Tag: CPS

Children’s Hospital Agreed to Pay Employee to Give ‘Drag Performance’ to School Kids

Admin

A Chicago children’s hospital agreed to pay one of its employees to give a drag performance at a public school event for students, according to documents obtained through a public records request by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago paid Chicago Public Schools (CPS) $500 to cover the cost of a drag performance by one of their health educators at a school resource fair, according to documents obtained by the DCNF. The funds covered a drag performance by Jose Dominguez Magdaleno at the school district’s May “Galaxy Summit.” The summit featured art, workshops and performances in an effort to create “affirming spaces to celebrate and learn about the diversity of [the] CPS community.”

Read the full story

Thousands of Students Plan School Walkouts Across the U.S. in Protest of in-Person Learning

Admin
Boy walking down a school hallway

Students across the U.S. are planning school walkouts in protest of in-person learning as COVID-19 cases spike amid the rise of the Omicron coronavirus variant.

There are nearly 3,500 schools actively disrupted as of Friday, according to Burbio’s K-12 School Opening Tracker, which tracks school closures for 1,200 districts, including the 200 largest school districts in the nation.

On Tuesday, New York City students staged a walkout in protest of in-person learning over what they said were concerns about testing and safety mitigation measures. NYC Mayor Eric Adams said school was the “safest place” for children during a Friday news conference.

Read the full story

Chicago Teachers Union Plans to Use ‘Delta Variant’ as Excuse to Shut Down Schools Again

Admin
Chicago Teachers’ Union protesting

The Chicago Teachers’ Union (CTU) declared its belief that schools should be shut down again if the India Variant of the coronavirus, also known as the “Delta variant,” continues to spread, as reported by the Daily Caller.

In a letter published on Thursday addressed to Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D-Ill.), the union demanded that the mayor “acknowledge the changing dynamics of the COVID-19 virus” and make further bargains with the CTU regarding conditions for possibly returning to school.

“Parents are concerned,” the letter states in part, “and they deserve assurances that our union and the [Chicago Public Schools] team are working…to ensure safety in hundreds of school buildings across the city.” In fact, many parents have been critical of CTU and other teachers’ unions across the country, which have sought to extend school shutdowns for as long as possible for the teachers’ pleasure, often including absurd and unreasonable conditions in their requirements for returning to in-person instruction.

Read the full story

State Sen. Dickerson, Others in Pain Management Business Sued By United States, Tennessee for Allegedly Committing $25M in Medicare, TennCare Fraud

Jason M. Reynolds

  State Sen. Steven Dickerson (R-TN-20) is among those being sued by the federal government and Tennessee over alleged Medicare and TennCare fraud totaling at least $25 million. The United States and Tennessee on Monday filed a consolidated complaint in intervention alleging violations of the False Claims Act and the Tennessee Medicaid False Claims Act by Anesthesia Services Associates, PLLC, doing business as Comprehensive Pain Specialists (CPS), according to a statement by U.S. Attorney Don Cochran for the Middle District of Tennessee and Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery III. The governments allege that the scheme defrauded Medicare and TennCare of at least $25 million. The complaint also names as defendants Dr. Peter B. Kroll, of Goodlettsville; Dr. Steven R. Dickerson, of Nashville; and Dr. Gilberto A. Carrero, of Nashville, three of the principal owners of CPS, as well as John Davis, of Franklin, the former CEO, who was convicted by a jury in April of violating the Anti-Kickback Statute; and Russell S. Smith, a chiropractor from Cleveland. The complaint also states claims for violation of the Federal Priority Statute and common law claims, including unjust enrichment and fraud. A federal judge in April granted prosecutors’ requests to intervene in whistleblower complaints…

Read the full story

Feds Plan to Add State Rep. Dickerson to Pain Management Company Fraud Lawsuit, Reports Say

Jason M. Reynolds

  A federal judge has granted prosecutors’ requests to intervene in whistleblower complaints against Comprehensive Pain Specialists (CPS), and Tennessee Sen. Steve Dickerson (R-TN-20) is being added as a defendant, multiple media outlets report. Judge Aleta Trauger of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee granted the federal and state prosecutors’ requests, according to MSN. They have 90 days to file their own complaints. Several lawsuits filed by former employees of CPS were unsealed Tuesday, accusing the leaders, including Dickerson, of a fraud scheme, NewsChannel 5 said. They allegedly made millions of dollars in payments from Medicare and violated the False Claims Act. Suzanne Alt of Missouri is a former CMS employee who alleges in the main complaint that the company made false claims for lab tests that were not needed. The court document said she “was personally told to increase the frequency of the drug screens” that were most costly instead of a cheaper alternative. The lawsuits have been consolidated into one case, and although the main complaint does not specifically mention the lawmaker, Dickerson is named in one of the suits alongisde co-founder Dr. Peter Kroll and former CEO John Davis. On April 8,…

Read the full story

Jury Convicts Comprehensive Pain Specialists’ John Davis in $4M Medicare Kickback Scheme

Jason M. Reynolds

A federal jury in Nashville found the former CEO of a closed Tennessee pain management company guilty for his alleged role in a $4 million Medicare claim kickback scheme, U.S. Attorney Don Cochran for the Middle District of Tennessee said in a press release. John Davis, 41, of Franklin, the former CEO of Comprehensive Pain Specialists (CPS) of Gallatin, was convicted of all counts including one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and violate the Anti-Kickback Statute, and seven counts of violating the Anti-Kickback Statute, Cochran said. The scheme involved approximately $4 million in tainted durable medical equipment (DME) claims to Medicare. Meanwhile, Davis’ sentencing will be scheduled for later this year before U.S. District Judge William L. Campbell Jr., who presided over the trial, Cochran said. According to evidence presented at trial, Davis abused his position as CEO to arrange for referrals of Medicare DME orders to his co-conspirator Brenda Montgomery and her company, CCC Medical, in Camden, Cochran said. Evidence showed that Davis operated a shell company called ProMed Solutions (ProMed), which he had registered in the name of his wife. Despite having no involvement with ProMed and performing no work, Davis’ wife and ProMed received more…

Read the full story

Report Shows School Districts Weaponize Child Protection Services Against Uncooperative Parents

Admin

by Kerry McDonald   Schooling is adept at rooting out individuality and enforcing compliance. In his book, Understanding Power, Noam Chomsky writes: “In fact, the whole educational and professional training system is a very elaborate filter, which just weeds out people who are too independent, and who think for themselves, and who don’t know how to be submissive, and so on—because they’re dysfunctional to the institutions.” This filtering process begins very early in a child’s schooling as conformity is rewarded and divergence is punished. Public Schooling Breeds Obedience Most of us played this game as schoolchildren. We know the rules. The kids who raise their hands, color in the lines, and obey succeed; the kids who challenge the rules struggle. The problem now is that the rules are extending beyond the classroom. Parents are increasingly required to obey, to conform to a school’s demands even if they believe such orders may not be appropriate for their child. In my advocacy work with homeschooling families across the country, I frequently hear stories from parents who decided to homeschool their kids because schools were pressuring them to comply with various special education plans, push medications onto their children, or submit to other restrictive procedures…

Read the full story