Lawsuit Alleges Achievement First Punished Special Education Student Because Of His Disabilities

Coming on the heels of the "Got To Go" list that Success Academies put together for students they wanted out of SA comes this news:

Special education students at a Brooklyn charter school did not get mandated services and were punished for behavior that arose from their disabilities, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court on Thursday.

The suit, filed on behalf of five students at Achievement First Crown Heights, described a “systemic failure to provide them a free appropriate public education, in violation of their rights.” It said that students did not get physical therapy and other services for weeks at a time, and that a student with autism was disciplined for not looking in the direction a teacher instructed or for hiding under his desk.

In addition to the charter network and the school, the suit also named the New York City Department of Education and the New York State Education Department, asserting they failed to make Achievement First, a network with schools in Connecticut and Rhode Island as well as in New York City, live up to its responsibilities.

“Kids with special needs not only should be granted accommodations for their needs, but they must be under federal and state law,” said Michelle Movahed, a senior staff attorney at New York Legal Assistance Group, a nonprofit organization that is representing the students and their families. “This is not just a question of doing the right thing.”

What kind of cretins would discipline a child with autism for not looking in the direction of the teacher?

The kind who run and/or work at Achievement First.

Oh, btw, they're hiring, so if you're in the market for a job where you get to abuse kids, especially special education students, head on over to Idealist and send the Achievement First cretins your resume...

Help Wanted: Lead Designer Of Culture For Charter School

I know somebody looking for a job in non-profit work.

She is using Idealist as part of her search.

She says nearly every listing these days is for charter schools and that many of the listings have these great Orwellian names.

For example:

Associate Director, Knowledge Management

Or:

 Lead Designer, Culture and Personal Development

Both those gigs are for Achievement First, which like many of these large charter outfits, appears to be awash in cash and hiring all the time - and not just for teachers.

Now what exactly does the "Leader Designer- Culture" do at Achievement First?

Sounds like the kind of thing Goebbels did, doesn't it?

And it turns out it kinda is:

1. Accelerated Academics: Our students need to be among the best in the world
2. Habits of Success: Our students will truly thrive when they also develop the habits, mindsets and life skills that promote productive and joyful lives
3. Excellence in Enrichment: Our students need a taste of the joy that comes from passionate excellence outside of traditional academics
4. Student, Family and Staff Motivation: Our students, staff and families will exhibit an unstoppable level of shared commitment and drive 

Uniforms and armbands are included, which is nice, because you don't want the kids thinking about anything else other than their "unstoppable level of commitment and drive" as they "need be among the best in the world" in their productivity and excellence.

If you're in the market for a new job and you feel like a good fit for a Lead Designer of Culture, why not take a stab at it over on Idealist.

But you need a very specific skillset:

• You are an entrepreneurial and ambitious educator
• with a passion for innovation and an eagerness to strategically redesign schools because kids could be learning much faster and deeper than traditional school models allow
• who is deeply committed to living the habits of success: personal growth, drive, curiosity, empathy, gratitude and teamwork.
• who embraces an all hands-on deck start up environment and lives for change
• who can't wait to work at the vision level and in the weeds 

Oh - and you have to love data.

On the plus side, it turns out you can do this job anywhere:

This job can be performed from a remote location.

Isn't technology in the neo-liberal world a great thing?

Charter schools have so much to teach the regular public schools, don't they?