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WHITE HAT MANAGEMENT REFUTES OHIO FEDERATION OF TEACHERS’ CLAIMS
October 28, 2005 — On behalf of the more than 2,000 faculty,
staff and administrators in White Hat Management supported schools, I
want to emphasize how proud we are of the accomplishments of our Life
Skills Centers across the state of Ohio.
Life Skills Centers are dedicated to giving a fighting chance to thousands of 16-22 year-old at-risk students who perceive that they were abandoned and forgotten by our public education system. Life Skills Center schools are uniquely positioned to offer many students who are not succeeding in a traditional school environment the opportunity to complete their high school requirements and earn a diploma in a setting that more closely fits their life and learning styles.
Through an innovative program backed by cutting edge instructional technology and led by passionate, certified teachers, we are able to help thousands of these at-risk students graduate with a high school diploma---and equally important help connect them to productive jobs upon which they can build their lives.
Perhaps it is our unique success in connecting with these young people that prompted unmerited comments about our schools by teacher’s union boss, Tom Mooney.
In his most recent press release, Mr. Mooney suggested that Life Skills Center schools have not tested students in sufficient numbers and questioned whether these students were enrolled in Life Skills schools. He positions state reports to suggest that only a small number of eligible Life Skills students actually were tested. Furthermore, he uses that same number to imply that many of our students are not truly enrolled.
Mooney’s statements are unfounded and untrue. The accountability standards established by Life Skills Centers relating to graduation have always held students to higher standards than traditional public schools. Life Skills Center’s students are required to pass all state mandated tests and complete all required credits. Additionally, students must be employed to earn their state recognized high school diploma. In the last five years, more than 6,200 Life Skills Center students have done just that.
The implication that Life Skills Center students are not being tested is boldly false and misleading. In stark contrast to Mooney’s statements, 5,214 Life Skills students out of our total enrollment of 7,411 took the Ohio Proficiency Test (OPT) covering 13,235 subject areas during the 2004-2005 school year.
In reference to the Ohio Graduation Test, the total number of students required to test in the 19 schools included in the OFT press release were, 1,388, or 18.7 percent, of the total student population. This 18.7 percent is very much in line with a typical public high school that averages 20 – 25 percent sophomore grade level students that would be required to take the OGT test.
In line with state standards, many of our students were not required to take the OGT due to their grade level standing. In addition, some students already had passed all portions of their high school proficiency tests and certainly were not required to take it again.
Beyond these remarkable numbers is a real life reality that Mr. Mooney refuses to recognize. Without Life Skills Centers, many of these students might have walked away from a second chance at earning a quality education. We have enclosed with this document a few of the letters we received from our students this past year in order to emphasize this point.
The other issue raised by Mr. Mooney concerns our ability to confirm enrollment in our Life Skills Centers. Again, there are rigorous and consistent policies and procedures that are in place throughout our centers which are regularly audited by the Ohio Department of Education. Specifically they include:
- Students provide extensive documentation to enroll in a Life Skills Center that is common to all public schools enrolling students.
- Daily student attendance is taken and recorded in all Life Skills Centers.
- Any public school district has the right and authority to red flag students if they believe a student is currently attending one of their schools. We must then provide the district with written verification to confirm the student is attending our school. The District must then release the student as a final step. Funding is withheld until student enrollment is confirmed by the public school that initially flagged the student.
- All Life Skills Center student enrollment and attendance records are kept on hand in the schools and regularly audited by the Ohio Department of Education. There are currently no adverse findings in our schools by the ODE.
- ODE Auditors take the further step of reviewing student coursework during the enrollment period to confirm student attendance and enrollment.
The public, tuition-free schools we are privileged to manage undergo extensive regulation by the Ohio Department of Education, as well as outside auditing firms. In this regard, we actually exceed traditional public schools, who do not have the depth and rigor of auditing we experience.
The reality is that Life Skills Centers are among the most successful dropout recovery and alternative educational programs in the nation. It is a program that our state and our citizens should be proud to raise up as a standard for other educational systems to emulate.
If you have further questions regarding this matter you can contact
Steve Burigana, Chief Operating Officer, Ohio Department of Education.
To help you better understand and appreciate some of the special attributes of our Life Skills Centers and share in our proud achievements, we offer our Annual Progress Reports for your review which are available at www.LifeSkillsCenters.com.
On behalf of the many thousands of students, families, faculty and staff in our Life Skills Centers, we thank you for your time and consideration. Again, please take a few minutes to read the enclosed letters from our proud students. We are deeply proud of their commitment and achievements.
Mark F. Thimmig
President, Life Skills Centers