Monday, February 16, 2015

Public School Predators!

By Jeff Simpson

For some of you who have been following along(including internet trolls), I posted the following blog on Purple Wisconsin yesterday.  Apparently after much complaining from Jim Bender, it was taken down.    

We know via data, that voucher schools, do not perform as well as public schools, but I was not aware that they were so far behind us in reading comprehension.   In NO WAY did I say or do I believe, or do I infer that Wisconsin School Choice = pedophilia.  They are not. They do not. 
They are predators in the sense of wanting to get their hands on every public school penny they can but not beyond that.    

That being said, when they demand this much personal information of public school students(which is not public records in my mind) it opens the door to many problems.   Now that people are aware that they can get these lists, Pandora's Box is wide open.   ANYONE can request these and ANYONE can then get them(sexual predators, ex-spouses, abusers, athletic stalkers, people looking to break into houses, tobacco companies, etc...).  This door is now open, and ONLY open because of what Mr. Bender has done here, and the public school children will be the ones paying the price.  

We know this to be true and probable in Wisconsin, thanks to the predecessor of this - Verify the Recall.   Our friends on the right, thought it important to put everyone's personal information who signed the Recall Walker petitions, and our press was compliant in that.   This website led to anger confrontations, firings, and even death threats.   Even our governor checked it regularly to make sure and exact revenge on anyone who signed.   Now we are supposed to pretend by giving out such personal information to Wisconsin School Choice only good things will happen?   

Wisconsin School Choice and Mr. Jim Bender are NOT pedophile's.  Period.  They also do not need to have this information.    

Here is the blog in question(now the internet trolls, and hate radio fools, can stop pretending they have something on me):


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Jim Bender is the President of the poorly named "school choice" Wisconsin.  Mr. Bender is also the face of the "For-Profit" School movement.   While Scott Jensen actually calls the shots, Jensen's tarred history makes it impossible for him to be the face of anything.   
Mr. Bender has decided to make the public schools, and public money continue to work for him.  Mr, Bender is paid a King's ransom to take as much Wisconsin taxpayer public education dollars as he can get his hands on, and funnel to the private/voucher schools.  A parasite is someone that exists to take from another. 
Mr.  Bender however, has reached a new low.   He wants to know everything about YOUR children.  
School choice advocates have requested the names, addresses, phone numbers and grade levels of every student enrolled in 30 different public school districts, gearing up for a marketing campaign should lawmakers lift the enrollment cap on Wisconsin's statewide voucher program.
Directory information includes information such as students' names, addresses, telephone numbers, date and place of birth, major field of study, height, weight, athletic team participation, awards achieved and schools attended.
The information is key to rounding out important school items such as yearbooks, playbills, sports rosters, announcements to the media about student accomplishments and contact lists that help families communicate with each other.
Yes.  You read that right!  Mr. Bender wants to know everything about YOUR children.   There is a long history of private/voucher school employees run-in's with the law.  Let's look at this in context.  
While Mr. Bender is no way Mr. Clark Jr., we do not know who will be handling these open records request, or who will ask for them now that they have been given the idea.  
 
Now anyone who grabs this personal information will be able to know who is in the school musical, and will not be home every night for the few weeks of the performances. 
* We know the tight knit group that Scott Walker has surrounded himself with includes Mr. Bender and Mr. Jensen.  It also includes Tim Russell, who has been described as Mr. Walkers right hand man.  Mr. Russell has had some very serious problems of his own.   Will Mr. Russell be in possession of this information?

Luckily he was caught.

Thanks to Mr. Bender, for those who are in the system and have not been caught, he just handed them a menu!
- Someone is now able to get the phone number and address for every 15 year old public school athlete in Wisconsin.
-  What if a sexual predator wants the names and addresses of every 13 year old public school boy in Wisconsin? We have all seen Dateline.  Then we must release this information.   
The over the top fans, can now get the home addresses and phone numbers of all the possible Division one athletes in WI and stalk them trying to make sure they attend their school of choice.   
-  Ex-Spouses, who have not been given custody, can now use ORR to find their children. 
 -  There is of course the possibility that Mr. Bender wants this information so he can make sure and heavily recruit just the best students who were actively involved in all activities.  Or maybe he wants to stay away from any student who is obese.
-  Numerous other possibilities that we have not even thought of yet.  The possibilities are endless, as to what can be done with the private information of your children in the wrong hands.   

There really is no good that can come of this, as the people who would want this are just predators using public school children as prey(to increase their profits or worse).  
This needs to be stopped and there are ways you can do this!  
1.  Representative Genrich and Senator Dave Hanson are working on a legislative fix, but we know the Republicans have no interest in any legislation put forth by Democrats.  Call your Representative and Senator and tell them to sign on. 
2.  Call your local Superintendent and tell them that this is unacceptable and you want to be notified and opted out if anyone makes this request of your children.
3.  Contact "school choice" Wisconsin and tell them to leave your children alone.  
School Choice Wisconsin
219 N Milwaukee Street, 1st Floor
Milwaukee, WI 53202
Phone: 414-319-9160
Fax: 414-765-0220
Email: bender@parentchoice.org
4. Contact your local paper and alert them to this despicable breach of privacy.  

5.  According to WI statute 19.35 2 (a) 
2. Any record containing personally identifiable information that, if disclosed, would do any of the following:
a. Endanger an individual's life or safety.

5 comments:

  1. I advise parents let their legislators know that it is not acceptable to pass out their children's personal information, and to get this law changed soon. I see way to much youth sexual predator activity to view this as a situation that should be taken lightly. The private schools may not be a problem, but predators watch, learn, and look for openings. We need to be vigilant in what we do.

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  2. Georgia file connects Twin Cities charter school, fraud scheme

    " When the news broke last summer that charter school entrepreneur Eric Mahmoud had entered a guilty plea to a mortgage fraud charge in Georgia, Mahmoud had a ready comeback for the Minneapolis school district, under whose authorization he was opening another charter school."

    "The Minnesota Department of Education said through chief of staff Charlene Briner:: “It appears the state cannot prohibit a public school from hiring an individual with a criminal background, nor can the state be considered responsible for criminal activity that may take place in a school, particularly when that criminal conduct is not related to educational matters. “

    “That said, the use of school letterhead and the fact that a school employee was involved with, or asked to facilitate a transaction appears to warrant further review. MDE is assessing the need, if any, for additional action based upon this information.”"

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    Replies
    1. And if anyone thinks FitzWalkerstan regulates anything...

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  3. Can anyone think the safety AND privacy of children should be left to the marketplace? Walker doesn't want public hearings and the mainstream media doesn't know how to get a straight answer out of him, so we will probably never know.

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  4. “As a parent and lawmaker, I'm outraged by this request for personal student information,” said Genrich (D-Green Bay).

    http://www.newiprogressive.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4895%3Agreen-bay-legislators-move-to-protect-students-personal-information&catid=38%3Athe-state-news&Itemid=56

    ReplyDelete