California's top education official helped an exclusive private ", Long told Riedel that UC Irvine pledged to accept at least some Pegasus graduates, Riedel said in an interview. A California Department of Education spokesman said the department cut all ties with Pegasus after Torlakson retired in 2019. Mathematics Teacher - Pegasus California School - LinkedIn This public California school district bestowed diplomas to students at In the meantime, we invite you to begin to explore The Pegasus School. "Huh? Specialties: Pegasus was developed with the purpose to stage homes with luxury furniture as an attainable price. To say otherwise is irresponsible and damaging to the integrity of our admissions process.". UCI will never offer guarantees or promises of freshmanadmission to any school or individual. Emails obtained by Insider show how California's top education official "If it is true, I am considering to transfer into this Pegasus school to get the priority offer from UCR. We always have back-up.". ", Former WASC president Fred Van Leuven confirmed to Insider that Pegasus lacked the proper licensing. "I would never say something like that. "No one was offered stocks in 2019," he said. "According to the news this Pegasus school reports, the student from this school can get privileges when they apply to UCR," she said. The Pegasus School - Huntington Beach, California - CA - GreatSchools Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed Long, a Republican, as the state's secretary of education. "It is imperative that these serious allegations of misuse of state funds and conflict of interest during or after the former Superintendent's term, or whether the relationship between the school district and the Chinese school are legal, be reviewed by the appropriate outside agencies with authority to investigate this matter.". Accepted, not necessarily that they go there. The 36-page complaint alleged, among other things, that after Long recruited McCormick to serve as Val Verde's superintendent, McCormick bestowed Pegasus with the diplomas it needed; that, while Pegasus claimed to be non-profit, it was registered as a for-profit LLC; that multiple staffers actually did not have their California teaching credentials; and that district officials violated California conflict-of-interest rules when they accepted free travel, food, and lodging in China in exchange for conferring students with Val Verde diplomas. He was fishing for wealthy parents. "This is not a new, colossal idea. We checked with attorneys, we weren't the first, not a problem," he said. Pegasus boasted of strong relationships with schools such as the University of California at Irvine, where students could participate in a summer program tailored for Pegasus students. "Especially with international students and parents, it's helpful to have someone that has had or is connected with, previously or currently [with the University of California]. "That way, if the media (or an entity that provides oversight) gets involved, we can say we complied with our obligation to investigate," he wrote in December 2019, according to emails obtained by Insider. And even though it was largely staffed by Val Verde teachers and administrators, it was actually a boarding school. Riedel, the former Pegasus headmaster, personally invited UC Irvine admissions staffers to China, according to a 2018 email exchange. According to LinkedIn, Angelica worked as the communications and operations coordinator at ThinkTank from 2017 to 2020.). "Pegasus knows it is not accredited and they are using Val Verde's partnership to mask their status and provide something they could otherwise not give, the mask of legitimacy.". "The only link between Pegasus California School and Pegasus Education Group is me," Ma said. I'm not an expert in education.". A review by Insider, including consultations with experts, turned up only two examples of international schools both in China engaged in dual-degree programs with public schools in the US in which foreign students can earn diplomas without ever attending the American schools. (In an interview, Long emphasized that much of the money from Val Verde went to paying his staff and overhead. "Tom is a personal friend to begin with, and as I would do for other friends who are in the political arena, I will support them financially when I can," Ma said. "No money of Pegasus' tuition revenue had ever gone to me nor any investors," he said. Pegasus California School served the children of the Chinese elite as a private boarding school in Qingdao, China. When asked if UCI accepted Riedel's offer to pay for the trip, a spokesperson said the university did not. "There is not a clear agreement between the District and the school that calls for that.". But while Engelschall brushed off concerns about Pegasus, her own employees had been offering Pegasus students the opportunity to submit late admissions applications to the university, giving them an advantage over students who abided by the UC-wide November 30 deadline. In an email, Long denied pressuring staffers and said the suggestion that Pegasus students received preferential treatment was "blatantly false." The Pegasus School I Pre-K-8 Private School in Huntington Beach, CA At 71, Torlakson has held positions with the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors, California State Senate, and California State Assembly. We try to stay away from the current, but he's a consultant so it's not that big of a [deal]," Long added. Admissions officers are familiar with the various school districts and the state standards they follow, and they have a time-tested sense of how well the system prepares students for their schools. Non-Discrimination Policy. In addition to helping Pegasus with recruitment, he also traveled to China several times in his official school capacity to attend events and pass out diplomas. Val Verde's superintendent publicly proclaimed that UC Riverside guaranteed admission to all Pegasus graduates, according to the minutes of a public-school board meeting. MA Bio-Chemistry (Nantong University) BA Electrotechniques Power Electronics BA English Studies and Linguistics Hassan II University of Casablanca M.Ed. In an interview, Long dismissed concerns about American schools issuing diplomas on behalf of international students, calling it a common practice. How it got there, and how it leveraged the resources and personnel of a middling public-school district for the benefit of private investors and wealthy families halfway across the globe, is the story of one businessman's quest to monetize American public education with the help of California's most powerful education official. "That's probably the main reason why we all put that into our safety school. Pegasus students already started off with considerable advantages compared to many Val Verde students. John Ma did not respond to requests for comment; Tsai could not be reached. ", In an interview, Ma said Pegasus students never received preferential treatment from California education officials, and said the notion that any Pegasus students were guaranteed admission to UC schools was "ridiculous and false." Pegasus High School Changing the Pace of Education! But there were some notable differences between the Chinese high school and its California counterparts. Mr. McTaggart is a Canadian English teacher Physics & Computer Science Teacher Robbins was puzzled by the Pegasus relationship. One of those was Riedel, the school's headmaster. Former staffers said the students came from wealthy families. Other Val Verde staffers weren't as lucky. Forty-five miles east of Irvine, and 12 miles from Val Verde Unified, UC Riverside also forged close ties with the Chinese high school. Buyers find it difficult to envision an empty space and how they would furnish their new home. He added: "I never once said or promised this is an inside track to the UC system. When asked to clarify, Riedel said: "Dave Long reported that to me that they wouldn't take all of our students but they would take some of them. Ma claimed to have generated a secret algorithm that could predict any student's chances of admission to their dream schools with 93% accuracy, allowing him to offer a money-back guarantee to students who met GPA, extracurricular, and test-score requirements. Hugo Borja Borja Consulting Kathleen Borja What is Nicole Borja's direct phone number? "It's not something that, 'Hey, I'm helping you out here so in the future you help me out.' ABOUT US_Pegasus California School-| To open a California high school with students graduating each year, Ma needed to figure out a way to bestow them with credible state diplomas. Admission to UC Riverside would satisfy Ma's promise of entry into a top 100 US university. No, it's not like that.". Facebook page. He wanted to create a replica of a California public high school in China a campus that would not just be endorsed by the California Department of Education but be staffed by California teachers who would offer a California curriculum to entice affluent Chinese families who wanted their teens to go abroad for college, and were willing pay the steep tuition costs to make that happen. He was first elected as superintendent of public instruction in 2010, and held the position until 2019. It ultimately opened 13 locations, mostly in Northern California strip malls, and expanded to three locations in China. "When I was at Pegasus," she said, "Dr. Long was super engaged in the interaction with UC Riverside, so they basically said they would accept all the students that we have." Pegasus High School in San Jose, CA - US News Best High Schools UC Riverside wasn't happy. "None of it was paid by [US] taxpayer dollars, because that would be on us and I wasn't going to go [to China] if it was on taxpayer dollars. Before Torlakson helped Ma and Long build a bridge between Qingdao and California, he was the frequent beneficiary of their political largesse. Not only did UC Irvine offer summer-school programs specially arranged for Pegasus students, it dispatched admissions staffers to the school's China campus to talk to students and their parents, and specifically monitored Pegasus students' progress through the admissions cycle. ", Ma denied ever telling parents that a Pegasus diploma would fast-track their kids into the University of California system, and said that Riedel and his wife, who also worked at Pegasus and was fired by Long, "held grudges against the school.". NEWS_Pegasus California School-| It is no secret that a staged homes on average sell faster and for more money. Both Ma and Long said that it was not uncommon for students to apply to universities after the admissions deadline. In an email to one of the school's vice provosts, Clark marveled at the letter from Torlakson. Top UC schools Berkeley, Los Angeles, and Irvine among them are prized among the Chinese elite, and every year those schools admit tens of thousands of graduates from California's public high schools. Overall, UC Irvine's relationship with Pegasus seemed cozy. He immigrated to the US from Taiwan about 30 years ago, at age 11. At this point, Ma told Insider, his expansion plan is no longer feasible. In response to Insider's inquiries about Pegasus, a California Department of Education spokesman said the department has referred the matter to the state attorney general for investigation. M.Ed. But it never received approval, despite a years-long campaign that included hiring a $600-a-month consultant (who was also employed full time as a Val Verde staffer) to smooth the process. On September 17, 2018, Brennan Burnett, an associate director in UCLA's admissions department, received a strange email. It didn't have to struggle. In the fall of 2016, with Long as the head principal and what the school's website described as Torlakson's "full support and great dedication," Ma's business endeavor officially opened: Pegasus California School, based in Qingdao, initially with 67 students in 9th and 10th grades. Bachelor of Science in Business - Indiana University Postgraduate Certificate in Technology-Based Work Skills - University of Kent Pegasus California School Helped Chinese Elite Get Into US Colleges Although the complaint was anonymous, Long and Ma claim that it was written by an employee of an international school in China that competes with Pegasus for students. The Pegasus School is a coed, non-profit, nonsectarian day school in Huntington Beach, California, that serves students in pre-Kindergarten through Grade 8. You have to reach the minimums to even be considered. For instance, in 2018, Aldrich supplied Edgar Dormitorio, UCI's Assistant Vice Chancellor, with a list of Pegasus students interested in attending the university, records show. Tuition is $26,975 for the highest grade offered. By 2014, ThinkTank Learning was generating annual revenue of over $18 million, with clients who were predominantly Asian families lured by the lofty promise that for tens of thousands of dollars the company's VIP contract ran between $300,000 and $2 million their kids would be admitted to their dream schools. But I don't know what that means." One of the school districts that employed Long's services was Val Verde Unified. Ma's idea was to take that system, developed over 172 years of public instruction in California with the investment of billions in taxpayer dollars, and sell it to wealthy Chinese parents. "I find it appalling if it is true that UC Riverside has guaranteed admission for these graduates. No. Working at Pegasus California School | Glassdoor Pegasus California School is an international school located in Qingdao, China in the Shandong Province. (Ma disputed this, saying as many as half the students received scholarships of some form; Long said it was closer to a third.) "He was excited about the idea," Ma said of Torlakson. The university is ranked 88th in the US, according to US News and World Report, ahead of UC campuses like UC Santa Cruz and UC Merced, but behind UCLA, Berkeley, Santa Barbara, San Diego, Irvine, and Davis. In 2015, while the district was paying him to advise it on recruitment and other strategic matters, Val Verde hired a long-time administrator named Michael McCormick as superintendent for a total pay of $240,799. These Two University of California Campuses Gave Special - Insider It was, Ma said, "a Catch-22.". But Pacific's CEO told Insider that she had not approved the arrangement, and Ma acknowledged that Pegasus graduates this year will not be receiving the Pacific diplomas. But with the help of California's top education official, it became a part of a . "These kids need to go to their top universities," he said. Emily Engelschall, the interim associate vice chancellor of enrollment services, replied that there was no way that UC Riverside would give Pegasus students priority consideration or have an admissions office on their campus. "It was not a good situation. "It didn't meet our basic criteria for accreditation," he said. She added that any Pegasus students accepted into any of the UC schools must be designated an "Admission by Exception," the system's term for students who show promise but don't meet the admission requirements. An Insider investigation including interviews with more than a dozen current and former Pegasus employees, 14 students and parents, as well as education experts and sources affiliated with the Val Verde school district in addition to more than a thousand pages of records provided by sources and obtained through records requests has found that some of California's highest-ranking education officials and leading public universities worked closely with Ma to help set up Pegasus and give its foreign students preferential treatment that seemed to elude American public-school students. The message was: "We're a new school, we're introducing ourselves, and let me talk to you and explain what it is we're doing so you know when you're considering our students. Though he lives full time in an $2.7 million beachfront home in Laguna Beach, California, he visited Qingdao frequently throughout the year, and, according to former Pegasus students and staffers, was much more involved with the school's academics and daily life than Ma. "Definitely by the end of my tenure there, I knew that things were wrong," Riedel told Insider. "How do you recommend I respond to/route this information?" Which industry does Nicole Borja work in? That is a common practice among universities, and we have similar MOUs with other international schools." 2,182 were here. Long, his daughter, Ma, Torlakson, McCormick, and two Val Verde board members attended the signing, records show.
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