So much Baloney! We're going to need more bread and cheese!
The website LincolnFillmore.org has been circulating recently. My pledge was to be open and honest with you, so I am sending this link along with the answers to these allegations.
Baloney:
Truth:
See what I actually said below.
Baloney:
I suppose the “There you go again!” quote by Ronald Reagan is too long ago for many people to remember, but there are days I SO want to use that quote. Chris Jones from KUTV ran yet another “expose” about my supposed “self-dealing” with charter schools. I provided Chris with all the documentation proving that such a claim is ridiculously false, including the federal bureaucracy’s own guidance, showing that the schools I work with followed all program rules. Actually, it would be great to have Chris investigate USAC (the federal bureaucracy), which is operating in violation of its own rules and harming Utah public schools in the process. I suppose that didn’t serve his purposes, though. Since you won't be getting them from KUTV, I want you to have the facts, so I've included them below, along with all the supporting documentation.
There is a federal program (E-Rate) that helps schools and libraries pay for technology upgrades. There are a lot of rules governing this program and the rules are complicated enough that most schools hire a consultant to help them with the process. My company, Charter Solutions, does not do that kind of consulting, nor do we hire vendors for any charter school. Decisions on purchasing are made by the school administration or board regarding vendors, outside consultants, and items or services to purchase. All this is done completely outside the services that Charter Solutions provides. Here are the facts that I outlined for Mr. Jones. These were emailed to him along with documentation to back up these statements.
- Charter Solutions did not hire H-Wire to do any work for Treeside Charter or any other charter school. In fact, Charter Solutions had no decision-making power at Treeside, has no decision-making power at any charter school, and did not hire H-Wire for any purpose at any charter school.
- I do not have any role within H-Wire. In fact, I am not an officer, manager, employee, or anything at H-Wire, other than an original investor (of $75!) in the company. I have never had any role in its decisions, processes, or services, and am no longer an investor.
- Charter Solutions’ staff plays no role in E-Rate, the program in question. In fact, we specifically opt out of any involvement in any aspect of E-Rate because we were aware of the potential conflict, disclosed the potential conflict to the school, specifically declined when requested to provide information about E-Rate, all following the published guidance and rules for the program. (All documentation is attached to this post.)
Baloney:
Truth:
Baloney:
Truth:
Unfortunately for AISU and its teachers and students, the improper accounting for several years before Charter Solutions’ engagement created too big of a hole to dig out of. Charter Solutions helped AISU close in a manner that ensured all teachers were appropriately paid, all students were able to complete the school year, and that returned all excess funds to the State Board of Education.
Truth:
The clip provided in intentionally misleading. In discussing the grocery tax and accompanying credit, I used Gail Miller as an example of someone that should not get the grocery tax credit. It had nothing to do with anything Gail Miller had done or not done, it was just grabbing an example. You can make almost anything sound bad if you excerpt a few seconds out of what was speech that was several minutes.
Truth:
This quote
comes from a document titled, “Conflict of Interest Disclosure.” Far from
“bragging” about my role as a Senator, the statement is the beginning of my
statement that I will not use my position to further my business interests or
those of my clients. My only focus is on doing what is best for those I
represent.
Here is the whole quote. The full "Conflict of Interest Disclosure," along with other documents, can be seen to the left as your scroll to read the facts. All of these documents and more were given to Chris Jones prior to his story and posted on my Facebook page for easy access to anyone interested.
Here is the whole quote. The full "Conflict of Interest Disclosure," along with other documents, can be seen to the left as your scroll to read the facts. All of these documents and more were given to Chris Jones prior to his story and posted on my Facebook page for easy access to anyone interested.
The entire KUTV report was blatantly dishonest and full of quotes taken out of context, ignoring established facts, and outright lies.
June 6, 2019 Facebook Post in answer to allegations:
I suppose the “There you go again!” quote by Ronald Reagan is too long ago for many people to remember, but there are days I SO want to use that quote. Chris Jones from KUTV ran yet another “expose” about my supposed “self-dealing” with charter schools. I provided Chris with all the documentation proving that such a claim is ridiculously false, including the federal bureaucracy’s own guidance, showing that the schools I work with followed all program rules. Actually, it would be great to have Chris investigate USAC (the federal bureaucracy), which is operating in violation of its own rules and harming Utah public schools in the process. I suppose that didn’t serve his purposes, though. Since you won't be getting them from KUTV, I want you to have the facts, so I've included them below, along with all the supporting documentation.
Here are the facts:.
There is a federal program (E-Rate) that helps schools and libraries pay for technology upgrades. There are a lot of rules governing this program and the rules are complicated enough that most schools hire a consultant to help them with the process. My company, Charter Solutions, does not do that kind of consulting, nor do we hire vendors for any charter school. Decisions on purchasing are made by the school administration or board regarding vendors, outside consultants, and items or services to purchase. All this is done completely outside the services that Charter Solutions provides. Here are the facts that I outlined for Mr. Jones. These were emailed to him along with documentation to back up these statements.- Charter Solutions did not hire H-Wire to do any work for Treeside Charter or any other charter school. In fact, Charter Solutions had no decision-making power at Treeside, has no decision-making power at any charter school, and did not hire H-Wire for any purpose at any charter school.
- I do not have any role within H-Wire. In fact, I am not an officer, manager, employee, or anything at H-Wire, other than an original investor (of $75!) in the company. I have never had any role in its decisions, processes, or services, and am no longer an investor.
- Charter Solutions’ staff plays no role in E-Rate, the program in question. In fact, we specifically opt out of any involvement in any aspect of E-Rate because we were aware of the potential conflict, disclosed the potential conflict to the school, specifically declined when requested to provide information about E-Rate, all following the published guidance and rules for the program. (All documentation is attached to this post.)
An overreaching federal agency denied funding for this school citing a conflict of interest on my part. As you can see from the attached documents, they did that ignoring their own rules, without reviewing the evidence (they didn't even bother to call the school or the independent consultant), and without even a claim that anyone involved did anything wrong. The real story here is of a rogue federal agency that is targeting a Utah public school that did everything right.
Baloney:
Truth:
Phil Faulkner’s letter of resignation can be found HERE and refers to Charter Solutions as a “GREAT company, willing to do the
right thing.” Phil’s life took some sad
turns at the end of his employment with Charter Solutions. We tried to work with him, but in the end,
his personal issues led to his resignation. You’ll see from his letter and from
the news story that his issues were with the school’s superintendent, and not
with Charter Solutions, which supported the school through this difficulty.
The false allegations that this story made were investigated
by the State Charter School Board. After two months of restructure that
included terminating the employment of the school superintendent, the school is
back in regular standing and is still working with Charter Solutions, which
continues to provide quality accounting and payroll services.
Baloney:
Truth:
We have a part time legislature, and that is one great thing
about Utah. That means we all have other
jobs we do outside our legislative duties.
Each legislator much file a conflict of interest report prior to each
general session. Here is a link to my current
one. Conflicts are generally widely
known by at least other legislators. Utah
law does not allow legislators to abstain from votes, but rather takes the
approach of transparency and accountability.
The flip side to the potential conflict of interest is that we have
experts from many different backgrounds and industries that provide insights
into possible unintended consequences in that we may not otherwise have.
I’ve spent almost my
entire career in education, with experience as a teacher, principal, and school
business manager. I founded Charter Solutions in 2007 in an effort to use that
expertise to help public charter schools operate more efficiently in their
business management and meeting their legal obligations so that more dollars
can go into classroom instruction.
Charter Solutions has
24 employees. Taking the number from this report and dividing by the number of
employees, you find an average total compensation of about $60,000. My own
salary is about $84,000 per year.
Baloney:
Truth:
Charter Solutions began working for AISU in the last half of the 2018 school year, brought in specifically to clean up the accounting that the school knew had been inadequate. The State's audit in fact found that the problems at the school were solved upon Charter Solutions arrival, which they state on pages 15 and 18 of the this report. See the entire report HERE.
Unfortunately for AISU and its teachers and students, the improper accounting for several years before Charter Solutions’ engagement created too big of a hole to dig out of. Charter Solutions helped AISU close in a manner that ensured all teachers were appropriately paid, all students were able to complete the school year, and that returned all excess funds to the State Board of Education.
Baloney:
Truth:
The clip provided in intentionally misleading. In discussing the grocery tax and accompanying credit, I used Gail Miller as an example of someone that should not get the grocery tax credit. It had nothing to do with anything Gail Miller had done or not done, it was just grabbing an example. You can make almost anything sound bad if you excerpt a few seconds out of what was speech that was several minutes.
Baloney:
Truth:
Same story as Phil Faulkner story above. Charter Schools were put into place in Utah
long before I was a member of the Legislature or ALEC, or started Charter
Solutions. I did what most businesses do. I saw a need and worked to fill that
need. I have also spent most of my life
politically active, so Charter Schools has nothing to do with my reason for
getting involved politically. Go here to see some of that history.
Baloney:
Truth:
This one is a technicality, but APS donated $3,000 total but nothing more. APS is actually a competitor of mine but they trust and respect me and know that I understand the issues that are of concern to them. It is quite customary to donate to legislators that you believe understand the issues you face. Charter Solutions is not a management company and charges no “management fees., and they have no decision making power at any school.
If my opponent wants to suggest that private businesses
should not be allowed to contribute to political campaigns for people that hold
similar beliefs and priorities, I will simply disagree with that argument. The person donating in this case is a long time friend and
colleague, which, I assume, is similar to people that donate to other candidate.
That’s why this frivolous claim was quickly investigated and
dismissed by the state elections office.
