Posts Tagged ‘ConnectEd: The California Center for College and Career’
“DISCONNECTED!” — More on ConnectEd (2006ff nonprofit) and WestEd (1995ff JPA claiming to be since 1966). Can YOU Follow the Connections, Find and Correlate the Financial Statements, and Name the EndGame(s)?
SEPT. 29, 2017 Update ( in fine print, maroon borders before “Post Foreword,” also in fine print but with light-blue background):
This post was just made “Sticky” Sep. 29, 2017. It will display with others above all normal posts, which show up in chronological order (most recent on top) in main blog area. I may not get back to revising the “sticky posts” list (itself such a post) to reflect the two, so far, I’ve added while updating the 2017 Table of Contents Page (Posted Jan. 9, 2017 and also, you guessed it, a “sticky” post on this blog).
Readers are encouraged to work through this material if it’s contents and concepts are not already familiar. We are talking regional, joint powers authorities, influential and networked educational authorities here working with a nonprofit sponsored by an influential California billionaire real estate developer, or I should say, by the related tax-exempt foundation associated with the company owned by that ONE PERSON (as of writing original publication date here).
If these concepts and this material already is familiar, especially how to distinguish private from government entities, even when major attempts to blur that boundary are made by the powerful in each claiming heartfelt concern for the disenfranchised (vulnerable, low-income, oppressed, hurting, poor — etc.) and especially expressing major concern for (re-)setting the values and schooling for the next generation of THEIR POTENTIAL EMPLOYEES, please make efforts to explain to other people, especially including people outside your normal social or academic sphere as somehow you obtained this knowledge within yours. Try “an elevator speech,” a casual conversation with a stranger in public who might not be en route to an important appointment. I suggest not starting with people sporting PhDs and solid employment within academia; they may lack interest (or incentive — if the system’s working just fine for them…) or fail to see its relevance to the rest of us, unless they are unusually honest with a dose of humility. Curiosity about the world we live in can be catching…. Apologies (sort of…) in advance for the jaundiced tone and sarcasm in this Sept. 2017 update to what I consider one of my more important posts and personally shocking discoveries. //LGH
Also, as it shows below, I am looking for a missing financial statement for a certain government entity listed in this title. If you work for this entity other than in a decision-making capacity (if you do, consider this “notice” that the MIA information been noticed and is being publicized…) — please try to persuade the leadership to do the honorable thing (for a change) and as a governmental entity, post the financial statements (NOT just the latest one, but an archive of them) on the otherwise well-heeled, publication- and links-filled website! If they won’t, and one exists SOMEWHERE, I have a comments field…it can accept links! I’m considering an “APB” for this one…
And —-
Post Foreword:
This post was basically written in full March 27, 2017, and sidelined while I continued researching things Anneberg and others you can see on the sidebar under “Recent Posts” and as shown in images near the top of the “Today’s Lesson … Annenberg Learner” (most recent) post. (The drill-downs can occupy full attention for a long time while I’m processing the information also).
Looking to move forward with other writing, I quickly (less than one day) did some more interior decorating (added images and text) to the top part, standardized some formatting on the bottom, and posting it May 11, 2017. I am still beginning to grasp (in “awe”) the scope of the combined intents to transform the entire public school system in an agreed-upon direction by certain networked entities, the cooperation of the US and other Departments of Education in the process (partly understandable – they’re getting significant grants from a number of private tax-exempt foundations over time, for each new favorite “transformation model,” whether it’s “Linked Learning” (here) or “Evidence2Success” (Annie E. Casey foundation promoting over at the AISR at Brown University (AISR = “Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University”) or others. You can see it in the tax returns.
This is an important post, and I hope readers take time to work through the comments on the images not just the narratives surrounding them. It explains some key concepts graphically and shows my reasoning behind a statement of alarm about putting “system transformation” in the hands of parties who have already proven themselves dishonest in: fiscal transparency and compliance with basic state-level laws of commerce.
In adding some images from USPTO.gov regarding WestEd, I ask WHY would a JPA be formed to do major commerce, competing with the private sector, in such a broad field as “educational services.”
Towards the bottom, particularly for Californians, the current owner of James Irvine Foundation, Donald Bren, is profiled, which just goes to show how power and wealth can indeed be consolidated under even just ONE person, to the point that they run, literally, cities and major parts of a state whose economy has been compared to that of Brazil in recent times.
How it was done is also interesting. But at least the top ¾ of this post, I would say, don’t miss! Sincerely, LGH (Let’s Get Honest) 5/11/2017
“DISCONNECTED!” — More on ConnectEd (2006ff nonprofit) and WestEd (1995ff JPA claiming to be since 1966). Can YOU Follow the Connections, Find and Correlate the Financial Statements, and Name the EndGame(s)? (case-sensitive shortlink ends “-6k7”)
One entity above is private & nonprofit, the other public & governmental. As such, one would provide a corporate registration and (being that kind of nonprofit) Form 990s and the other OUGHT to be providing Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports (“CAFR”) as a government entity, from what I understand. It took me a while to find the corporate (secretary of state) business filing for the first entity (in part because of a colon and because its logo made it sound like the name did not include part of the title — and how many entities with the word “Connected” do you imagine might occur in a large state which contains Silicon Valley (?).
Some of its logos and a reminder that it is NOT (despite the name) restricted to practice in just California, and a second reminder that, like its 2006-forward sponsor “The James Irvine Foundation,” it’s quite enthusiastic about the digital hook-up and School-to-Work pipeline (“Linked Learning”) as an avenue to system-wide transformation (into an electronically hooked-up, school-to-work pipeline), which at this point in my blogging life, I’m starting to believe is a sort of addictive drug (cf. a few generations ago, one might say, someone “drank the [spiked] Kool-Aid.”):
NEXT THREE IMAGES: ConnectEd~The CalifCtr for Career + Learning plus LINKEDIN plus James Irivine Fndtn Plus Where ConnectEd works besides Calif SShots 1, 2, and 3 2017May11:
(#1 of 3, Click the Image)
#2 of 3, Click the image.
#3 of 3, Click the image.
But the other entity wouldn’t show up in that database, although apparently it must file a statement with the Secretary of State (here, for California at a minimum. It was organized under California Joint Powers Act) separately.
In case there’s any question that WestEd is a government entity, the next two images are a record from the USPTO.gov, showing its trademark #17 of 17 (and the list of 17 currently “Live” status). I’ll provide the “heavily annotated” (with commentary) version (commentary mostly in yellow rectangles and/or involving squiggly arrows; the neater stuff in some red, some blue, but mostly black-and-white fine print is courtesy USPTO.gov. I’m also providing a link to a cleaner view of the same (on the trademarking of the term “WestEd” itself. I DNR if I posted this elsewhere or not already:
Click image for better view of the USPTO “TESS” (Trademark) search results and search string
Click image for my commentary! (Detail on WordMark “WestEd” #17 of 17 on this particular search.) Click HERE for a cleaner copy, with more header/footer info from the government website, but my comments entail questioning why a government entity of this scope is filing for trademarks, i.e., planning to enter major-sector commerce in a major way [and thereafter, fails to produce proper reports for the public.]
(MOVING ON WITH POST, ABOUT its TITLE):
Pardon the pun on an entity with the word “ConnectEd” in its name and another one who has, apparently, disconnected its governmental conscience from providing AND POSTING proper CAFR statements, year after year, starting with its first year of existence, yet while hiding this information, also is running RELS (regional education laboratories), which would seem to belie the basic meaning behind the word “educate” (“Contradict” might be a more appropriate word. It’s hypocritical!) From this (“Disconnected!”) post, which was basically completed in draft form (except this introduction) March 27, 2017, I had to say:
“…I challenge anyone (I just did) to scour the entire WestEd website, including links at bottom, links at top, lists of Clients, list of Funders (check it out!), and see if there is ONE reference to the existence of any financial statement for the entity, anywhere on it. It’s as though the inspired leadership has forgotten the “accounta-bility to taxpayers” part, although they’re quite active in evaluating, reporting and judging other entities providing education services. FYI, State Boards of Education (several) were signers to the JPA** under both FWL and under SWRL, as well as The University of California Board of Regents. But WestEd is still a separate agency — so where are its “books?”…..”
**(Joint Powers Agreemt. to form this Joint Powers Agency. FWL and SWRL will be shown below).
WHAT TO LOOK FOR, and HOW TO KNOW WHEN WHAT YOU GOT AIN’T IT:
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Three (or Four) Famous, Privately Controlled Nonprofits Who Just Wanna Transform Public Education (and Urban Populations to Practice On) [Publ. April 3, 2017]
Three (or Four) Famous, Privately Controlled Nonprofits Who Just Wanna Transform Public Education (and Urban Populations to Practice On) (case-sensitive short-link ends “-6iI”)
Intro added right before hitting “Publish”:
This is a detailed post, under 10,000 words only because I broke off the bottom third (where it started) for separate publication. It has at least two other spinoff posts one of which was already published on 3/30/2017. I hope that by publishing several on similar topics in fast sequence, some common sense and raised awareness of just how many, and how deep are the pockets, of the school transformation networks (plural) with their subcontractor friends from the consulting field, in combination with of course proprietary technology platforms, are fully functional and effectively ARE transforming the landscape. Another term for this would be “development” as it occurs by developed countries upon “under-developed” or developing ones.
We should acknowledge that “the world’s THE stage”; while these typically operate in the US, their foundation backers often do not. Many of the concepts for application on the US public schools — a vast resource for testing grounds for this and that pilot, and also representing compulsory consumption of products & services (for most, unless they have the privilege or option of alternate forms of K-12 education under U.S. law) came from England, Germany — from Europe, countries with peerages, titles of honor, and sometimes a national religion going back centuries, which the US does not have.
Careers and career professionals in the field of school transformation do exist, often working for the largest private foundations around (I found another one today, in a different network with, predictably, a doctorate (and B.A. degree) in psychology, government task force positions, and numerous foundation positions, including at the Annie E. Casey Foundation). The U.S. is being “developed” every bit as much as other countries, but in a more different manner and sold as solving our social problems. Most troubling to me is attempting to turn local public schools into community centers, rather than giving equal consideration to the possibility that this is a top-heavy, expensive model just too tempting for the profiteers to avoid.
These networks, private influence (non-representational particularly of local people) on school districts and most schools’ continuing, ever-present search for more money and programming which might bring that in or justify it, are here, probably to stay. I advise becoming well-aware of the proliferating nonprofits while they are still around to be tracked. (Some are starting to close themselves down, and the track record may not be around forever).
I am not writing from the sidelines on this issue. Although I may not have lived in many of the states where nonprofits I discuss are headquartered, I have lived in several different states in the USA over the decades, and both East Coast, MidWest, and West Coast. I am a parent, I know exactly what it is like to be a single parent with a college degree attempting to head my own children in the same direction on scholarships. Unfortunately, also having had to deal with marital domestic violence, part of this time I also had do this while dealing with the usual choice such (mothers) get: (a) the abuse itself (if in the relationship) and (b) the family court litigation (if one exits the relationship and becomes in ANY way, sharpe or form involved with the social services in the process, bringing on the child support, marriage/fatherhood factor into the mix in any divorce or custody proceedings). In this context, I had NO real free time, and became acutely aware of the relative efficiency of different forms of schooling upon the household as well as (which was not even in question at the time) the relative levels of achievement and involvement in so-called “extracurricular” activities my children could be in, given a two-parent household with a commute every single weekend.
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ConnectED + MPR Associates Inc. + Gary Hoachlander, WestEd, and the US Dept. of Ed, with help from James Irvine Foundation
Preview of this post, ConnectED + MPR Associates Inc. + Gary Hoachlander, WestEd, and the US Dept. of Ed, with help from James Irvine Foundation,. (Case-sensitive, WordPress-generated shortlink ends in “-4LK”) (It is currently 16,000 words long, and a bit complex! Then again, so are the networks I am discussing and exposing…)
This post was started 10/22/2016, but by Nov. 16, 2016 had not yet been published. Hopefully today’s that today or within a few days….While it began with the title on the posts, as the “tags” reflect, other topics came up in association.
A middle section here deals with other organizations, but the overall topic is the same: Watch out for coordinated-purpose foundations with a unique obsession for re-developing the nation’s (and other nations’) public schools through pouring funds into them, funds which will be hard to track.
The Bridgespan Group (tax returns and quotes from them, as well as from its website below) in particular as a brainchild of Bain & Company [Funding Universe history page] (see also Bain Capital [Wikipedia] for the Mitt Romney Component and Boston Consulting Group [Funding Universe history page; BCG spun off as consultants from Boston Safe Deposit and Trust Co.] from which Bill Bain’s investment management/consulting model spun off] should put public perception on “alert” as much as a new US President and who is the cabinet. These activities have been under process for decades now, and all of them are going to impact the economy, the present and future workforce, and most at stake here — the degree of accountability for use of public resources when private groups are seeking to steer the ship.
Putting dates (1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, this century) to some of those key events, and names to the key personalities WILL be time well invested (even those three links above) understanding how they have operated in the for-profit sector, and are now operating also in the not-for-profit sector. You will also pick up a general sense through continued readings on these topics, of who the public is dealing with when such organizations decided to focus coordinated efforts on the public school system as a whole. For example, from Boston Consulting Group:
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