and the method of calculating graduation rates is improved to make it more accurately reflect reality, some charter schools will continue to report grossly inflated graduation rates - and get away with it. It is clear that FSAHS' reported graduation rate of 96.3% is inflated.
Parent views issue narrowly, solely in terms of her child's own perceived experience
Erickson is apparently one of the main avenues through which FSAHS parents are venting their frustrations; he says "I have been inundated by parents whose kids go to the school. I mean flooded with information and concern from parents whose kids go to the school." On air, he takes a call from a Fulton Science Academy parent.
The parent's comments are interesting. At one point she states: "Yeah, that’s the frustrating thing to us as parents, is that, when I read through the response that you were reading earlier, um, when we got it a couple of days ago, not one thing in there had to do with whether or not this school was serving my child." She says she knows little about charter school finance, and she makes it clear that the school's financial practices are of no concern to her. Her reaction is quite characteristic of charter school parents who protest an attempted closure of their child's school: their view is often based solely on their perception that their child better off at the school. What is interesting about this viewpoint is that it does not admit to any right on the part of taxpayers to have some control over how their tax dollars are spent. Many taxpayers might object to enriching the Gulen Movement with their tax dollars, even if 200-some students felt they were getting a better education out of it. Erickson, this parent, and the other caller he speaks with pointedly make no mention whatsoever of the Gulen connections of the school, and the fact that the related-party deals of concern are all within the Gulen network. Again this is quite characteristic of defenders of Gulen charter schools. In their view, the Gulen connection is not a legitimate topic of discussion.
It is puzzling that parents, even when informed of a school's lack of integrity in financial practices, seldom question whether this lack of integrity extends to other areas, such as for example, testing. How probable is it, really, that school operators who rapaciously engage in self-serving related-party deals will have only the students' interests at heart when it comes to academics?
The parent indicates that she feels that Fulton County Schools, by raising questions about the schools' charter renewals, is causing enrollment to decrease and thus causing the schools to not be financially viable. She states that she believes these renewals come up every 2 years. In fact, the charter schools in the Fulton Science Academy chain have been awarded 5-year charters. Moreover, it is Fulton County Schools' legal responsibility to carefully consider all charter renewals, and to examine their finances. If Fulton County Schools ignored financial abuses and rubber-stamped a charter renewal simply because some parents felt they should, they would be failing in their legal duties to taxpayers and the community.
Erickson is apparently one of the main avenues through which FSAHS parents are venting their frustrations; he says "I have been inundated by parents whose kids go to the school. I mean flooded with information and concern from parents whose kids go to the school." On air, he takes a call from a Fulton Science Academy parent.
The parent's comments are interesting. At one point she states: "Yeah, that’s the frustrating thing to us as parents, is that, when I read through the response that you were reading earlier, um, when we got it a couple of days ago, not one thing in there had to do with whether or not this school was serving my child." She says she knows little about charter school finance, and she makes it clear that the school's financial practices are of no concern to her. Her reaction is quite characteristic of charter school parents who protest an attempted closure of their child's school: their view is often based solely on their perception that their child better off at the school. What is interesting about this viewpoint is that it does not admit to any right on the part of taxpayers to have some control over how their tax dollars are spent. Many taxpayers might object to enriching the Gulen Movement with their tax dollars, even if 200-some students felt they were getting a better education out of it. Erickson, this parent, and the other caller he speaks with pointedly make no mention whatsoever of the Gulen connections of the school, and the fact that the related-party deals of concern are all within the Gulen network. Again this is quite characteristic of defenders of Gulen charter schools. In their view, the Gulen connection is not a legitimate topic of discussion.
It is puzzling that parents, even when informed of a school's lack of integrity in financial practices, seldom question whether this lack of integrity extends to other areas, such as for example, testing. How probable is it, really, that school operators who rapaciously engage in self-serving related-party deals will have only the students' interests at heart when it comes to academics?
The parent indicates that she feels that Fulton County Schools, by raising questions about the schools' charter renewals, is causing enrollment to decrease and thus causing the schools to not be financially viable. She states that she believes these renewals come up every 2 years. In fact, the charter schools in the Fulton Science Academy chain have been awarded 5-year charters. Moreover, it is Fulton County Schools' legal responsibility to carefully consider all charter renewals, and to examine their finances. If Fulton County Schools ignored financial abuses and rubber-stamped a charter renewal simply because some parents felt they should, they would be failing in their legal duties to taxpayers and the community.
Nearby Sandy Springs charter operator weighs in on finances
Erickson also takes an on-air call from Kurt (Curt?), the operator of an (unrelated) charter school in Sandy Springs. Kurt says he knows nothing about FSAHS' academic performance, but he is quite knowledgeable about charter school finance. He makes a very interesting observation: "...the school that we run has about a thousand students with a 14 million dollar loan, and we are just barely getting by.... I can’t imagine how a school with 400 kids or less could handle a 19 million dollar loan." In the ensuing conversation, Erickson acknowledges that there are irregularities and concerns regarding Fulton Science Academy's finances.
The next caller is Sharon, a current board member of FSAHS. She makes a point of clarifying that the 19 million dollar bond deal was defaulted on, and this the school has no more debt from it. Again it is remarkable that there is no discussion at this point of what this default meant. The group that the operators of FSAHS are affiliated with, namely the Gulen Movement, gained millions of dollars worth of assets out of this default, at the expense of private investors. Wells Fargo did not pursue legal action further mainly because it would have been too costly. Nevertheless, this default raises serious concerns about the ethical standards and financial judgement of the FSAHS board. It is unfortunate that Erickson chose to completely elide this issue.
Erickson also takes an on-air call from Kurt (Curt?), the operator of an (unrelated) charter school in Sandy Springs. Kurt says he knows nothing about FSAHS' academic performance, but he is quite knowledgeable about charter school finance. He makes a very interesting observation: "...the school that we run has about a thousand students with a 14 million dollar loan, and we are just barely getting by.... I can’t imagine how a school with 400 kids or less could handle a 19 million dollar loan." In the ensuing conversation, Erickson acknowledges that there are irregularities and concerns regarding Fulton Science Academy's finances.
The next caller is Sharon, a current board member of FSAHS. She makes a point of clarifying that the 19 million dollar bond deal was defaulted on, and this the school has no more debt from it. Again it is remarkable that there is no discussion at this point of what this default meant. The group that the operators of FSAHS are affiliated with, namely the Gulen Movement, gained millions of dollars worth of assets out of this default, at the expense of private investors. Wells Fargo did not pursue legal action further mainly because it would have been too costly. Nevertheless, this default raises serious concerns about the ethical standards and financial judgement of the FSAHS board. It is unfortunate that Erickson chose to completely elide this issue.
Fulton Science Academy High School and Fulton Elementary School have hired lobbyists at rates exceeding $10000
One of the first claims Erickson makes in his broadcast is that the issue of Fulton Science Academy HS' charter renewal has nothing to do with politics.
If that were true, it might be asked why Fulton Science Academy High School and Fulton Educational Services have hired political lobbyists registered with the state of Georgia, at rates exceeding $10000 (unfortunately the actual amount is not disclosed). The following screen snips show that the schools have hired Robert L. Fortson and Andrew Ryan Long. The Fulton Science Academy High School page listing board documents (link) shows, under Wed Sep 17, 2014, an item described as "FSAHS Agreement with McGuire Woods Consulting Firm." (Lobbyist Robert L. Fortson works for McGuire Woords; the corporate website lists him as "vice president in McGuireWoods Consulting's state government relations group.") Strangely, unlike all other board items, there is no link to a pdf document. Is this agreement secretive? Why should a publicly-funded charter school spend tax dollars meant for education on political lobbying?
If that were true, it might be asked why Fulton Science Academy High School and Fulton Educational Services have hired political lobbyists registered with the state of Georgia, at rates exceeding $10000 (unfortunately the actual amount is not disclosed). The following screen snips show that the schools have hired Robert L. Fortson and Andrew Ryan Long. The Fulton Science Academy High School page listing board documents (link) shows, under Wed Sep 17, 2014, an item described as "FSAHS Agreement with McGuire Woods Consulting Firm." (Lobbyist Robert L. Fortson works for McGuire Woords; the corporate website lists him as "vice president in McGuireWoods Consulting's state government relations group.") Strangely, unlike all other board items, there is no link to a pdf document. Is this agreement secretive? Why should a publicly-funded charter school spend tax dollars meant for education on political lobbying?
This hiring of political lobbyists raises further concerns about Fulton Science Academy High School and Fulton Sunshine Academy's use (or rather, abuse) of taxpayer money. This comes on top of concerns about related-party deals such as were documented in the audit mentioned above (see also the page on Blue Ocean Construction). Related-party transactions are endemic in the Gulen charter school chain, as documented recently in a November 2014 piece in Jacobin Magazine (link) as well as other news articles.
Conclusion
It is unfortunate that some parents and community members choose to ignore the many issues of great concern regarding Fulton Science Academy High School and Fulton Sunshine Academy Elementary School's finances and operators. Claims about these schools' purported academic successes are exaggerated, especially since they mostly ignore the schools' selective demographics.
The Fulton County School Board will be entirely justified in denying the renewal of these schools' charters. If they follow through with this decision on November 20, 2014, it will speak to their good judgement and concern for proper and ethical stewardship of education tax dollars.
It is unfortunate that some parents and community members choose to ignore the many issues of great concern regarding Fulton Science Academy High School and Fulton Sunshine Academy Elementary School's finances and operators. Claims about these schools' purported academic successes are exaggerated, especially since they mostly ignore the schools' selective demographics.
The Fulton County School Board will be entirely justified in denying the renewal of these schools' charters. If they follow through with this decision on November 20, 2014, it will speak to their good judgement and concern for proper and ethical stewardship of education tax dollars.