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.

Mexican American Community Services Agency (two schools)

This nonprofit operated the El Portal Leadership Academy charter school in Gilroy and the Academia Calmecac charter school in San Jose, along with youth programs, elder care and low-cost housing program. County education officials revoked those schools' charters in 2009 amid allegations that MACSA had cheated 50 to 100 MACSA employees out of more than $1 million promised for their retirement by diverting money from teacher pension accounts.

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“San Jose: Former officials of nonprofit MACSA plead guilty, agree to repay diverted retirement funds.” San Jose Mercury News (CA), 2/15/2013

SAN JOSE -- In a case that outraged many in the community and cast a black eye on one of San Jose's oldest and largest Latino nonprofits, two former top officials of the Mexican American Community Services Agency will personally pay back -- with interest -- more than $110,000 they illegally diverted from employees who thought the money was going toward retirement funds.

As part of a deal reached with the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office, former MACSA Chief Executive Olivia Soza Mendiola, 56, and ex-chief financial officer Benjamin Tan, 62, will give workers $170,000. They have three months to do so or face jail time, as part of their guilty pleas to grand theft charges on Friday...

According to the basis of the guilty plea filed with the court, "the diversion of employee funds was done with no intent to personally gain, with the knowledge of other persons and some board members at MACSA, and with the intent and expectation, based on proposals and plans to liquidate other MACSA assets, that MACSA would pay in full all deferred payments to the employees' retirement accounts."

While Friday's settlement takes care of the money that was not included in employee checks, the question of who is responsible for promised company matches remains undecided.

Chase said that amounts to $620,000 that should have been contributed, per union agreements...

MACSA is a nearly 50-year-old nonprofit that runs youth programs, elder care and low-cost housing programs. It also used to run two charter schools...

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“DA: Two ex- MACSA officials charged with illegally diverting $1 million in pension funds.” San Jose Mercury News (CA), 4/19/2012

Prosecutors on Thursday charged two former top officials at San Jose's Mexican American Community Services Agency with felony grand theft, accusing them of steering money promised for employee retirement into operating costs for food, sports, computers, office supplies -- even their own pay.

The charges against Olivia Soza-Mendiola, MACSA's past chief executive officer, and Benjamin Tan, the former chief financial officer, wrap up an investigation that began after employees three years ago complained the nonprofit had shortchanged their retirement accounts.

"This case is about hardworking people whose retirement money is gone," Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen told reporters Thursday.

Prosecutors allege Soza-Mendiola, 53, and Tan, 61, cheated 50 to 100 MACSA employees out of more than $1 million promised for their retirement. Employees included teachers and other workers at the almost 50-year-old nonprofit that runs youth programs, elder care, low-cost housing and, until recently, two charter schools...

MACSA's pension-shorting scandal arose in late 2008. According to a February 2009 Gilroy Dispatch article, a teacher at its El Portal Leadership Academy charter school in Gilroy had tried to get his retirement money and found the funds weren't there, prompting school district inquiries.

At that time, Soza-Mendiola and Tan told the paper that MACSA used the retirement money to cover operating costs, not only at El Portal but also at their Academia Calmecac charter school in San Jose. They said the pension money was needed to avoid staff and program cuts but would be repaid.

But a 19-page affidavit by district attorney investigator Michael Sterner released Thursday said the scope of retirement fund diversion was more than twice the $400,000 that Tan suggested three years ago. It further alleged MACSA had the money to cover promised pension payments but spent it on seemingly secondary needs including $13,000 for office supplies, $7,000 for food, $7,000 for new computers, $1,200 for sports tournament fees and $1,000 for a YMCA membership.

What's more, the affidavit alleged Soza-Mendiola and Tan personally benefited from the diverted pension payments. Soza-Mendiola, Sterner said, stopped making her own pension contributions in late June 2007, then received 3-percent raises on July 1 of that year and the following year...

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“San Jose agency sues former leaders, alleging financial misappropriation.” Oakland Tribune (CA), 1/13/2011

San Jose's troubled Mexican American Community Services Agency has sued its former chief executive, financial officer, accountant and unnamed other staffers over alleged financial misappropriation that has been the subject of a yearlong criminal probe.

The case is set for a hearing Jan. 25, but recent MACSA court filings suggest a trial is a long way off because of the "complex accounting and factual issues" and unresolved criminal investigation into the alleged diversion of more than $1 million promised for employees' retirement toward operating expenses…

The nearly 50-year-old nonprofit on Sinclair Drive in East San Jose has provided youth programs to steer children away from gangs, adult day care for the elderly, affordable housing and, until recently, two charter schools in San Jose and Gilroy for 150 students.

County education officials revoked those schools' charters in 2009 amid allegations that MACSA had diverted money from teacher pension accounts. MACSA's board in March of that year reprimanded Mendiola and told her to fire Tan over the matter. She resigned her $124,000 position soon after. A state audit later that year called the diversion of retirement money an "apparent misappropriation of funds" that "appears to be an illegal fiscal practice."

Who made the decision to divert the money remains the subject of a criminal investigation into possible felony misappropriation of public funds and grand theft. An affidavit in support of an October search warrant said employee union agents told investigators that Mendiola acknowledged she and Tan had made the decision to "keep MACSA running" and that she "regretted the decision."…

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for its costs of dealing with the investigation, repaying employee retirement funds and federal payroll taxes, loss of reputation that has jeopardized fundraising and other losses.

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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...

Pages

Mexican American Community Services Agency (two schools)

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