CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS

A compilation of news articles about charter schools which have been charged with, or are highly suspected of, tampering with admissions, grades, attendance and testing; misuse of funds and embezzlement; engaging in nepotism and conflicts of interest; engaging in complicated and shady real estate deals; and/or have been engaging in other questionable, unethical, borderline-legal, or illegal activities. This is also a record of charter school instability and other unsavory tidbits.

Pocono Mountain Charter School

“Judge appoints lawyer to run Pocono Mountain Charter School.” The Morning Call (Lehigh, PA), 4/19/2013

With trustees warring over control of Pocono Mountain Charter School, a Monroe County judge on Friday placed the future of the embattled institution in the hands of a court-appointed custodian.

The decision came as part of a settlement between factions of the Tobyhanna Township school's board of trustees, who have accused each other of violating state laws and the school's charter since November...

One faction is aligned with Pocono Mountain Charter School founder and Shawnee Tabernacle Church pastor, the Rev. Dennis Bloom, who resigned as the school's CEO in 2010 and has agreed to plead guilty to a tax evasion charge in federal court.

The other faction accuses those board members of taking orders from Bloom, improperly voting to spend public money to pay off his taxes, committing the school to a 15-year lease with his church and rehiring a former principal who lost his certification after pleading guilty to theft...

The Pocono Mountain School Board gave Bloom permission in 2003 to open the charter school with the provision that more than half of the charter's board of trustees could not also be members of his church.

Concern about the school quickly grew, however, and in 2007 lawyers for the district discovered that taxpayers had paid $900,000 to build a school expansion that included a gym floor emblazoned with "SHAWNEE TABERNACLE" that would revert to church ownership when the school's lease expired.

The Pennsylvania auditor general's office found that the church's pastor and his wife held executive positions on the school board, which blurred "the line separating the public charter school from the private religious entity."

In October 2010, the Pocono Mountain School Board revoked the charter school's right to operate as an independent public school after a district investigation found similar problems allegedly occurred between 2007 and 2010.

But that revocation was reversed in September 2011 by the state Charter Appeals Board, headed by state Education Secretary Ron Tomalis. The school's charter remains in limbo, according to a district official.

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“Charter school accused of financial misdeeds.” Pocono Record (PA), 4/18/2013

Pocono Mountain Charter School failed to reconcile its payroll records for six years and made a personal loan to Principal Jeffrey McCreary using taxpayer funds, the Pocono Mountain School District's superintendent charged Wednesday.

The charter school also paid a Christmas bonus to staff despite the U.S. Constitutional separation of church and state, PMSD Superintendent Elizabeth Robison told the board...

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“Pocono Mountain Charter School manager: Ex-principal tried to take payroll papers; constables stopped him.” Pocono Record (PA), 4/16/2013

Former Pocono Mountain Charter School Principal Jeffrey McCreary tried to smuggle payroll records from the school and had to be escorted off the property by constables Monday, according to the school's operations manager.

The incident marks the latest escalation in tensions between factions in the K-12 school, which has a $4 million budget funded by taxpayers.

School board President Lisa Bansa called on four Pennsylvania state constables Sunday to prevent McCreary from entering the school, following a court ruling last week that returned the one-time principal's supporters to the school's board of trustees.

McCreary was fired as the school's principal late last month after losing his legal fight to retain his principal's certification.

McCreary lost his certification after pleading guilty to misdemeanor theft charges in connection with accusations that he stole almost $90,000 from a Scranton School District administrator fund while working as a principal there...

Two opposing groups within the school board have fought over control of the school. The three members reinstated by the board tried hiring McCreary as the director of operations to avert the license deficiency and supported paying indicted school founder the Rev. Dennis Bloom's $77,000 tax bill from school accounts.

Bloom has been charged by the federal government with tax fraud, although it's unclear what — if any — connection the tax case might have to the charter school.

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“Pocono Mountain Charter School fight cost taxpayers $650K.” Pocono Record (PA), 3/13/2012

Taxpayers in Pocono Mountain School District have footed the bill for almost $650,000 in legal fees in the battle between the district and Pocono Mountain Charter School.

Figures released recently by both sides show $648,544 in legal fees since 2008 — when the district started charter revocation proceedings against the school.

Figures from the charter school show the school spent about $366,000 in legal fees and related costs, while the district said it has spent about $283,000.

The amounts include legal fees incurred for the local revocation hearings, the appeal hearings with the state and a federal discrimination lawsuit brought by the charter school against the district.

The amounts do not include regular services by the respective legal teams outside of the revocation fight.

Both law firms for the respective sides — King, Spry, Herman, Freund & Faul of Bethlehem for the district and Anderson, Converse & Fennick in York for the charter school — also provide contracted legal work outside of the revocation process...

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“Auditor general says charter school violated state law; Preliminary state audit report finds Pocono Mountain Charter School had 'improper entanglements' with Tobyhanna church.” The Morning Call (PA), 1/6/2012

A Monroe County charter school has violated the state charter school law by having "improper entanglements" with a church run by the school's founder, according to a preliminary report issued by the state auditor general's office.

The report, obtained by The Morning Call, says the Pocono Mountain Charter School in Tobyhanna also may have illegally diverted taxpayer money to adjacent Shawnee Tabernacle Church. It also may have improperly received $87,101 from the state in rental reimbursements for its building lease agreement with the church.

The report also says the charter school may have violated the state Ethics Act rule against conflict of interest in other dealings with the church, which is run by the Rev. Dennis Bloom.

The Pocono Mountain School Board in October 2010 revoked the charter school's right to operate as an independent public school after a district investigation found similar problems allegedly occurred between 2007 and 2010.

But that revocation was reversed in September by the state Charter Appeals Board, chaired by state Education Secretary Ron Tomalis...

The attorney general's preliminary report comes as Pocono Mountain officials are assessing the Charter Appeals Board ruling...

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“Embattled Pocono Mtn. Charter School hires administrator accused of theft in Scranton.” The (Scranton) Times-Tribune (PA), 8/14/2011

A former Scranton principal facing a charge for stealing money from a principals' fund has been hired to lead Pocono Mountain Charter School in Tobyhanna.

Jeffrey McCreary, who resigned from his job at McNichols Plaza Elementary last year, is now principal at the embattled charter school.

McCreary, 49, of South Abington Township, Lackawanna County, was charged last month with theft by failure to make required disposition of funds after he allegedly stole $87,000 from the Scranton Association of Administrators and Supervisors to fuel a gambling addiction...

The charter school, which is fighting to keep its charter while Pocono Mountain School District attempts to revoke it, hired McCreary in July, said Lisa Bansa, president of the school's board.

Bansa said the board is aware of the allegations against McCreary and that the "lawyers are handling it."...

The charter school, which is awaiting a decision on its future from the state's Charter Appeal Board, has had a strained relationship with the Pocono Mountain School District...

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JUDGE DISMISSES POCONO MOUNTAIN CHARTER SCHOOL LAWSUIT. Scranton Times-Tribune (PA) 01 Dec 2010

TOBYHANNA - A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by a charter school against the Pocono Mountain School District.

The Pocono Mountain Charter School claimed the school district's attempt to revoke its charter was motivated by racial and religious discrimination. The district's school board voted to revoke the charter in October.

Senior U.S. District Court Judge A. Richard Caputo has dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that the school is a "political subdivision" and did not have standing to sue the district under First Amendment and equal protection claims. The civil rights and defamation claims were also dismissed.

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POCONO MOUNTAIN PULLS CHARTER FOR SCHOOL; CLASSES TO CONTINUE IN TOBYHANNA WHILE BOARD'S DECISION IS APPEALED, Pocono (PA) Record (PA) 07 Oct 2010

The future of Pocono Mountain Charter School was dealt a serious blow when its charter was revoked by the board of directors of the Pocono Mountain School District on Wednesday night.

But the charter school vowed to appeal the decision to the state, and it will remain open until a ruling is rendered.

No comments from the audience preceded the unanimous school board vote to yank the charter of the 300-plus students K-12 school in Tobyhanna. The decision to revoke the charter centered largely on a church-state issue.

"The school board has reached the inescapable conclusion that Pocono Mountain Charter School is significantly and improperly entangled with Shawnee Tabernacle Church," said Jeffrey Litts, the attorney who presided as the hearing officer over 16 public hearings on the matter, as he read from a prepared statement at the start of Wednesday's meeting.

The church and the charter school are housed in the same building and share a common entrance. The Rev. Dennis Bloom serves as pastor of the church and CEO of the charter school…

Facts that compelled the board to reach its conclusion, as recounted by Litts, centered on using public money to benefit the church in several ways:

$900,000 in taxpayer money to make improvements to the church property

$920,000 in annual rent paid to the church by the charter school

Nearly $125,000 to build a gymnasium floor with the name of the church painted on the floor and used by church groups after hours; and

$39,000 to install an electronic message board featuring the name of the church that ran religious messages.

The charter school's spokesman said the district still had not proven its case, and that the charter school was not surprised that the school board reached the decision it did.

"We don't think this has been fair from the beginning," said Ken Kilpatrick.

He added that the charter school will appeal the board's decision to the Charter Appeals Board. The appeals board, a division of the Pennsylvania Department of Education, would review the record from the hearings. It typically rules within a matter of months…

The future of the school also may lie elsewhere. Bloom told the Eastern Poconos Community News that the school was preparing an application to open a school in the East Stroudsburg Area School District, where he has identified five possible sites. He is eyeing a fall 2011 opening…

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Inform yourself about the Gulen movement!

1. WATCH KILLING ED, Mark Hall's feature-length documentary about charter schools, corruption and the rise of the Gulen Movement in America
2. READ the "Expose the Gulen Movement" report.
3. WATCH the Gulen Movement 101: Session One webinar presentation (1/22/2014)
4. WATCH the 60 Minutes segment "U.S. charter schools tied to powerful Turkish imam" broadcast. (5/13/2012)
5. READ my response to the 60 Minutes piece.
6. READ my guest article about Gulen charter schools published by The Washington Post. (3/27/2012)
7. WATCH my interview talking about Gulen charter schools, or my presentation at LaborFest (segment between 49:18 min. & 1:07:36 min.)
8. READ my postings labeled "Gulen movement" HERE.

As one observer tweeted, "U.S. media have focused too much on the Islamic nature of the Gulen movement. Real concern is its shady dealings and improprieties."

Please be aware that Gulenists have created a large number of anonymously-operated damage control websites. They started to appear a few months after publication of Greg Toppo's article in USA Today (August 2010).

Remainders

1. Bruce Baker's excellent analysis of whether charter schools are public or private.

2. Jim Horn's Top 10 reasons for why 1%ers support urban charter schools.

3. What reporters covering charter schools need to know about miracle schools, vouchers and all that educational flim-flam (i.e. be skeptical and always follow the money).

4. As of May 2013, only eight states do not have a charter school law: Alabama, Kentucky, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and West Virginia.

5. Balkanize: "to break up (as a region or group) into smaller and often hostile units" (Merriam-Webster dictionary)

6. *Phrase coined by John Thompson: "educational civil war"

7. "A system that allows school operators to donate to the officials that regulate them is pretty sorry." h/t "X"

8. Re the Gulen movement. Two important psychological principals of which to be aware: the Backfire Effect and the Black Swan Theory.

Pleas for charter school oversight

AS U.S. AID GROWS, OVERSIGHT IS URGED FOR CHARTER SCHOOLS; February 24, 2010; New York Times

…The president of one influential charter group told the House Education and Labor Committee that the federal government had spent $2 billion since the mid-1990s to finance new charter schools but less than $2 million, about one-tenth of 1 percent, to ensure that they were held to high standards.
“It’s as if the federal government had spent billions for new highway construction, but nothing to put up guardrails along the sides of those highways,” said Greg Richmond, president of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers…

CHARTER BACKER SAYS HOUSE PROPOSAL WEAKENS OVERSIGHT; April 30, 2011; Columbus Dispatch (OH)

A leading school-choice supporter says the sweeping changes proposed by House Republicans would weaken oversight of charter schools severely and threaten to turn Ohio into a "laughingstock of the nation's charter-school programs.

"It's hard for me to say that," said Terry Ryan, vice president of Ohio programs and policy for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, which sponsors seven charter schools in the state, including two in Columbus...

It was just last year that Mr. Ryan said, "The charter movement must police itself."
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"The idea of regulating charter schools makes no sense because deregulation is the justification for the policy." -- Jim M., retired teacher

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Perhaps it's finally dawning on some charter school supporters that the whole business is a huge can of worms.

Message to readers

With the systematic privatization of public education being conducted via the rapid expansion of charter schools, I regularly receive messages from teachers and parents who have charter school horror stories they want to share, and/or are in need of advice about a charter school situation in their community (e.g., "The charter school I attended has been closed. Do you know how I can get a copy of my transcript?). I also hear from journalists who are seeking information.

Just so you know, this site is a one-woman volunteer operation. Sorry folks, I'm DEFINITELY NOT union-sponsored.

Welcome

Charter School Scandals (CSS) was launched on May 14, 2010 to provide the public with a source of independently collected information about U.S. charter schools.

For instance, compare what you learn from my entry for the 3,500 student CATO School of Reason to the information provided by the pro-charter Center for Education Reform in their compilation: "Closed Charter Schools by State: National Data 2009" (63 page pdf). In the CER's document, the closure reason is "Management" explained as "Inadequate record keeping, suspect relations with private and sectarian schools," but the true story is much bigger and dirtier than that.

CSS is a non-billionaire funded (and un-bought off!), non-union affiliated (!), one-person operation in the name of transparency and public service to our democracy. I post the information as quickly as I can, but have a massive backlog due to the sheer number of stories. Please check back periodically for new additions.

And as you scroll through these stories, be sure to keep a running tally of the estimated legal costs.

Gulen Movement MUST READS!

Under the radar of the American public, the Gulen movement has been quietly advancing its presence in the U.S. via the establishment of charter schools, "cultural centers", and "interfaith dialogue" centers. Politicians, reporters, academics, community leaders, and charter school families have been strategically targeted, influenced, and given gifts, as the Gulenists have steadily built up their political cover. But how many of these Americans have an understanding of the controversies which surround this secretive movement and its worldwide political ambitions? And how would the public respond to finding out that such a movement is opening more and more charter schools, supported by their tax dollars as part of the GM's primary global project, without being willing to admit the connection?

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LEARN MORE

1. Read about the federal investigation into the Gulen Movement's charter schools.

2. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: Islam, Secularism and the Battle for Turkey's Future, 23 August 2010, STRATFOR Global Intelligence

3. Video of Joshua Hendrick of the U. of OR and Y. Alp Aslandogan discussing the Gulen Movement. Here are the first 24 pages of Hendrick's 2009 thesis.

4. Charter School Watchdog

5. Gulen Charter Schools (don't miss the entry HERE.)

6. A Guide to the Gulen Movement's Activities in the U.S.

7. Gulen in the International Press

8. "Turkey's survival of the fittest: The Islamic anti-Darwinism movement in Turkey is being helped by an unlikely source - US Christian conservatives," 12 March 2008, ISN Security Watch)

9. "Religious movements in Turkey," 20 December 2010, OpenDemocracy

10. "First Class Revolution: From Medina to Mecca" and "Fethullah Gulen's Missionary Charter Schools Coming under Increasing Scrutiny in the United States and around the World," 24 January 2011 & 26 February 2011, Kurdish Aspect

11. "Turkey: Politics of Identity and Power," 13 August 2010, Congressional Research Service

12. "Turkey's pivotal role in the international drug trade," July 1998, Le Monde diplomatique (more background info)

13. EXTRA CREDIT: Check out the animated Imperial History of the Middle East and this Middle East geography game.

Bad apples, tips of icebergs, and cans of worms

In 2000, the Center for Education Reform wrote:
"A few bad apples shouldn't sour the public on the promising charter school movement, but when a bad apple does turn up, critics of charter schools pounce on it. Charter opponents are quick to claim that "more than a few" schools have closed and even quicker to characterize the movement as one that invites unscrupulous, fly-by-night operators to set up shop.Those mean ol' charter opponents. Isn't it curious how the reformers don't have any problem at all with building up a few negative public school stories into an anti-public teacher-bashing movement of national proportions in order to destroy teacher unions and public schools as a whole?"

But are charter schools really so innocent?

- In 2009, 83 percent of 145 Minnesota charter schools were found to have at least one financial irregularity in their audit.

- In February 2009, a New Mexico state audit found financial problems with 36 of the 44 charter schools in Albuquerque.

- Philadelphia City Controller Alan Butkovitz (April 2010): "The fact that there were significant issues at 13 out of 13 [schools] raises the likelihood you would see many of these same issues found in a much larger sampling of the schools.By May 2010, his probe had widened to 18 charter schools."

Relationships terminated

Charter school promoters live in an abstract world where it's perfectly fine to shutter a school when the "need" arises. This reveals a profound detachment and utter disregard for the emotional lives of the children and families who, as a result, end up being subjected to tremendous disruption, stress, termination of meaningful relationships, loss and grief. Kids need security and dependability.

A school going "out of business" takes a very different emotional toll on families and children than when their local gas station or Denny's restaurant does.

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The demise and death of our institutions of social support:

Family............check!
Church............check!
Neighborhoods............check!
Schools............check!

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"It comes down to what ultimately is in the best public interest here -- supporting the growth of charters or not. Does that support ultimately weaken the rest of the school district? You bet it does." (Fred LeBrun, Albany, NY)

Observations

There is no doubt but that an increasing number of inspectors, auditors, investigators, prosecutors and court rooms (and a lot of time and money) will be needed as more state charter caps are lifted.

Part of the problem is that too many people running charter schools see them as their own little fiefdoms. After all the effort and money put into setting up their schools -- and with political leaders and the mainstream media shining their bright spotlights on charter schools -- the stakes are inordinately high for them to be able to show "success."

Another problem I've discovered by doing this research is that the unmonitored access to millions of public education dollars is drawing unscrupulous people into the "business." At other times, new-found access to funds is proving to be too tempting for some people who were perhaps less criminally-minded.

Additionally, I've now discovered that, in this era of high-stakes testing, the education security business is booming. As one company put it, "Cheating on tests isn't the exception anymore; it has almost become the rule."

On competition

From "Deregulation and Charter School Swindles" by Gary Clabaugh (Educational Horizons, Winter 2009):

Two main ideas inform the charter school movement. The first is that competition is an essential ingredient in school improvement. Charters are said to provide that.

The trouble with this argument is that competition doesn't select the best, only the most popular. McDonald's doesn't produce the best-tasting or most-nutritious food, for instance, but its heart attack specials certainly are popular. A second-rate school might prove similarly competitive if it provides a tawdry but reassuring education to the children of the low-information crowd. Fearful your kids will discover you are an ignoramus? Send them to Alpha Charter where they will never learn to doubt.

Dedication

This Web site is dedicated to Eli Broad, Bill Gates, the Walton family, Arne Duncan, Whitney Tilson, Joe Williams, Reed Hastings, Ted Mitchell, Jack O'Connell, Tom Vander Ark, George Miller, Joanne Weiss, Randy Ward, Arnold Swarzenegger, all Milton Friedman-lovers, and any other free-market, pro-school choice, minimally-regulate-what-goes-on-in-charter school supporters who are also proud self-stated "DISRUPTORS" of public school communities, who have almost never, EVER been part of a public school community or local neighborhood, or who rejected being part of any public school community or local neighborhood long, long ago -- but have ended up deciding to help tear apart the tapestry of basic local human connections anyway.

Visitors

A variety of people have been looking at my blog, probably because of the great Gulen charter school information I've posted. This site is regularly visited by readers from Turkey. I get periodic visits from dhs.gov, doj.gov and ed.gov. I've had visits from house.gov and ed.gov, and at least one visit from someone at eop.gov (? Executive Office of the President). I've had a few visits from a couple of mystery IPs that are supposedly associated with the State Department, specifically the CIA. Hmmmmm...

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Pocono Mountain Charter School

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