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.

Prairie Crossing Charter School

“Fired principal sues Prairie Crossing Charter School.” Daily Herald (IL), 3/20/2012

Former Prairie Crossing Charter School principal Brian Greene has filed a lawsuit contending his firing in December was based on false claims against him by Director Nigel Whittington and two others.

Greene’s attorney, Anthony Esposito of Libertyville, filed the suit Tuesday in Lake County circuit court. More than $50,000 in damages are sought from the Grayslake public choice school for claims including breach of contract, defamation, civil conspiracy and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Court documents state Whittington made bogus claims against Greene in a letter last Nov. 29 recommending the principal’s dismissal. Whittington falsely stated Greene disclosed the substance of confidential teacher union negotiations to a parent and lied about the completion of curriculum maps, the suit says.

The lawsuit also contends false comments by former Prairie Crossing board member Mark Dybas and his wife, school spokeswoman Dilrukshi Dybas, were used by Whittington as part of his ouster. The Dybases have a child who attends the school...

Along with the charter school, Whittington, the Dybases and all board members were named individually.

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FEUDING CHARTER SCHOOL BOARD SEEKS GUIDANCE FROM STATE. Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL) 13 Aug 2007;

Prairie Crossing Charter School's board president says she doesn't want bickering among her colleagues to hurt education there, so she's asked a state agency for help.

Temporary legal advice and oversight for the elected officials at the suburbs' only charter school is on the way from the Illinois State Board of Education.

Representatives from the state are expected to meet with officials at the Grayslake public school this week. In part, the board wants state guidance on "acceptable standards for civil behavior."…

In the past month or so, the following incidents have occurred at Prairie Crossing, which is the suburbs' only charter school:

- Board member John Rizzo leveled accusations against a colleague. After some board members tried to quiet him, Rizzo went into the audience and said he'd continue speaking as a parent, not an official.

At one point, board member Kim Vander Yacht demanded Rizzo's removal from the meeting room.

- Wiens and three others tried to oust board member Laura Elizabeth Fay as treasurer. Wiens contended Fay overstepped her bounds. The moved failed in a 4-4 vote.

Fay said her opponents were upset she reported the school had a "precarious cash flow."

- Director Myron Dagley issued a memo stating a "hostile and ugly" office atmosphere created by a board member prompted three employees to threaten to quit.

State board of education officials hope this week's meeting creates a better understanding between the feuding board members, spokesman Matt Vanover said…

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HOSTILITY AT THE CHARTER SCHOOL? DIRECTOR TRIES TO STOP RESIGNATIONS OVER ONE BOARD MEMBER. Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL) 24 Jul 2007

Prairie Crossing Charter School's director says a "hostile and ugly" office atmosphere created by a board member has triggered the pending resignations of at least three administrators.

Myron Dagley, the director and top administrator, issued a memo last week stating Prairie Crossing is "dead in the water" if the employees suddenly quit…

Dagley didn't name the board member he contends is causing problems or the employees who want to quit. He said the pending resignations of three or possibly four staffers stem from personal attacks and accusations of inappropriate actions spread by the board member…

He said the board member at issue has created a "hostile and ugly work environment," prompting his friends to ask if Prairie Crossing Charter School is a "crazy place."

Administrators subjected to the rumors and innuendo live in the Grayslake area and have been confronted by residents about such "tripe" while in the community, Dagley said…

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COST OF CHARTER SCHOOL LAND DEAL QUESTIONED. Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL) 16 Nov 2006

At least one board member at Prairie Crossing Charter School in Grayslake is frustrated with one of its co-founders, who sold land to a nearby private Montessori program for $10.

Prairie Crossing board member John Rizzo of Gurnee said it would have been good if the charter school had received a similar $10 deal from Victoria Ranney. She was a founding board member when the public charter school opened in 1999.

Ranney is president of Prairie Holdings Corp., which developed the namesake subdivision where the charter school was built. The public school borrowed $2.3 million to buy its buildings and property from Prairie Holdings.

"If we were not paying debt service (like interest) on $2.3 million," Rizzo said, "we'd be in much better shape than we are now."

However, Ranney said Wednesday that Rizzo's reasoning was unfair. Lake Forest Montessori School broke ground last week for a building on a Prairie Crossing organic farm site that it purchased for $10.

"The situation is not comparable," Ranney said.

Ranney said she won't be drawn into any effort to pit the two schools against each other because her family has put its support behind both institutions…

Financial woes recently led Prairie Crossing's interim director to say officials must consider reducing staff and halting almost all spending in discretionary accounts so the school can live within its means.

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PETITION ASKS FOR ELECTED BOARD APPOINTED MAJORITY UNDER FIRE ON PRAIRIE CROSSING'S SCHOOL BOARD. Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL) 17 May 2006

Whether Grayslake's Prairie Crossing Charter School is better off with a nine-member board that consists of mostly appointed members was up for debate Tuesday night.

Six of Prairie Crossing's board members are appointed and three elected by parents. A petition with about 120 signatures presented at Tuesday's board meeting contends Prairie Crossing should become more democratic and have six of the nine board members elected by parents.

Proponents of the current structure say Prairie Crossing is a nonprofit corporation unlike traditional school districts and needs a board that selects most of its members with the right expertise…

Todd Lemmon represented those who want a board mostly elected by Prairie Crossing parents. He said that would lead to better representation and accountability.

"It just goes right to the heart of good corporate governance in a democracy," Lemmon said.

However, parent Steve Barg said Prairie Crossing's board works well under the current system and that a majority of elected members could tamper with the "unique, innovative and different" charter school. He also questioned the petition submitted by Lemmon.

"I've heard from several parents who feel they were pressured into signing (the petition), and now regret that they did," Barg said…

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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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Prairie Crossing Charter School

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