As many of you know, I'm no fan of former State Rep. Jenn Mann. My disenchantment with her began when she used her position as a legislator in struggling Allentown to secure a a
$10,000 state DCED grant for
The Parkland Trojan Ice Hockey Club. Those students need little state assistance. In the meantime, she did next to nothing for disadvantaged kids in downtown Allentown. But in 2014, she was listed as one of the founders of Allentown's
Executive Education Academy Charter School. Was she finally giving back? Unfortunately, no. According to information obtained in response to a Right to Know request, Executive Education has paid her
$450,000 since 2014 for unspecified "contracted professional services." I've also been told by several people that she was
paid a $3.2 million broker's fee in connection with the purchase of the school building. But the school refuses to release that information, claiming it belongs to the Executive Education Charter School foundation, a separate legal entity.
I've appealed this refusal to the state Office of Open Records.
Of course, Executive Education delayed as long as it could in responding. My request was first filed on June 6, and an answer only came on July 12.
Executive Education recently did the same thing to a Morning Call reporter who sought construction costs for a recently opened $4 million gym. Never mind that the real source of this funding is Allentown taxpayers. In that case, the
Office of Open Records concluded the Foundationp and Charter School are one and the same.
The public has every right to know how its money is being spent.
The Charter School is resisting that right in Lehigh County courts. I expect I'll be there soon enough.
50 comments:
If true, Mann should go to jail along with the bums who gave her the contract. She was a public trough-feeder as a legislator and since then continues to rip off taxpayers as a consultant. Pathetic! Where is the Morning Call in exposing this farce?
I would call The Morning Call a blog in print form, but it and the Express-Times don't deserve that much credit. Lehigh Valley has no investigative journalism, including Channel 69.
Good for you, bad for her. Lock her up.
Will anyone say those famous words??
When will you leave this poor young woman alone.
"As many of you know, I'm no fan of former State Rep. Jenn Mann. My disenchantment with her began when she used her position as a legislator in struggling Allentown to secure a a $10,000 state DCED grant for The Parkland Trojan Ice Hockey Club. "
Tell the truth defamer -in-chief. Its your obsessive hatred of anyone who has a life, a job, and actually does something productive , while you sit in a hole 24/7 and blog for free. I'm sure she earned her place on your shit blog, the same way everyone else does. Some perceived slight. She blew you off, and never answered your email, because you are not legitimate media.
Thank you for covering this, Bernie.
Once a politician always a politician our system breeds these type of people all politicians must go we must start over with new rules -- term limits for everybody and money must be put out of the political area till we do this your country id doomed
5:16 AM :
Spoken like the in-title-only W E Constable, whose law enforcement career consists of defending yourself against charges instead of assisting in law enforcement; and whose career in the medical field consists of numerous firings from many medical facilities. Bravo!
So lets get this straight. Its OK when Bernie uses the RTK law to embarrass and defame people, and make them look bad, but not for Bernie's enemies who do the same thing? Wasn't it just a week ago you were ridiculing someone else who uses public info from the RTK law to embarrass people?
For someone who hold himself out as legitimate media, the hypocrisy is amazing.
Glad you're on this. But if the money was passed through a separate entity, her tracks are probably covered on the millions. The $450K may be embarrassing, but even that assumes those who run these things possess any shame. They don't. This is fertile blog ground. But, incredibly, there's no legal or political kill shot and she'll go right on doing what she does. It's as unfathomable as paying millions to demolish an historic building that already had a buyer/developer. It's as unfathomable as a legislator who illegally voted on behalf of absent members - and suffered zero consequences. After a while, it starts to become fathomable because that's just the way things are.
5:16 is Mezzacappa.
Even assuming the $450,000 figure is true, but not linked to any records produced by the agency, that means she was paid an executive salary of $90K a year for 5 years. High yes, outrageous no, when you look at some of the salaries paid to public school administrators and teachers. The real rip-off to taxpayers is the public pension system that has some earning in excess of $300,000.00 on an annual basis, and many who are double dipping the system. And its all legal. A legal ponzi scheme that is going to collapse soon, and cost taxpayers millions of more dollars.
https://psbahorror.com/Salaries_Pensions.php
7:12, let's do get this straight. ohare wrote about mezzalunaticappa abusing the rtkl. the excessive requests she uses to bury her town office in paperwork and useles info mezzacrazybitchcappa puts on the internet.
The rtk for this ohare story is neither.
"Anonymous said...
Will anyone say those famous words??
When will you leave this poor young woman alone.
July 15, 2019 at 4:42 AM:"
Poor Woman? Hardly.
I am sure a disbarred lawyer is not prohibited from getting a real estate license so he can throw his hat back in the ring after his ethics crumbled his law career for good reason. It would take some work and reasonable attempts to lift oneself off his fat ass, to actually work and produce an income for himself. I guess that is why fatso just prefers mugging senior citizens for cash by means of bogus docket numbers, so he doesn't have to work. Bravo...just keep right on degrading people who work for a living.
7:51 Mezzafacingcriminalchargescappa,
shouldnt you be getting fitted for an orange jumpsuit right now?
Channel 69 is a disgrace as is its ultra right wing management.
"Even assuming the $450,000 figure is true, but not linked to any records produced by the agency, that means she was paid an executive salary of $90K a year for 5 years. High yes, outrageous no,"
Outrageous, yes, when one considers that she also was paid $3.2 million as a realtor commission, has no salary agreement and was a founder so she could line her pockets.
How does the state's ethics board allow a nonprofit to give millions to this woman! Actually, aren't those millions taxpayer dollars?
"Politicians & diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason.' Mark Twain
Does she have a tinder account?
Bernie, I'm scratching my head over the $3.2 million commission.
The standard broker's commission for residential properties is maximum 6%. For commercial properties I'm pretty sure it's less.
But at 6%, a $3.2 million commission implies the value of the building would have been in excess of $53 million. At 4%, it's $80 million. How is either figure even remotely possible?
Good luck and thanks for chasing this information. The public needs you!
". I guess that is why fatso just prefers mugging senior citizens for cash by means of bogus docket numbers, so he doesn't have to work."
Mezzacappa, Please attach your name to this defamatory accusation, so I can sue you again.
Speaking of docket numbers, Wilson Area School District has just entered a municipal lien against you at 2019-ML-5875 for nonpayment of school taxes.
Please post 2019-ML-5875 to Scrib. MezzaRTKLcappa won't mind. She is a firm believer in public information being made public.
Charter schools were the gift from "No Child Left Behind" Act of Congress signed by President Bush in 2002. Apparently, some of our congressional and Senate reps decided to get together and do something about the public school industry complex that manages to spend a trillion dollars a year, and turn out sub par illiterate kids who go on to become worthless non-productive assholes just like the author of this blog. If Allentown schools were doing their job, charter schools would not be popping up all over the place. Everyone knows you detest accountability for anything and everyone including yourself, but really just need an excuse to down trod a good school with a good mission. Try getting a job.
Charter schools are every bit the money pit as public schools are. Only difference is the founders make sure they pay themselves well from taxpayer money diverted to them from the public schools they take students from. Abe Atiyah wanted to build one, so you know there is good money to be made.
I must admit that I’m torn on this post.
On one hand, I think there’s likely something worth investigating in the payments to Mann. But I think the real reason many want to call attention to the issue is because they want to bash charter schools. I’m certainly against wasting tax dollars, but nobody’s pointing out the bigger issue:
If charter schools can blow this much taxpayer money, how much more are our public schools wasting?
After all, the charter school (per student) reimbursement figure is based on what the public schools are paying to educate their students. As a taxpayer, even if every charter school would be shut down tomorrow, how do things get better for me? The students will get re-absorbed into the public schools where the public schools will continue to spend the same amount (per student) that they are now.
Not too long ago, the superintendents of both the Allentown and Bethlehem school districts were railing against the charter school costs. Yet if they really wanted the reimbursements to go down, all they have to do is reduce their own (per-student) cost of education. Since it’s their numbers that the charter school payments are based on, they should look inward first. That’s a win-win for the taxpayers.
Some might argue that the per-student cost for public schools would be reduced if the charter students had to come back to public schools. But any such savings would surely be exceeded by the cost of building new schools to accommodate charter students into our already at-capacity public school districts. And that need to build or rent additional space could actually raise my taxes even further.
So what’s the answer? I say make all schools – public and charter – more accountable to the taxpayers. When excessive payments are discovered in charter schools, any recovered money should get rebated to the taxpayers. In addition, if charters are educating students at a lower rate than public schools, the public schools should be mandated to meet the lower charter cost. And THOSE savings should be rebated to the taxpayers also. Rebating the savings to the taxpayers will increase public interest in what the districts are doing.
Impossible you say? Not really. We can more easily spot the excesses in charters because their numbers are more relatable than public school financial information. Charter budgets typically involve one school and large excesses stick out like a sore thumb. Public school budgets show the combined figures in all schools for an entire district and involve large numbers that most people aren’t accustomed to reviewing.
As an example, a $450,000 - or $3.2 million - payment to Jen Mann really sticks out on a charter school report. Not so much if that payment is coming from a public school district.
In order to compare apples-to-apples, districts should be REQUIRED to report financial information (both budget and actual) not only on the district as a whole, but also on an individual school basis. Doing so would allow ALL to see how each school compares not only to charters, but to other schools in the district as well. If one school is way out of the norm, the district could investigate further and bring it into line with what the rest of the district is doing. If charter schools are educating their kids for less, districts could learn from that as well.
This would at least be the starting point for accountability, something that seems sorely lacking when it comes to education – whether we’re talking public schools or charters.
9:49,
Points well made and considered. I would only add that charter schools don't provide some of the programs a public school provides and the cost of those additional programs aren't deducted from the flat rate, per student payment.
Sports programs stick out for me. I don't know of a Charter school that is building, replacing, or maintaining a stadium.
And consider that the twin state representatives
Mikie and Petie are wholly owned Mann Mob subsidiaries.
This has nothing to do with the charter school public school debate. It has everything to do with a former state rep using her connections to rip off taxpayers. The one significant difference is that, at a public school, we would know
Once again Bernie breaks a major story how politicians are making money from the tax-payers.
" This has nothing to do with the charter school public school debate. It has everything to do with a former state rep using her connections to rip off taxpayers. The one significant difference is that, at a public school, we would know"
If it weren't so comical to see the rabbid jackal foaming at the mouth because a proud, strong, successful , working woman refuses to answer your emails, it would be patently sad. You can downtrod Jenifer Mann all you like, it just makes her stock go higher. You beg to be sued on a daily basis, yet all people know that suing you would be a terrific waste of ink and paper. Die mad asshat.
Cops, clergy, politicians, public schools and universities - Pennsylvania is out of control.
No one is in control.
There is no oversight.
11:01 mezzaimgoingtoprisoncappa,
You forget to take your medication today? Use that free healthcare you sponge off the government and get your prescription refilled.
11:08 so so true the system must be changed or it will take us all down the tubes
charter schools are joke put on us by liberal democrats spend spend and more spending on a school that should be handled in house of our public schools-- but the adminstrators are nothing but politicians who left our public schools go to hell and then mann cheats out more money
I'll take my government schools in one, single, disastrous flavor. Saves money. Mann is both a product and proponent of a very ugly system.
Mezzacappa @11:01, better get some help. Everyone knows it’s you.
"charter schools are joke put on us by liberal democrats "
I'd wish I could say this was the most ill informed comment of the day. Sadly it is not... but damn close to it.
1:47 that is not entirely true, charter schools were born out of school vouchers etc that the republipukes demanded over the years, Democrats had nothing to do with it but they jumped on the bandwagon when they saw that school choice was a great vote netter, so both parties suck and are responsible for this garbage called charter schools that we are now stuck with
Just deleted a comment that went off the rails. Folks please stick to your he subject.
Please let all your Republican friends that this mezzacrazy person is sticking up for a Democrat.
”The funny thing is the idea that any quote that contradicts you is from Mezzacappa. The second funny thing is that while you claim to delete off topic posts, you allow any posts that calls mezzacappa names or demeans her. That sort of defeats your holy vows.”
There is no mistaking a Mezzacappa comment. She is the only person in the universe who says such ugly things.
”There is one name that seems to fall sort of the investigative news.”
I have no idea what you are saying. Gibberish.
This needs an FBI referral as I am wondering as to the possible criminal aspect of this? The Fed's need to review her involvement of sketchy/shady activities
Relax, it's her pay back for the great city of Reillyville... It's not like she's not paying taxes on it or is she?
Looks like she took a puck to the face as had Sam Murray Haddad (not Irish/total Fraud).
Btw,Haddad fixed an All Star Vote for his Son Joseph !
Charter Schools are the best thing that happened to Inner City neighborhoods excluding Mann's chess moves.
Not surprised. How else is this "woman of the people" gonna' pay for her big west end home, vacation homes, fancy cars, country club memberships, expensive clothes, and worldly trips?
Oh, and she has to keep her Mann Mafia going (Lil' Petey Schweyer, Darth Voter Schlossburg, Courtney Robinson, Judge Mike D'amore, etc.).
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