PART TWO: At the time, Norwalk Board of Education member Mike Lyons, Steven Adamowski’s biggest local supporter, who now serves as Chairman of the Norwalk Board of Education spoke out in favor of hiring PROACT Search. A November 12, 2102 Stamford Advocate article reported,
Lyons said the company has three bilingual staff members that will work on the project and hires contractors as well, including Barbara Byrd-Bennett, former superintendent of the Cleveland school system and now CEO of the Chicago school system
“I think we’ve got some really top flight talent that this group can bring in,” Lyons said.
Two years later, when it was time to find yet another superintendent, the Norwalk BoE voted 7-0 to rehire PROACT. This time the company’s involvement led to the hiring of Steven Adamowski
In addition to their connection with Gary Solomon’s company, both Garth Harries and Steven Adamowski “graduated” from the Broad Academy, a corporate education reform training camp funded by billionaire Eli Broad, whose foundation is one of the three biggest funders of the Corporate Education Reform Industry.
A fourth Connecticut name with connections to those associated with the Chicago scandal is Christina Kishimoto who became Hartford’s superintendent when Adamowski left the position in 2011. Kishimoto was Adamowski’s choice for the job, despite Mayor Pedro Segarra’s opposition (or initial opposition). Like Adamowski, Kishimoto has worked with Gary Solomon’s Supes Academy.
Part Two:As part of the plea agreement federal prosecutors told the court that they would drop all but one of the twenty fraud charges listed in Byrd-Bennett’s indictment and that although she faced a maximum of 20 years on each of 20 fraud counts, they would recommend a prison sentence of no more than seven 7 ½ years if she continued to “cooperate with federal investigators.”
Byrd-Bennett has previously served in top management positions with the Cleveland and Detroit public school systems.
As Barbara Byrd-Bennett was pleading guilty for her crimes in Chicago, The Detroit News reported that the FBI was investigating contracts Byrd-Bennett approved when she worked in Detroit;
According to six-month expenditure reports from May and November 2011, DPS paid $1,487,654.08 to Synesi for “Consultant Services/Curriculum/Office of Accountability.”
The report from November 2011 also lists an invoice of $128,698.77 to Synesi as “disapproved.”
The dark cloud of potentially illegal activities casts a long shadow over The Supes Academy, Synesi Associates, and a third company that is owned by Gary Solomon, PROACT Search.
As previously reported, Solomon’s PROACT Search has received a number of contracts in Connecticut.
The superintendent search firm was responsible for getting Garth Harries the superintendent’s job in New Haven and Manuel Rivera the same post in Norwalk.
When the New London Board of Education, with the help of Governor Malloy’s Special Master Steven Adamowski, hired Rivera away from Norwalk in February 2015, the Norwalk Board of Education re-hired PROACT Search and this time they recommend Steven Adamowski for the job.
Steven Adamowski has had a long-standing relationship with Gary Solomon and his corporate education reform companies. Adamowski worked with The Supes Academy for many years and has also been on PROACT Search’s preferred list.
When Steven Adamowski announced his surprise departure as head of the Cincinnati school system in 2002, PROACT Search was hired to find his replacement. The process garnered national attention as the Cincinnati Enquirer ended up, “suing the school board and its new superintendent over the secretive process by which the superintendent was chosen for the job. Adamowski’s name was featured prominently in the newspaper’s complaint.
Four years later, in 2006, when PROACT Search put Steven Adamowski on the short-list for the superintendent’s job in Seattle, the move generated searing local criticism (See: The School Board Flunks Google 101 – In rounding up superintendent candidates, it seems no one did their homework. And what about the $63,500 head-hunting firm?)
And PROACT Search’s involvement in Norwalk has also generated controversy.
As the $20 million no-bid contract in Chicago originally came to light, Catalyst Chicago, a local education media outlet in Illinois reported;
In addition, Byrd-Bennett is listed as a senior associate for a superintendent search firm called PROACT Search, in documents dated August 2012—four months after taking the position with CPS [Chicago Public Schools.] PROACT is run by the same individuals who lead Supes: Gary Solomon, the executive director, and Thomas Vranas, the president
[…]
Byrd-Bennett is one of four contacts listed in the proposal for services submitted by PROACT in its bid to do a superintendent search for the Norwalk, Connecticut school district. She has an e-mail address listed in the proposal. When PROACT won the contract, an official for the company was quoted in the local newspaper touting that Byrd-Bennett, who by that time had been named as Chicago’s CEO, was a contractor with the firm.
[…]
However, Byrd-Bennett denies that she ever worked for PROACT and was surprised that her name was used, according to CPS spokeswoman Kelley Quinn. Quinn says the e-mail address bennett@proactsearch.com was “generic.”
PART ONE: Jonathan Pelto This past Tuesday (October 13, 2015) former Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett, one of the nation’s leading Corporate Education Reform Industry leaders, pleaded guilty for her role in a $23 million kick-back scheme with Gary Solomon and his education reform companies, The SUPES Academy and Synesi Associates.
Has anyone noticed that Superintendent Adamowski has taken over and become a real leader? Has anyone noticed that Mike Lyons is mostly off of Nancy on Norwalk? Isn't that refreshing? We have an educator leading the district for a change!
Many of the above comments should be read and acted upon. My comment is a skosh different. I mean to remind readers of comments made by RedApples, Lisa Thomson and her partisans. They are not educators and, in fact, some do not even have a degree. They do believe they are knowledgable enough to dictate curriculum and hurl nasty comments at administrators. They were overjoyed with Rivera and with core curriculum. This is for you, oh nasty ones:
"Needless to say, neither Bill nor Melinda has ever been a teacher. Yet they consider themselves to be experts in what and how to teach."
"In this article, Carol Burris reviews the couple’s recent national conference, at which they announced that they are pleased with what they have done and have no intention of changing their approaches. In other words, they called a press conference to say “Stay the course.” Clearly, they have not noticed that 220,000 students in New York state opted out of the state tests in protest of an overemphasis on standardized tests. Nor have they noticed the protests from all sides of the political spectrum against the coup engineered by Bill Gates to impose the Common Core on the nation without bothering to respect the views of the public (i.e., democracy)."
They demonstrate the old maxim that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing." ....enough said?
what is the plan for norwalk? a lot of high paid salaries are coming in but what is the plan? While we continue to bring in high salaries, what is being done to move those out who have not done what they needed to? Still carrying a grants person whom has not used funds appropriately, and yet still sits there, community partnerships chief---signed off on all the grants and they are been misused--he is still there. School administrators not capable, what is being done. While Rome was not built in a day... the crumbling of the district has been going on for years.
Where have you been? I'm going back to the says of the old Marvin principal. Nothing has changed. We move building administrators who don't do what the need to do down to Central Office and give them a promotion. We are still doing it. We take Central Office people who do what they should ..... And we give them a huge payout to retire. We try and place the blame on someone like the grants administrator - who, as we all know, has absolutely NO decision making authority and never has - to deflect from where it should go.
Come on. You have some perverse agenda, but for lots of us, it's transparent.
Where is Ralph V. and what is he doing? I noticed no one answered Marg on NON.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone seen him lately????
ReplyDeleteDont expect mikey to respond about his buddy; he still is blaming asst super for the time being
PART TWO: At the time, Norwalk Board of Education member Mike Lyons, Steven Adamowski’s biggest local supporter, who now serves as Chairman of the Norwalk Board of Education spoke out in favor of hiring PROACT Search. A November 12, 2102 Stamford Advocate article reported,
ReplyDeleteLyons said the company has three bilingual staff members that will work on the project and hires contractors as well, including Barbara Byrd-Bennett, former superintendent of the Cleveland school system and now CEO of the Chicago school system
“I think we’ve got some really top flight talent that this group can bring in,” Lyons said.
Two years later, when it was time to find yet another superintendent, the Norwalk BoE voted 7-0 to rehire PROACT. This time the company’s involvement led to the hiring of Steven Adamowski
In addition to their connection with Gary Solomon’s company, both Garth Harries and Steven Adamowski “graduated” from the Broad Academy, a corporate education reform training camp funded by billionaire Eli Broad, whose foundation is one of the three biggest funders of the Corporate Education Reform Industry.
A fourth Connecticut name with connections to those associated with the Chicago scandal is Christina Kishimoto who became Hartford’s superintendent when Adamowski left the position in 2011. Kishimoto was Adamowski’s choice for the job, despite Mayor Pedro Segarra’s opposition (or initial opposition). Like Adamowski, Kishimoto has worked with Gary Solomon’s Supes Academy.
Part Two:As part of the plea agreement federal prosecutors told the court that they would drop all but one of the twenty fraud charges listed in Byrd-Bennett’s indictment and that although she faced a maximum of 20 years on each of 20 fraud counts, they would recommend a prison sentence of no more than seven 7 ½ years if she continued to “cooperate with federal investigators.”
ReplyDeleteByrd-Bennett has previously served in top management positions with the Cleveland and Detroit public school systems.
As Barbara Byrd-Bennett was pleading guilty for her crimes in Chicago, The Detroit News reported that the FBI was investigating contracts Byrd-Bennett approved when she worked in Detroit;
According to six-month expenditure reports from May and November 2011, DPS paid $1,487,654.08 to Synesi for “Consultant Services/Curriculum/Office of Accountability.”
The report from November 2011 also lists an invoice of $128,698.77 to Synesi as “disapproved.”
The dark cloud of potentially illegal activities casts a long shadow over The Supes Academy, Synesi Associates, and a third company that is owned by Gary Solomon, PROACT Search.
As previously reported, Solomon’s PROACT Search has received a number of contracts in Connecticut.
The superintendent search firm was responsible for getting Garth Harries the superintendent’s job in New Haven and Manuel Rivera the same post in Norwalk.
When the New London Board of Education, with the help of Governor Malloy’s Special Master Steven Adamowski, hired Rivera away from Norwalk in February 2015, the Norwalk Board of Education re-hired PROACT Search and this time they recommend Steven Adamowski for the job.
Steven Adamowski has had a long-standing relationship with Gary Solomon and his corporate education reform companies. Adamowski worked with The Supes Academy for many years and has also been on PROACT Search’s preferred list.
When Steven Adamowski announced his surprise departure as head of the Cincinnati school system in 2002, PROACT Search was hired to find his replacement. The process garnered national attention as the Cincinnati Enquirer ended up, “suing the school board and its new superintendent over the secretive process by which the superintendent was chosen for the job. Adamowski’s name was featured prominently in the newspaper’s complaint.
Four years later, in 2006, when PROACT Search put Steven Adamowski on the short-list for the superintendent’s job in Seattle, the move generated searing local criticism (See: The School Board Flunks Google 101 – In rounding up superintendent candidates, it seems no one did their homework. And what about the $63,500 head-hunting firm?)
And PROACT Search’s involvement in Norwalk has also generated controversy.
As the $20 million no-bid contract in Chicago originally came to light, Catalyst Chicago, a local education media outlet in Illinois reported;
In addition, Byrd-Bennett is listed as a senior associate for a superintendent search firm called PROACT Search, in documents dated August 2012—four months after taking the position with CPS [Chicago Public Schools.] PROACT is run by the same individuals who lead Supes: Gary Solomon, the executive director, and Thomas Vranas, the president
[…]
Byrd-Bennett is one of four contacts listed in the proposal for services submitted by PROACT in its bid to do a superintendent search for the Norwalk, Connecticut school district. She has an e-mail address listed in the proposal. When PROACT won the contract, an official for the company was quoted in the local newspaper touting that Byrd-Bennett, who by that time had been named as Chicago’s CEO, was a contractor with the firm.
[…]
However, Byrd-Bennett denies that she ever worked for PROACT and was surprised that her name was used, according to CPS spokeswoman Kelley Quinn. Quinn says the e-mail address bennett@proactsearch.com was “generic.”
PART ONE: Jonathan Pelto
ReplyDeleteThis past Tuesday (October 13, 2015) former Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett, one of the nation’s leading Corporate Education Reform Industry leaders, pleaded guilty for her role in a $23 million kick-back scheme with Gary Solomon and his education reform companies, The SUPES Academy and Synesi Associates.
Anyone clue the chapmans or non on this?
ReplyDeleteThey only print what Lyons wants them to print.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you can get pelto to comment on it there.
ReplyDeleteWas it ever disclosed that the new super worked for one of the companies proact owner owns?
Seems like a conflict, kind of like dum dum Ralphies relationship to the former mayor was never disclosed.
Only in norwalk kids......
Has anyone noticed that Superintendent Adamowski has taken over and become a real leader? Has anyone noticed that Mike Lyons is mostly off of Nancy on Norwalk? Isn't that refreshing? We have an educator leading the district for a change!
ReplyDeleteMany of the above comments should be read and acted upon. My comment is a skosh different. I mean to
ReplyDeleteremind readers of comments made by RedApples, Lisa Thomson and her partisans. They are not educators and, in fact, some do not even have a degree. They do believe they are knowledgable enough to dictate curriculum and hurl nasty comments at administrators. They were overjoyed with Rivera and with core curriculum. This is for you, oh nasty ones:
"Needless to say, neither Bill nor Melinda has ever been a teacher. Yet they consider themselves to be experts in what and how to teach."
"In this article, Carol Burris reviews the couple’s recent national conference, at which they announced that they are pleased with what they have done and have no intention of changing their approaches. In other words, they called a press conference to say “Stay the course.” Clearly, they have not noticed that 220,000 students in New York state opted out of the state tests in protest of an overemphasis on standardized tests. Nor have they noticed the protests from all sides of the political spectrum against the coup engineered by Bill Gates to impose the Common Core on the nation without bothering to respect the views of the public (i.e., democracy)."
They demonstrate the old maxim that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing."
....enough said?
what is the plan for norwalk? a lot of high paid salaries are coming in but what is the plan?
ReplyDeleteWhile we continue to bring in high salaries, what is being done to move those out who have not done what they needed to? Still carrying a grants person whom has not used funds appropriately, and yet still sits there, community partnerships chief---signed off on all the grants and they are been misused--he is still there. School administrators not capable, what is being done. While Rome was not built in a day...
the crumbling of the district has been going on for years.
Where have you been? I'm going back to the says of the old Marvin principal. Nothing has changed. We move building administrators who don't do what the need to do down to Central Office and give them a promotion. We are still doing it. We take Central Office people who do what they should ..... And we give them a huge payout to retire. We try and place the blame on someone like the grants administrator - who, as we all know, has absolutely NO decision making authority and never has - to deflect from where it should go.
ReplyDeleteCome on. You have some perverse agenda, but for lots of us, it's transparent.