International Charter School (Schenectady, NY)

A $2 BILLION DECISION: THE CASE FOR REFORMING NEW YORK’S CHARTER SCHOOL LAW, April 2010, New York State United Teachers report

…The Charter School Institute closed the International Charter School in Schenectady in June 2008 because of what trustees called “systemic failure.” The SUNY trustees found a lack of cohesion in the curriculum and quoted one teacher as saying that she was “making things up for myself” because of a lack of guidance from Victory Schools, its for-profit management company. Documents obtained also revealed allegations of violence, mismanagement, coaching of students before visits by inspector teams and grade tampering. These were investigated by the Charter School Institute and referred to the State Education Department. When the International Charter School shut its doors, enrollment had fallen from 693 students to 587 students, and the school faced more than $7 million in debts…