The Maritime Charter School, which prides itself on military-style discipline, has been

cited by the state for tampering with student answer sheets on Regents math exams given last

June and August.

In at least 21 cases, answer sheets &#8220included a minimum of four and as many as ten

questions for which an incorrect response to a multiple-choice question had been replaced with

a correct answer,&#8221 the state found.

Results on the algebra and geometry exams have been expunged, and students will have to

retake them in order to earn credit.

Also, the Erie 1 Board of Cooperative Education Services is now monitoring math Regents

exams at Maritime, a 300-student high school on Genesee Street near Michigan Avenue.

New York State United Teachers points to the test scoring issue &#8212 and previous

irregularities at Maritime &#8212 as evidence that the state&#8217s charter school laws

provide inadequate oversight and monitoring.

&#8220We don&#8217t know if there are more Maritimes out there, and we won&#8217t know

until there&#8217s real transparency and accountability,&#8221 said Richard C. Iannuzzi, NYSUT

president. &#8220The current law lacks that.&#8221

But charter school officials were &#8220just shocked&#8221 by the Regents scoring incident,

which was detailed in a November letter from the state Education Department, said Lawrence W.

Astyk, the school&#8217s commandant, or principal.

The two staff members responsible for administering the test have resigned, and the problem

was first brought to light by Maritime math teachers, not the state, he said.

&#8220It was our teachers who reported it,&#8221 Astyk said. &#8220I&#8217m so proud of

them. These are very brave people.&#8221

But the exam tampering is just the latest of a series of problems to surface at Maritime

since it opened in 2004. They include:

The misappropriation of $95,000 from 2005 to 2007 that led to the resignation of

three school employees and a jail term for one. The school recovered the funds through an

insurance claim.

Inadequate safeguards that led to the hiring of an administrator with a criminal

record.

The inability to account for nearly $10,000 in federal grants.

A report of fraudulent use of funds belonging to the school&#8217s parent-teacher

group. School officials investigated that claim and found that it was &#8220difficult if not

impossible&#8221 to reach a firm conclusion.

Prior to the Regents exam findings &#8212 but after the other incidents &#8212 the school

got a four-year license renewal in January from the state Board of Regents.

That approval

was based on a staff recommendation stating that Maritime &#8220faced and met many

challenges,&#8221 had &#8220learned from its experiences&#8221 and proactively developed a

reform plan to address it weaknesses.

The renewal praises Astyk, who became commandant in 2007.

&#8220The school&#8217s leadership and governance have evolved in a positive manner, with a

great deal of respect being accorded to the current commandant, whose leadership and

consistency of purpose have helped the school to evolve in a positive manner,&#8221 the

Regents said.

Donald A. Ogilvie, superintendent of the Erie 1 BOCES, headed the state investigation of

the Regents test tampering.

He said Wednesday that Maritime&#8217s handling of the exams represented &#8220almost

fundamental mismanagement of test administration&#8221 and that &#8220the students really paid

the price.&#8221

Ogilvie said he considered recommending revoking the school&#8217s charter, but did not.

&#8220When I saw the commitment to admit to the faults and the lack of safeguards, I felt

this was a team that could pull the school up by its bootstraps,&#8221 Ogilvie said.

At the same time, Ogilvie said, the case indicates that &#8220enthusiasm and

commitment&#8221 cannot replace &#8220technical competence and experience as educational

leaders.&#8221

Iannuzzi, the NYSUT president, contended that Maritime&#8217s record illustrates severe

weaknesses in the state&#8217s system for monitoring and licensing charter schools.

He said Maritime&#8217s relicensing after the series of incidents shows that the state

review process &#8220moves [charter schools] through the system as if nothing happened.&#8221

In addition, improprieties would be &#8220uncovered much more rapidly&#8221 at traditional

public schools, which have elected schools boards, public budget votes and other safeguards,

Iannuzzi said.

He said Maritime&#8217s experiences bolster NYSUT&#8217s call for changes in the state

charter school law that would, among other things, subject charter schools to the same audits

and disclosure requirements as traditional public schools; require charters to serve special

education and English as a Second Language students; and provide fiscal relief to school

districts &#8212 including Buffalo &#8212 that are &#8220saturated&#8221 with charter schools.

Angelo A. Conorozzo, president of Maritime&#8217s board of trustees, said the school&#8217s

problems were due to the complexities of building a school from scratch.

&#8220We weren&#8217t experienced administrators of a school system,&#8221 he said.

&#8220We perhaps were not as diligent as we should have been. But we didn&#8217t wait. We

didn&#8217t hesitate. We acted swiftly and made changes. We&#8217ve learned some hard lessons.

We&#8217re better for it.&#8221

For example, Conorozzo said, the misappropriation of $95,000 was uncovered and pursued by

school officials. &#8220We saw the irregularities, and we started an investigation,&#8221 he

said. &#8220Our safeguards worked. Our auditor caught them and brought them to our attention,

and we followed up.&#8221

NYSUT is also critical of Maritime for expelling 16 students since the start of the school

year. Traditional public schools cannot expel students, creating an uneven playing field in

terms of student population, the union claims.

But Astyk said Maritime enrolled 32 students since September from traditional Buffalo

public schools, many of whom had behavior problems.

&#8220We gave them back 16,&#8221 he said. &#8220We took in 32. It&#8217s all of our jobs

to give students an opportunity.&#8221

Maritime&#8217s problems should not mask the opportunities the school provides its

students, 89 percent of whom are minorities and 75 percent of whom are poor, said Astyk, a

retired Marine Corps officer. They wear military-style uniforms, stand when school officials

enter the room and are held to a strict code of discipline.

On a tour of the school this week, Astyk pointed out clean and orderly classrooms and

hallways, trophies won recently by the school&#8217s drill and rifle teams, and honor and

merit rolls that are getting larger.

Recent graduates are attending Seton Hall, Pittsburgh, Penn State, UB and Tuskegee, he

said. Three Maritime grads earned full Navy ROTC scholarships. &#8220We&#8217ve had some

growing pains, but I think we&#8217ve made unbelievable strides here,&#8221 he said. &#8220A

track record [of problems] is a track record, but it shouldn&#8217t be looked at in a vacuum.

I think we&#8217re doing a fabulous job.&#8221

Maritime officials suggest that NYSUT&#8217s criticism springs from the decision of

Maritime teachers to not affiliate with the statewide teachers union following a year of

negotiations.

Iannuzzi denied any retribution.

&#8220We didn&#8217t create the [school&#8217s] record,&#8221 he said. &#8220They created

the record. It has nothing to do with anything NYSUT did.&#8221