Arkansas Blog

Can anyone, in 100 words or less, explain to me what a Charter School is?
Thanks.

ARK. BLOG A flip answer, but close to right, is that it is a private school run with public tax dollars.

So the Board closes down two rural schools but gives Maumelle a break - can anyone else see an agenda here.

Max is right in his flip answer. You can get what some people pay big bucks to go to private school for for free. Good minority ratios, close-knit student body and graduate with an Associate's Degree.

A charter school is a public school authorized to operate under the authority of a non-profit board, not the local school board. However, charter schools are accountable to taxpayers for results. Unlike traditional public schools, if a charter school fails to educate kids, it can be closed. It's a good sign that failing schools like Academics Plus are held accountable. I think accountability should extend to all public schools. Maybe then quality would improve and kids would end up prepared to lead our businesses and government.

How much state funding do charter schools get? The state pitches in enough for regular schools so that local property taxes plus state funds provide $5,400. Does the state pay for the whole $5,400 for charter schools?

Oops! That figure is $5,400 per student.

Who determines who can enroll in the charter schools? Can anyone apply and will all be accepted? Is it k-12? Athletic programs? Band? Cheerleaders? ETC......

"I think accountability should extend to all public schools. Maybe then quality would improve and kids would end up prepared to lead our businesses and government."--Anon

I'm all for that. I'm for giving public schools the same edge as private schools. Give public schools the power/right to:

1). Refuse entrance to any child without any appeal.

2). No special education nor special education teachers.

3). Not to have a state approved scholastic program.

4). Dismiss students for any reason(s).

5). Do not have to have state certified classroom teachers.

6). Require passing grades in religion.

7). Raise tuition whenever wanted.

Give all of this to the public schools and Anon, I guarantee you will see tremendous changes take place. Perhaps you will like some of the changes and perhaps some you would not appreciate.

Why is it that accountability means dumping on the workers for their boss's failures? Why not the school board, or the superintendent? Are administrators only responsible for success? Pray tell, where are the parents of the children? When will they weary of management by crises?

"In the first place, God made idiots. That was for practice. Then he made school boards." Mark Twain

Cato,
Theoretically, any student can attend a charter school, but in reality where the school is located is going to make a huge difference, because the schools don't have to provide transportation -- so it's possible to engineer cream-skimming. (The LISA Academy in LR, for example, made a big show of saying they wanted to serve at-risk kids, but then located in West Little Rock.) If more kids want in than the school can hold, there has to be a random lottery.
As for which grades, what extracurriculars, etc, that's up to the individual school.

The concept of charter schools is good; the problem lies in the execution. 100%of state funding follows the student - mismanagement and fraud is rampant. As for accountablility - speaking for SC Charter Law - there is NO OVERSIGHT. The Charter School Board can take the money and run - literally. The kids suffer.

My school (Lisa Academy Charter School) fired one of my teachers for no reasoning for them being fired. his name is Mr Bemis, He had no reason for him being sacked.

one of my teachers at Lisa academy, got fired for no reason.

Ok, my old school (LISA). I don't know, but somethings totally wrong with it! I'm so tired of them picking on all of my favorite teachers! They fired one guy for like, having a messy room or something. Um, hello! It's the art room. It's gonna be messy no matter wat! My most favorite teachers got fired. I learned so much from them, and they were the best teachers I had ever had in my life and they get fired. I learned more in their classes then i did in all my other classes put together. Plus, they made it interesting. ANd how can you fire someone for no reason what so ever. My teacher, Mr. Bemis, got fired for nothing. Those teachers always helped me, and I'm definately not going back to that school if they're not going to be there. I'm sure i speak for alot of people when i say that too...

Ok, my old school (LISA). I don't know, but somethings totally wrong with it! I'm so tired of them picking on all of my favorite teachers! They fired one guy for like, having a messy room or something. Um, hello! It's the art room. It's gonna be messy no matter wat! My most favorite teachers got fired. I learned so much from them, and they were the best teachers I had ever had in my life and they get fired. I learned more in their classes then i did in all my other classes put together. Plus, they made it interesting. ANd how can you fire someone for no reason what so ever. My teacher, Mr. Bemis, got fired for nothing. Those teachers always helped me, and I'm definately not going back to that school if they're not going to be there. I'm sure i speak for alot of people when i say that too...

MAN...IM VERY P'D OFF RIGHT NOW BECUZ MY SCHOOL LISA ACADEMY(CHARTER SCHOOL) FIRED ALMOST ALL OF THE TEACHERS THAT MEAN ALOT TO ME AND HAVE GREAT TEACHING SKILLS!!I FEEL THAT IS WAS DONE FOR NO REASON AND I FEEL AS IF THEY JUST WANT A SCHOOL WHO HAS KIDS CUTTING THEMSELVES AND THREATENING THE SCHOOL!!THEY DONT SEE A BALANCE!!

okay.
my school lisa fired all of the non muslim 8th and 9th grade teachers.
even the nurse and special ed teacher.
there is something seriously wrong with lisa.

okay.
my school lisa fired all of the non muslim 8th and 9th grade teachers.
even the nurse and special ed teacher.
there is something seriously wrong with lisa.

my school, lisa academy, has fired the non muslim 8th and 9th grade teachers. including the special education and nurse. this is an outrage. do you know how many things they've done for the students? they're the best teachers there! they are wonderful in teaching but also in life problems as well. If something is wrong you can go to them and they'll help. school and otherwise. every one trusts them. someone molested me. you think i'd tell someone i didn't trust? HELLO! NO WAY! this is just NOT RIGHT AT ALL.

The worst thing about this firing was that the Students found out a day before the teachers did. It seems that the Office has a confidentiality problem. When students come the day before crying to the teachers involved something needs to done.

The worst thing about this firing was that the Students found out a day before the teachers did. It seems that the Office has a confidentiality problem. When students come the day before crying to the teachers involved something needs to done.

The worst thing about this firing was that the Students found out a day before the teachers did. It seems that the Office has a confidentiality problem. When students come the day before crying to the teachers involved something needs to done.

I think that LISA Academy is prejudice against non-Muslim staff and students. They are unfair in their treatment agmong students. In their culture people are to be seen and not heard (especially women). So if you are not Turkish, a man, or a student with bragging rights you are treated like nothing and your opinions doesn't matter. It is very apparent that the school plans to keep all Turkish staff regardless of inappropriate behavior to staff/students or lack of teaching abilities, and make it so all of their family members, friends, or college companions come to this country and are guaranteed a job. Another big issue is the fact that LISA is always out of compliance with state laws and regulations. Don't believe me.... ask to see any student physicals for all the sports this year, who is a certified teacher, the special ed curriculum (their isn't one!!! They are going to fall behind farther in level of education), The llegal teacher mentor program, how many teachers they have teaching without legal citzenship, or better yet how parent volunteers and the secretary has access to ALL student private records and can and have violated HIPPA laws by releasing information. Or worse, the fact that the principal/superintendent checks the students personal web pages they develop on their own time and try to punish them at school if they say things that they don't like to hear (can we say freedom of speech). Or the fact that students health, safety, social development, or feelings don't matter as long as the test scores look good. It was really inappropriate that when students and secretaries know before teachers that they are not getting their contract renewed (can we say breach of confidentiality?!) I feel like LISA should be ran by people who are understanding and tolerant of American culture instead of forcing Turkish beliefs and values.

I think that LISA Academy is prejudice against non-Muslim staff and students. They are unfair in their treatment agmong students. In their culture people are to be seen and not heard (especially women). So if you are not Turkish, a man, or a student with bragging rights you are treated like nothing and your opinions doesn't matter. It is very apparent that the school plans to keep all Turkish staff regardless of inappropriate behavior to staff/students or lack of teaching abilities, and make it so all of their family members, friends, or college companions come to this country and are guaranteed a job. Another big issue is the fact that LISA is always out of compliance with state laws and regulations. Don't believe me.... ask to see any student physicals for all the sports this year, who is a certified teacher, the special ed curriculum (their isn't one!!! They are going to fall behind farther in level of education), The llegal teacher mentor program, how many teachers they have teaching without legal citzenship, or better yet how parent volunteers and the secretary has access to ALL student private records and can and have violated HIPPA laws by releasing information. Or worse, the fact that the principal/superintendent checks the students personal web pages they develop on their own time and try to punish them at school if they say things that they don't like to hear (can we say freedom of speech). Or the fact that students health, safety, social development, or feelings don't matter as long as the test scores look good. It was really inappropriate that when students and secretaries know before teachers that they are not getting their contract renewed (can we say breach of confidentiality?!) I feel like LISA should be ran by people who are understanding and tolerant of American culture instead of forcing Turkish beliefs and values.

Charter schools are simply schools that are funded by the state and run by their own school board instead of the local district's school board. There is NO proof whatsoever that charter schools are better than public schools or they give a better education. Believe you me, that my school, LISA Academy is one of the most un-organized schools I've ever attended.

It seems as if LISA does not really care about the students education, but rather the reputation the students give to the school. We spent more than half the year working on SCIENCE FAIR instead of actually learning science! The school also stresses the importance of the standardized tests we take, simply because when the students do well, it shines on the school.

They only stress the importance of math, science, and computers. The school seems to spend all of their money buying new computers for the lab, but they have barely any PE equipment. The athletic program is in sorry state and they practically have no art department to speak of. There has been so much done for the math and science departments, we've gone to several competitions and whatnot, but barely anything has been done for the English department.

Auhorities at LISA also check the blogs of many of their students, and then penalize them at school.

But the worst thing is that LISA fired all of the 8th and 9th grade teachers that were NOT Muslim. Mrs. Swinney, Mr. Bemis, Mr. Ball, Ms. Craig, and the nurse, Ms. Duellman were all fired for basically NO reason, other than they were not Muslim. LISA absolutely canNOT say those teachers were fired because they were not qualified, considering the fact there are certain Muslim teachers that I did not learn a single thing from in two years.

Something has to be done.

You know...when you go to a charter school, the principal can pretty much do whatever he/she wants. He/She could fire a teacher if he didn't like the person's socks! New charter schools in general are not very reliable or dependable...

Lisa Academy prides itself on having the most brilliant students; they're the champions in everything, they'll always bring back some kind of award. What Lisa outsiders don't know is that those students, the ones you see in newspapers and on their website, are only the smaller portion of the school. If your child is accepted to this school, don't expect them to become prodigies who will suddenly start winning medals and scholarships; no, Lisa is far from a wonder school. In fact, if your child is not placed in one of the "smart" classes there, you shouldn't expect them to be showered with much attention. If any amount of recognition is given to the other students, it will never be as much as the main news-grabbers. As mentioned above, yes, the authorites at Lisa do read their students' private blogs as well as the teachers'. And although Lisa does have a long waiting list, have you thought about all the dissatisfied students that are leaving the school?

Why is LISA Academy so racist?! Parents are sending their kids to this school in hope that they will turn into geniuses but they are soo wrong. Some of the teachers there don't notice you if you are not brilliant. Most of the teachers that coach the winning teams make the students work really hard so they can be guaranteed a spot their for next year. Some of them pick favorites according to their brilliance and they coach them more than the others so their favorite student can shine through.
Parents that want to send their kids to LISA don't know about anything that goes on in there. I have so many friends that are leaving LISA because it is unorganized and really uncaring. The teachers they fired actually cared about us and not just how smart we were.
Some of the teachers that have not been fired pick on the kids. If you are on a team here and you screw up at the big contest, you are hated by the coach for a long long time.
Some of the techers here are really sexist as well. I think the principal wants to only have non-female, muslim teachers teaching here.
And Mr.Bemis is a really really good and experienced teacher. They don't fire some of the teachers that we have not learned a single thing from.

Why is LISA Academy so racist?! Parents are sending their kids to this school in hope that they will turn into geniuses but they are soo wrong. Some of the teachers there don't notice you if you are not brilliant. Most of the teachers that coach the winning teams make the students work really hard so they can be guaranteed a spot their for next year. Some of them pick favorites according to their brilliance and they coach them more than the others so their favorite student can shine through.
Parents that want to send their kids to LISA don't know about anything that goes on in there. I have so many friends that are leaving LISA because it is unorganized. The teachers they fired actually cared about us and not just how smart we were.
Some of the teachers that have not been fired pick on the kids. If you are on a team here and you screw up at the big contest, you are hated by the coach for a long long time.
Some of the techers here are really sexist as well. I think the principal wants to only have non-female, muslim teachers teaching here.
And Mr.Bemis is a really really good and experienced teacher. They don't fire some of the teachers that we have not learned a single thing from.

When I come back to LISA Academy next year, i want to see all my teachers, the American ones. I don't want to come to school and it be all men who are totally against non- muslim people, or teachers who chose favorites and talk to them, invite them over to their houses, and act like they are their best friends. Those teachers make the rest of the class feel horrible, because they act like just because they are not the best they shouldn't get a chance to shine. Not to mention they don't even have teacher certification! Oh and did I mention they fired the NURSE. The other teachers, I guess they could come up with a reason, like being too nice. But the nurse? That has got to be plain rasism. I love our nurse, i mean her daughter goes to school at LISA, why fire her? This is insane, I can't wait to transfer. I can't believe they are so rasist they would fire their best teachers, their cirtified teachers!

i dont want to go to lisa next year and all see that all of my american teachers have been replaced with turkish teachers. if thats gonna be the case next year then maybe people will actually see that lisa is racist. think about it: american teachers getting fired-turkish teachers hired. and the worst part is is that the teachers they fired were the best teachers. swinney and bemis were always looking out for the students. and as you can see LISA students are trying really hard to do something aobut this so help us.

something has gone seriosly wrong with lisa. It fired some of the best teachers dont go to that school

something has gone seriosly wrong with lisa. It fired some of the best teachers dont go to that school

lisa is the most prejudice school that i have ever been to. i mean i have been kicked out of a school for not living in chenal and have been kicked out of a school for being white. but firing teachers because they r teaching subjects that have to be taught in their native country. i can garuntee that half of them are illegal and have expired visa's. i think that the turkies should go bak to their own country and be racist against people that they have a right to be racist against. they cant just come to our country and think that they can treat us the way that they would in turkey. its a bunch of b.s.

Mann i hate that suff i go to the same school lisa i agree wit what there saying and it dose not help that the People doing this are Turkish i mean i know were chartered and all but WTF someone get at me if there is anything we could do and if there is something wrong about this i dont think i will be able to go back next year if something dose not change

I am an ex-Lisa Parent - and though I can appreciate some of the passionate enthusiasm from a choice "few" of Bemis's students I have to say I am personally glad to see that the Lisa Academy Administration has finally stepped up and done the right thing by cleaning house where Mr. Bemis is concerned. My son was a student at Lisa for part of the school year and blabbed on and on about this wonderful teacher called Bemis. I was excited that my son was loving his new school in spite of the difficult curriculum. After the first set of grades came back I realized my son was struggling - I visited the school and spoke with his teachers and immediately did not like the encounter I had with Bemis. I expected a teacher who would support a parent and help come alongside and work with parents to help a student - what I met instead was a condensending, smirking, teenager stuck in a "want to be professional" teacher's body. One of my concerns for my son was his addiction to the drama surrounded by Bemis and his Xanga site. Talk about fuel for the fire. Bemis has effectively created a nice rebellious sub-culture of confused adolescents who are dabbling in everything from promiscuity to cutting to drinking and drugs - and no I am sure there are no gasps in the backgrounds as these negative issues are at the forefront of every school and with all students - but what I am speaking about - is responsibility in providing true leadership for our students and doing so by example. Bemis lived a double-life with no commitment to Lisa or the Students. He swayed back and forth and appears to be a man torn with pleasing the students and being "thier buddy" and upholding his responsibilities to the Administration. For this so concerned teacher who supposedly gave until he bled... he seem so pramatically miserable in doing so - and by exhibiting opening in his public Xanga forum he would undermine all of the hard work that the Lisa Administration had tried to instill through structure and organization within the student body. Bemis didn't try to curb...the natural tendencies for teenagers to rebel against authority (for their own good) he was the leader of the pack. Unfortunately these types of manipulative games hurt children with special circumstances. My son was so involved with this drama ongoing in the Xanga that he drew most of it inside personally - he had a disadvantage that we later learned turned out to be MDD - Major Depressive Disorder. Bemis claims to have known specific things about my child -that he had low self esteem, that he was cutting himself, that he had expressed a fascination with death, and that he supposedly was experiencing abuse at home. Instead of notifying the proper authorities, Bemis... wanted to be "cool" and play counselor - with no training whatsoever. Needless to say - my son fell through the cracks - and after knowing for several months that my child was in danger - he finally ended up with the help he needed - as assisted through a 14 year old friend. It took a student - another child to finally reach out and notify proper authorities - and my son was admitted into the hospital for a week of treatment and has been in out patient treatment ever since at the cost of tens of thousands of dollars.....

Finally justice - has come. Remember that kids - you have to come to know ALL THE DETAILS. The so called "loser students" that all left Lisa - might have helped you all feel like BIG FISH in a shrinking fish bowl - but you know what - some of these kids that left - had to do so because their mental well-being and lives depended on it - due to the fact that people like Mr.Bemis - are confused about what they need to be doing as leaders....and as teachers...

ya'll this is retarted. good god. you all have issues. because we want our teachers back. cuz lisa needs those teachers cuz we are so tiny. this is weird. tata
~srah

Sorry for the last comment I left, I was not thinking to clearly. What I was trying to say was that I agree with what others are saying and my thoughts run besides theirs. Is anything we can do to fix this problem? I would like to hear from you. The situation is not looking any better for us, the students, and the teachers.

Lisa is the best thing that has happened to our kids. Some kids can only see fun as the most important componet to school. The school doesn't always cater to the desires of the students.You cannot put too much stock into the students opinions or they would opt out of even coming. Thankfully the administration does not make the staffing decisions based on fun. I applaud the recent changes in faculty. I think it will add strength and professionalism to the school. You have to see the big picture.
I can say that the recent changes are better for the learning process, maybe not the intertainment factor.

I am an ex-Lisa Parent - and though I can appreciate some of the passionate enthusiasm from a choice "few" of Bemis's students I have to say I am personally glad to see that the Lisa Academy Administration has finally stepped up and done the right thing by cleaning house where Mr. Bemis is concerned. My son was a student at Lisa for part of the school year and blabbed on and on about this wonderful teacher called Bemis. I was excited that my son was loving his new school in spite of the difficult curriculum. After the first set of grades came back I realized my son was struggling - I visited the school and spoke with his teachers and immediately did not like the encounter I had with Bemis. I expected a teacher who would support a parent and help come alongside and work with parents to help a student - what I met instead was a condensending, smirking, teenager stuck in a "want to be professional" teacher's body. One of my concerns for my son was his addiction to the drama surrounded by Bemis and his Xanga site. Talk about fuel for the fire. Bemis has effectively created a nice rebellious sub-culture of confused adolescents who are dabbling in everything from promiscuity to cutting to drinking and drugs - and no I am sure there are no gasps in the backgrounds as these negative issues are at the forefront of every school and with all students - but what I am speaking about - is responsibility in providing true leadership for our students and doing so by example. Bemis lived a double-life with no commitment to Lisa or the Students. He swayed back and forth and appears to be a man torn with pleasing the students and being "thier buddy" and upholding his responsibilities to the Administration. For this so concerned teacher who supposedly gave until he bled... he seem so pramatically miserable in doing so - and by exhibiting opening in his public Xanga forum he would undermine all of the hard work that the Lisa Administration had tried to instill through structure and organization within the student body. Bemis didn't try to curb...the natural tendencies for teenagers to rebel against authority (for their own good) he was the leader of the pack. Unfortunately these types of manipulative games hurt children with special circumstances. My son was so involved with this drama ongoing in the Xanga that he drew most of it inside personally - he had a disadvantage that we later learned turned out to be MDD - Major Depressive Disorder. Bemis claims to have known specific things about my child -that he had low self esteem, that he was cutting himself, that he had expressed a fascination with death, and that he supposedly was experiencing abuse at home. Instead of notifying the proper authorities, Bemis... wanted to be "cool" and play counselor - with no training whatsoever. Needless to say - my son fell through the cracks - and after knowing for several months that my child was in danger - he finally ended up with the help he needed - as assisted through a 14 year old friend. It took a student - another child to finally reach out and notify proper authorities - and my son was admitted into the hospital for a week of treatment and has been in out patient treatment ever since at the cost of tens of thousands of dollars.....

Finally justice - has come. Remember that kids - you have to come to know ALL THE DETAILS. The so called "loser students" that all left Lisa - might have helped you all feel like BIG FISH in a shrinking fish bowl - but you know what - some of these kids that left - had to do so because their mental well-being and lives depended on it - due to the fact that people like Mr.Bemis - are confused about what they need to be doing as leaders....and as teachers... WTF. do have no clue as to what you are talking about. i can garuntee that the only reason that your son is cutting himsef is because of the way that you are treating him. and then you are just gonna sit there and try to blame it on a teacher. thats bullshit. i can garuntee that the only reason that bemis didnt tell anybody is because most of the time kids get put in juvy for things like that and have to sit there cuffed to rails in nothing but their underwear while being watched by cops 24/7 and have to piss on yourself because they dont even trust u to even use the fucking toilet. and then all of that bullshit about the loser students making us fel good. we treated everybody the same. there where no losers there where just shy kids that never approached us to talk to us. but we talked to them. dont try to sit there and try to make it into a personal thing on us. if anything u need to be iscolated from kids and put in a place like pinnacle point or bridgeway. ur psycho. u r the one that needs help.

Lisa is the best thing that has happened to our kids. Some kids can only see fun as the most important componet to school. The school doesn't always cater to the desires of the students.You cannot put too much stock into the students opinions or they would opt out of even coming. Thankfully the administration does not make the staffing decisions based on fun. I applaud the recent changes in faculty. I think it will add strength and professionalism to the school. You have to see the big picture.
I can say that the recent changes are better for the learning process, maybe not the intertainment factor. fun is what helps us learn better and helps look forward to going to school and seeing friends and learning the fun way. some people these days can just be idiots. (non-muslum dad).

Quote from Anonymous(perv):
"Lisa is the best thing that has happened to our kids. Some kids can only see fun as the most important componet to school. The school doesn't always cater to the desires of the students.You cannot put too much stock into the students opinions or they would opt out of even coming. Thankfully the administration does not make the staffing decisions based on fun. I applaud the recent changes in faculty. I think it will add strength and professionalism to the school. You have to see the big picture.
I can say that the recent changes are better for the learning process, maybe not the intertainment factor. fun is what helps us learn better and helps look forward to going to school and seeing friends and learning the fun way. some people these days can just be idiots. (non-muslum dad)."

Yes, lets all "learn better" about:

Child rape, no they ain't not dun nun o dat cuz

MAn diz is so fun maiiiin, imma go get mah hos and

LEARN HOW TO SPEAK YOU dumerster man!

Lets start with the word:

grammar

Wait, wasn't M. Bemis supposed to do that? Oh, he was too busy being re-reading his favorite book, why the caged perv sings!

Thank you lets all "learn better"! I realized that I am not as smart as you and that I should learn to spell words that a first grader should know! Thank you so much! I am an idiot and am sorry!

Thats fine, I thought you were an Idiot! Thank you for understanding that I was right, and you were wrong!

I am a tough guy! I would save new york city from a crazy german looking guy's bombs like THAT man.

Go play unless u have an intelligent thought to share or a mature one would do.

Go play unless u have an intelligent thought to share or a mature one would do.

No offence to any of the old teachers, but the new English and World History teachers have taught me more in the first week of school than I learned in either of the classes last year. Bemis and Swinney bird walked alot and we really didn't have many assignments or work to do. We just kinda sat around and did nothing. That may be great for some of you but I am looking to further my education then enjoy loads of social time. Not saying that I like social things its just that in school it shouldn't be as common in advanced classes... >.<