Will Whittle be around next year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That is such a great question. I was briefly involved with the school pre launch but left after being disillusioned with the gap between the stated mission and how resources were being allocated that had no bearing on it. A few examples..

1. They hired Renzo Piano (at an exorbitant architect's fee) but barely had any educational experts or $$ allocated to design curriculum pre-launch
2. The renovation of the facility ran far over budget and was ultimately in excess of $200 million - again money that should have been better spent on curriculum, resources for students, essential supplies - not Whittle's real estate vanity project
(Btw - if you read the Town & Country article that came out before the school opened, you'll see the author was similarly perplexed by Chris Whittle going on and on about the real estate and not discussing curriculum at all...)
3. Cost structure was hamstrung from the start. The initial rent expense of the school was easily in excess of $30 million. They needed 800-900 full tuition paying kids JUST to cover rent. When you added in the exorbitant salaries for "leadership", faculty pay, and other operating costs, the required number of children was about 1,500 - just to break even... And when they came miserably short of their enrollment targets, the focus became on how to scrape up enough $$ to survive another month instead of a clear headed focus on delivering quality education

The initial group of educators the school hired were all incredibly talented and inspired to deliver a great education to their students. Sadly they were never even given a fighting shot at accomplishing this

THANK YOU for taking the time to share this information. I’m the PP who was part of the founding year and noticed when the amazing admissions director abruptly left. I knew something was wrong right away. And I appreciate the better understanding of the inner workings during the initial months. I still blame myself for not doing my homework and blindly believing that this was going to be a great experience for DC.

I TOTALLY AGREE with PP about personal experience with great teachers who despite poor circumstances CAN deliver a great learning experience. DC had one humanities teacher in particular who genuinely tried his hardest to deliver a meaningful and engaging experience despite a flimsy curriculum from which to work from. We asked the MS Dir (at that time who has since left )numerous times to provide us with the curriculum. Anything ! A list of topics! A plan! A table of contents! NOTHING. They didn’t have anything established. And to top it off the classmates ( entire grade of less than 18 students) that founding year was a major disappointment. Certainly some were probably motivated but in general the apathy and less ambitious nature of the group was the main challenge for even the most talented of teachers.

Don't be overly hard on yourself. I joined the Whittle organization knowing the man's track record but refused to believe he was as bad as his reputation, particularly while the initial charm offensive was in full flow. What I discovered is that his reputation is thoroughly well deserved. We can debate the merits and demerits of for-profit education all day but Whittle is about neither - all he does is waste huge sums of other people's money on extravagant plans that will neither turn a profit nor deliver an education

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That is such a great question. I was briefly involved with the school pre launch but left after being disillusioned with the gap between the stated mission and how resources were being allocated that had no bearing on it. A few examples..

1. They hired Renzo Piano (at an exorbitant architect's fee) but barely had any educational experts or $$ allocated to design curriculum pre-launch
2. The renovation of the facility ran far over budget and was ultimately in excess of $200 million - again money that should have been better spent on curriculum, resources for students, essential supplies - not Whittle's real estate vanity project
(Btw - if you read the Town & Country article that came out before the school opened, you'll see the author was similarly perplexed by Chris Whittle going on and on about the real estate and not discussing curriculum at all...)
3. Cost structure was hamstrung from the start. The initial rent expense of the school was easily in excess of $30 million. They needed 800-900 full tuition paying kids JUST to cover rent. When you added in the exorbitant salaries for "leadership", faculty pay, and other operating costs, the required number of children was about 1,500 - just to break even... And when they came miserably short of their enrollment targets, the focus became on how to scrape up enough $$ to survive another month instead of a clear headed focus on delivering quality education

The initial group of educators the school hired were all incredibly talented and inspired to deliver a great education to their students. Sadly they were never even given a fighting shot at accomplishing this

THANK YOU for taking the time to share this information. I’m the PP who was part of the founding year and noticed when the amazing admissions director abruptly left. I knew something was wrong right away. And I appreciate the better understanding of the inner workings during the initial months. I still blame myself for not doing my homework and blindly believing that this was going to be a great experience for DC.

I TOTALLY AGREE with PP about personal experience with great teachers who despite poor circumstances CAN deliver a great learning experience. DC had one humanities teacher in particular who genuinely tried his hardest to deliver a meaningful and engaging experience despite a flimsy curriculum from which to work from. We asked the MS Dir (at that time who has since left )numerous times to provide us with the curriculum. Anything ! A list of topics! A plan! A table of contents! NOTHING. They didn’t have anything established. And to top it off the classmates ( entire grade of less than 18 students) that founding year was a major disappointment. Certainly some were probably motivated but in general the apathy and less ambitious nature of the group was the main challenge for even the most talented of teachers.

Thanks so much for sharing this story.

How painful for you as parents, for your child, and for this teacher. Don't beat yourself up with blame either -- I taught for several years and, like everybody, had some complaints about the school I taught at! But I would never expect to enter any school situation where none of this type of planning got done in advance. Especially at a school that -- loudly and specifically -- claimed to be introducing a new and better type of education. It's no wonder you were blindsided. That could have happened to any of us.

[Anonymous]

In 2018, we went to many of the Whittle open houses at the temporary location in Friendship Heights. The team was phenomenal and the vision was outstanding. I just couldn't see past the fact that the school was named after such a documented, well-known grifter. It was almost like a middle finger to anyone whoever doubted him.

The Bernie Madoff of for-profit education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In 2018, we went to many of the Whittle open houses at the temporary location in Friendship Heights. The team was phenomenal and the vision was outstanding. I just couldn't see past the fact that the school was named after such a documented, well-known grifter. It was almost like a middle finger to anyone whoever doubted him.

The Bernie Madoff of for-profit education.

I pass the Intelsat building on many of my journeys. And when I first saw the name go up on it, I could only think "Who in the world is still giving him all that money?" If only he could use his powers of mass hypnosis for good, instead of for, apparently, just greed.

[Anonymous]

Will Chris be able to whittle down the $34 million I n court judgments and liens he needs to pay off, not to mention other debts?

Seems unlikely.

[Anonymous]

I don't know why believe support for-profit educational ventures, period. There are just some services--typically public goods-- that are at odds with profiteering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Will Chris be able to whittle down the $34 million I n court judgments and liens he needs to pay off, not to mention other debts?

Seems unlikely.

+1,000

Or, he needs to convince the doe-eyed family that apparently just kissed $1 million goodbye that they should give him $33 million more... because, you know, then all will be well...

[Anonymous]

To the parents stop wasting your money and stop putting your children through this insanity, yes the teachers are great but check on the faculty and see how many of them are going to stay with this scheme. They will get out tomorrow if they could.

[Anonymous]

I wonder what will go in the building next.

[Anonymous]

Friendship Charter School - Whittle is on their board.

[Anonymous]

That's odd. How'd that come about?

[Anonymous]

People—particularly private school people— love to say that we should “run schools like a business.” Well, Whittle has done just that- spending exorbitant $$$ on flash and 0 on substance, and when the plug finally is pulled, those who caused the problem will float away on their golden parachutes while those who do the work get screwed- just like the business world.

Be careful what you wish for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People—particularly private school people— love to say that we should “run schools like a business.” Well, Whittle has done just that- spending exorbitant $$$ on flash and 0 on substance, and when the plug finally is pulled, those who caused the problem will float away on their golden parachutes while those who do the work get screwed- just like the business world.

Be careful what you wish for.

Ultimately, this will be disasterous for the kids. So sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Friendship Charter School - Whittle is on their board.

Isn't friendship virtual (by design)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whittle's wife ( who has considerable assets to protect) filed for divorce last week in NY court. One can imagine it will be hard for him to manage family drama as well as the corporate bankruptcy at the same time.

Sounds like a strategic divorce to try to shield assets from his creditors and future plaintiffs.

Filing to shield assets within 24 hrs of begging parents for help and assuring them that the funds to pay them back are on the way: not a good look.