I know it’s been a long time since I went to school but I think 1% of 1700 is still 17.
yes, I am wrong. 3% of schools.
the larger point that they are far, far from being in all the city’s schools still stands.
in a lot of their lit they brag they have over 100 schools on the waiting list–why is this is a good thing?
thank you for spotting my math error:)
-c
Here’s a school that isn’t really in that 3% either–the famous IS 318.
To read it at CIS site and elsewhere, IS 318 is their flagship jewel.
The truth is that CIS only does an after school club at IS 318. The school hires its own teacher and coach for its nationally decorated team.
I can’t speak about this current situation, but I can speak about the (ancient) history.
Yes. Lewis Cullman forced the organization to cannibalize everything that had to do with non-chess in public schools, or would withdraw his financial support. The only thing that survived (though they tried to take this too) was the Samford Fellowship.
Yes. The financial problems were due to incredible self-dealing, basically, the transfer of all possible assets from the Manhattan Chess Club to Chess-In-The-Schools happened. Basically, rent and fees kept increasing exponentially, agreed on by both parties (who were the same parties). Once all the assets that could be transferred were, then the Manhattan was thrown out.
So yes, what was the American Chess Foundation and the Manhattan Chess Club was more or less completely taken away by Lewis Cullman and Marley Kaplan, with the great assistance of folks like Jeff Kossak, Allen Kaufman, Fan Adams, and others. Given that all those folks were on both boards, and CIS thrived while the Manhattan died, might give some folks an idea of what happened.
Might be worth asking what happened to all the historic artifacts the club possessed.
It looks like NYC was defrauded of a cultural asset. As usual, the shame appears to be not what is illegal but what is legal.
Not all of it was legal. This is a copy of the complaint I filled with the IRS in 2009.
5/3/09
To the IRS Investigative Unit,
I am writing today to inform you of fraudulent tax reporting, ongoing and historical misrepresentation on form 990 of the New York based charity Chess-in-the-Schools.
While claiming that over 80% of their donations go directly to classroom programs, the reality is a mere 30%. With expenditures in excess of $4 million, CIS only services under 100 schools in the New York area, while maintaining the public fiction that they are citywide.
With its bloated administration, including 4 vice presidents and a total of 16 administrators, CIS only employs 20 chess instructors. With the president, MS MOLLY KAPLAN alone making $185,000 a year, the administrative costs listed on their IRS form 990 are vastly understated.
CIS maintains palatial midtown offices, an entire floor, the costs of which are also not reported accurately in these administrative expenditures.
While no one likes to hinder charitable works, CIS takes the air out of the room for other Chess organizations, and the result is the students of New York are deprived of a chance to participate in the educational game of Chess.
As an instructor, I was wrongfully terminated without cause after I raised these concerns to Ms. Kaplan. This should also be a red flag, that such an action would be taken to hinder this information from seeing the light of day.
I waive any monetary reward that such information may yield under IRS whistle blower statutes. My sole concern is to insure the students of New York receive the instruction that CIS promises, but does not deliver.
I am available to provide more detailed information, and I would appreciate hearing your decision as to a potential investigation.
Sincerely,
Christopher Kerrigan
Meanwhile, its been confirmed that Marely Kaplan’s big answer to this scandal is…she’s hired an expensive NYC Public Relations firm!!! How much is that going to cost the donors and taxpayers? The estimate I got today is $100k.
Talk about the last refuge of the scoundrel…
And in the “while Rome burns” file, lots of corks being popped at CIS Christmas parties this year, but of course the admin staff had their own private party room at Carmine’s, an otherwise awesome Upper West Side Italian Restaurant–no chess instructors allowed…
So this is the letter that actually got me fired. I hit send, the next day, I was unemployed. I think that is significant that Ms. Kaplan felt that merely asking her about the ratio of admin spending was enough to get the boot, that is apparently a hot button enough of a question to get one fired.
In the absence of any rebuttal from CIS (they do read this thread by the way, just watch the rush of unregistered guests after a post), there has been no retraction from the Post to either of its pieces, uhm why is Ms. Kaplan still running the show down there? Seriously, she ought to resign for her own good if not for the kids, maybe she’ll avoid prosecution.
03/27/09
Dear Ms. Marley Kaplan,
It is with great reluctance that I write you today. Please note that my correspondence has gone through all the proper channels in the C.I.S. organizational chart (Morales-Boocock-Hugo-Hilerio-Kaplan). I know your time is valuable, so at this time I have tried to distill this letter down to one simple question for you, which you will find at the end.
It began with a meeting with Mr. Boocock. He asked me to write up our conversations and submit them in an email, which I did. Here is an excerpt:
“Dear Ms. Morales,
After a conversation in his office on 2/23/09, Mr. Boocock suggested I put my concerns into a letter addressed to you. He said it would then be considered by others in Chess-in-the-Schools.
Mr. Boocock informs me that an upward change [in instructor pay] is unlikely at this time, due to budgetary restraints. I replied with the apparently controversial but factually true observation that C.I.S. employs 16 administrative personnel, but only 20 odd instructors while somehow maintaining expensive Manhattan office space. There are several positions listed as Vice Presidents, I believe, that needn’t be. There are several secretarial level positions that are labeled as management. Mr. Boocock told me that office cutbacks are in the works, but suggested I write this letter.
The purpose of this letter is not to point fingers, but simply to suggest in light of the economic turmoil that when inevitable reorganization hits C.I.S. that we return far more of our donors money to what our name actually says: Chess IN the Schools and less on administration costs and flashy props. I’m sure this sentiment would be seconded by our donors.” 2/25/09
In a subsequent email, Ms. Hilerio appeared to ask for a clarification, so I sent this summation:
“1) That the Chess Instructor position be granted health benefits.
-
That the Chess Instructor position’s compensation should be revised to reflect school vacations and cancellations (for example paying 60% for a day that the school cancels or during a week vacation.)
-
That the Chess Instructor pay be revised upwards. If asked, I would suggest that we at least go to a simple flat rate for the day, the paperwork and computer savings alone would go a long way to covering the costs of the change.
-
That Chess-In-The-Schools review its administrative/instructional ratio in the areas of funding, resources, focus and mission.
-
That recommendations from below not be treated with animosity by the organization and that retaliatory actions cease.” 03/12/09
The responses I got from Ms. Hilerio this past week contained these statements:
“To the extent that you are requesting as an accommodation, health benefits, more compensation, layoff of managerial personnel so instructors can be paid more, and no “animosity” from the organization to these statements, they are rejected.” 3/16/09 Hilerio
“We have read and considered all your recommendations. We do not expect to make any upward change in the terms of benefits or pay in the foreseeable future.
This letter constitutes CIS’s response to all previous communications from you regarding managerial, pay or personnel issues.“ 03/19/09
And finally, my simple question.
Do these responses from Ms. Hilerio constitute the official position of C…I.S. and yourself on the issues raised, particularly regarding the ratio between administrative costs and instructional spending?
Thank you for your time.
Respectfully,
Christopher Kerrigan
Perhaps by now people are wondering why I am doing all this. In the short term, sure I took a huge financial hit from these people. I left my public school teaching job to work at CIS, and after they fired me there was a hiring freeze in NYC due to the economy. I wasn’t able to go back to teaching!
Meanwhile, I won my unemployment case easily against CIS, but I’ve gotten married since and had my first child, all on one very small weekly check. Let’s just say Christmas at the Kerrigan’s was not filled with wine and pasta as it was at CIS.
But honestly, I’ve cared a lot about CIS for over a decade. I first applied to work there in the 1990’s. I was fresh off a state championship coaching job, my team had placed 11th at Nationals, unfortunately I didn’t get the job because my rating was considered too low at the time.
I studied and worked until my rating went up, and was actually recruited by CIS out of a teacher training workshop. The instructor for our class said he had taught it for 5 years, but he had learned new things from me.
In training, they sent me home after the first day because they said, “its obvious you know as much about teaching chess as we do.”
My schools loved me, my principals loved me, and most importantly, my students loved me. A teacher told me my first week, “you were born to do this.” My teams won tournaments.
I cared about this job. Maybe too much, because when it became obvious that CIS was more about donations than the kids, it was impossible for me to just sit on my hands and watch the institution dwindle into irrelevance.
I said my piece, and I took my lumps for it. Now that so much of what I asserted has been independently verified and fact checked by the NY POST, yeah, I feel vindicated.
But when CIS tells its staff that “Chris Kerrigan is trying to end all of your jobs,” I can’t just sit still. No, its Marley Kaplan that is putting your jobs at risk by refusing to resign and dragging this to its inevitable ugly conclusion. You all have to look at your own consciences, is it right that you make what you make while cutting back on services to poor urban kids.
It’s not going to be the instructors, making $27G a year, that have to worry about losing their jobs. Its unqualified, overpaid administrators that should be sweating, especially if you’ve signed off on the questionable bookkeeping at CIS.
So yes, I’m going to keep posting to this thread and others until there is some kind, any kind of positive step over there. I’m not going away.
Go for it. Just do not expect to get much help or gratitude for your efforts. There are likely others who want to feed on the CIS gravy train. In matters of principle, whistleblowers tend to labor alone. Unless, of course, someone else’s self interest is whetted and they have the resources and clout to make it worth their while in publicity or political advantage. You need local allies to help you while your teeth remain sunk in CIS’s ankle. Right now you are just a lone pest they can ignore or explain away.
It’s a little like just before the break up of the old Soviet Union…all the republics are restless, but they are quietly waiting to see if the Russian Bear will topple before they break away!
Lots of quiet support right now, I think you’ll see more people being braver as they realize that CIS is not the KGB, despite their best efforts at Mole elimination (they should be looking for moles plural not just one inside source, and not all instructors either).
Like Gov. Tarkin, the more they tighten their grip, the more star systems will slip through their fingers…
-c
Of course, right after that line, they blew up Alderaan with the Death Star. We were a peaceful people!
Tmag, I think we answered #1 and #2 and #4. #3, when I was there in 2009, there were 20 instructors and 16 administrators. In 2001 by comparison there were 50 instructors and less than 10 support personnel.
Now, I hear there are 13 instructors and 5 coaches (coaches just do after school clubs). The admin is just as large (16) if not bigger. Marley Kaplan in less than a decade has gone from $25,000 a year to $234,000 a year. Someone on another site worked it out to a $1,000 raise every week she’s worked at Chess-in-the-Schools.
#5, about USCF involvement, is an excellent one that I can’t answer for sure. I know there is some personal interplay, a USCF official gave a pep talk at a CIS tourney once, and the entire CIS admin staff flew down to Nationals this year (but many teams were told no funding, btw) but perhaps someone more familiar with USCF could answer if there is any money involved.
#6, there is another thread on this site where a Post reporter is asking for this same info (more evidence that I had nothing to do with the first Post piece, its way before I started posting). There is no one that is as big as CIS, but the Right Move tourney’s are limping along. They put on a good event and I’m sure they don’t have anywhere near the budget of CIS. I know for a fact they are funded this year, but could totally have used some of the donations CIS hogs up. Tristate Chess is for profit, I think, a few orgs like that. NYCCHesskids. I know of no other group that gets city and state funding.
I have heard that one borough at least has gotten so frustrated with CIS that they are trying to form there own Chess initiative within DOE. Seeing as CIS is in so few schools, I hope they succeed.
#7. This is the $10,000 question. If you read the posts on other sites, 90% suggest the AG should get involved. I’m told he reads the papers:) And yes, they have a dedicated Charities investigation unit. That’s why I have to laugh that CIS hired a PR firm. They should have lawyered up instead:) Love to see how Ms. Kaplan justifies to the Board that she needs another $100,000+ of donor money for legal representation.
As for the political ramifications you reference, I can paint the picture for you in another post. Paterson (gov) though is on his way out, so that part probably isn’t as much of a football as The Post would like. As one of my friends said, $12,000 that Cullman gave Paterson does not make him a major donor in NYC:)
Happy Holidays, everyone!!! Even the hard working professionals at chess in the schools:)
This thread got its 1000th view today. It had another 277 in another form, so 1,277 views!
Thanks, chess folk, for being patient…and interested.
i have probably viewed this thread at least 30 times, and i assure you, i dont give a crap. So, good for you?
Gee Bill, thanks for the constructive comment.
Gosh, I don’t know, if you’re not interested, don’t click on it?
Just a crazy thought…