The ________________ (name of charter school) located in ________________(city) is riddled with controversy over _________ (add list of offenses, complaints, broken laws).
A few weeks ago, I wrote about Russell Wilson and his wife. This week there’s another story of the charter school chain dysfunction.
The Capital Prep Charter chain in New York, created by Dr. Steve Perry, an educational reformer who is a proponent of school choice and an opponent of teachers unions. The teachers unions, he says, are extremely powerful and not empowering to the students who most need them (nypost.com). Perry is known by some as “America’s most trusted educator” (theroot.com).
Back in 2016, Perry and Sean “Ditty” Combs launched Capital Prep Charter in East Harlem.Ditty, according to Forbes magazine was the richest man in hip hop In 2018, Ditty promised $1 million to expand Charter Prep into the Bronx. Also in 2018, Combs was recognized at the Apollo Theater for his work in education. The award was to be given by three graduates. Combs didn’t show up, citing “airplane troubles”, though he accepted his award in a video which was taken from inside his private jet (thecut.com). Aside from the occasional photo op and guest appearance, Combs had very little to do with the day-to-day functioning of the school.
In an interview in 2022, Combs said of his involvement in Charter Prep, “It was something that was always a dream for me and a passion, and I’m just blessed that it was able to happen. I think it’s having an impact. I mean, not I think, I know it’s definitely having an impact on the community, so it’s a dream come true” (theroot.com).
Combs has been accused of abuse, rape, and sex trafficking – charges brought against him by a former girlfriend. Though Combs settled with the woman, there are four subsequent allegations of similar claims (thecut.com). This is what led Perry to sever his ties with Combs and Capital Prep last November.
One parent said, “He [Diddy] was supposed to be an inspiration to those children, coming from what you might consider the hood — and he was not” (theroot.com).
So much for that.
Now it seems the issues with Capital Prep go far beyond bad press with their celebrity investor. Parents, students and former employees describe the school as dysfunctional with a high teacher turnover rate, and incidences of violence (thecut.com). The school, like so many other charter schools, has had seven principals or interim principals in seven years. Teachers complained they were short on chairs and desks. The grading system used resulted in inaccurate grades, transcripts, schedules, and testing data (thecut.com).
Some students were enrolled in courses they had passed years before, while teachers saw class sizes double or triple with children who weren’t supposed to be there. People were in the building, says a teacher, but often they weren’t in a classroom learning: “There were kids who were sitting in the cafeteria receiving no instruction for hours.” Trustees would brag about donors in board meetings, but on the ground, teachers say they were strapped for materials — “None of that money ever translated to any more resources; it didn’t translate to more laptops, to more boards, or chart paper,” says one. The dysfunction only compounded the school’s attrition problem. “People were quitting left and right because there was just no point,” one teacher says. Another says she was working up to 16 hours a day; management told her and other faculty to cover subjects they weren’t hired for as well as after-school activities. Students were taught by a revolving door of substitutes; at one point, a principal was covering class, according to a parent (thecut.com).
While the school boasted that 100% of graduates were accepted into college, the graduation rate is only 70%. Parents compalined that students were barely passing and not prepared for college (thecut.com).
Shenique Coston, director of communications and development for the school’s network, denies the claims against Charter Prep. “We accept and are saddened that some scholars and colleagues were not pleased with their experience, however, we affirmatively state that many of the allegations included in your fact-checking list are fabrications” (thecut.com).
While it seems the outrage should be on Ditty and his celebrity involvement in a charter school in Harlem, like Russell Wilson and others who have pledged millions in support of charter schools, the greater issue is the idea these celebrities have that throwing money at charter schools will fix education for black and brown children. This is a problem, but throwing money at charter schools, getting a few pictures taken for the press, claiming “We’re all in on this” and I’m just blessed that it was able to happen (theroot.com) is nothing more than hubris, and rarely works.
Someone should keep a tally of how much celebrities spend on charter schools, and what that would offer underfunded public schools.
Support public education.
These are my reflections for today.
March 29, 2024
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*Much of the information for this blog came from an outstanding article in The Cut, titled, The Chaos Inside Diddy’s Charter School, by Sangeeta Singh-Kurtz.
Reflections in Education 