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.

Showing posts with label **Managed by National Heritage Academies. Show all posts

Linden Charter Academy

“Teacher wins $500K judgment in suit vs. Linden Charter Academy over firing because of racial joke.” Flint Journal (MI), 7/19/11

MT. MORRIS TOWNSHIP, Michigan — A charter school organization is weighing an appeal after a jury awarded more than $500,000 to a former Linden Charter Academy teacher who was fired for what his attorney said was a racial joke...

The school referred all comment to its parent company, the Grand Rapids-based National Heritage Academies...

Lenhoff said Hecht heard many black employees at Linden Charter Academy make racial jokes and that they were not punished.

Hecht had an excellent record on racial relations and had no prior record of any issues with the school, Lenhoff said.

According to the lawsuit, the teacher’s aide complained to the principal and Hecht was called into the office. Lenhoff said Hecht apologized to the teacher’s aide in the meeting...

Hecht, who had worked at the school for more than eight years, is now working as a machine operator at Dow Corning Corp. in Midland and has been unable to get hired for a teaching position.

Vanguard Charter School Academy

NEW CHARTER SCHOOL FACES CRITICISM OF ITS CURRICULUM. Business Courier (Cincinnati, OH) 21 July 2003

Cincinnati's newest charter school will be managed by a national for-profit company that has faced lawsuits for allowing religious instruction and denying services to special education students.

Grand Rapids, Mich.-based National Heritage Academies will manage Alliance Academy in Evanston, which is renting the former St. Mark's Catholic School and will open in late August…

In 1998, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a suit on behalf of parents who alleged that NHA was violating the separation of church and state at its Vanguard Charter Academy in Grand Rapids. The suit was dismissed in 2000 after the school put policies in place to prevent the types of actions alleged…

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ACLU OF MICHIGAN CHALLENGES CHARTER SCHOOL FOR CHURCH-STATE VIOLATIONS. ACLU news release 01 Apr 1999

DETROIT -- Acting on behalf of five parents, the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan today challenged a Kent County charter school for violating the First Amendment's protections of separation of church and state.

Vanguard Charter School Academy sanctioned prayer in the school, allowed the distribution of religious materials during class, allowed a nearby church to use its facilities rent-free to conduct worship, conducted a mandatory staff retreat with distinct religious overtones and taught creationism as an accepted scientific theory, according to the amended complaint filed today in United States District Court.

Vanguard Charter School Academy teaches children from kindergarten through seventh grade. Like all other charter schools in Michigan, Vanguard is a public school and must follow Michigan's code for public school academies. It is managed by National Heritage Academy, one of the largest management companies in Michigan.

The ACLU is suing on behalf of five parents of students at the school…

Rochester Leadership Academy Charter School

PARENTS ANGRY OVER SECRET CHARTER SCHOOL SETTLEMENT; March 22, 2010; 13WHAM.com (Rochester, N.Y.)

A lawsuit between a charter school forced to shut down by the state and the company that managed the school has been settled, but few people know what happened to the settlement money.

The Rochester Leadership Academy Charter School was one of the first in the region when it opened in 2000…

By 2005, student performance had not met targets, and the state closed the school.

“We were very upset and disappointed. There was a lot of crying. There was a lot of kids, parents in disarray again,” said George Moses, who sent his daughter to RLA…

Last fall, the RLA board of directors filed a lawsuit against National Heritage Academies, the company that ran RLA. The suit claims NHA was responsible for the school’s failure and breached its contract with RLA.

The two sides settled the case earlier this month. 13WHAM News obtained the settlement, which has a confidentiality clause. The agreement says NHA would pay RLA $175,000. The RLA board would direct the funds to a non-profit of its choosing.

13WHAM News was unable to find out where the money is now and which non-profit would benefit. RLA board president John Walker did not return two calls for comment. RLA’s attorney also did not return a call. An NHA spokeswoman said the company could not comment because of the confidentiality agreement, but said the company has met its legal obligation…

Moses said he also asked Page what happened to the funds. Moses said Page told him the funds were supposed to be directed to NEAD. Page did not comment, citing the confidentiality agreement he signed as part of the settlement. Moses said NEAD may now take legal action to obtain the funds…

Alliance Academy – Evanston (OH)

NEW CHARTER SCHOOL FACES CRITICISM OF ITS CURRICULUM; July 21, 2003; Business Courier (Cincinnati, OH)

Cincinnati's newest charter school will be managed by a national for-profit company that has faced lawsuits for allowing religious instruction and denying services to special education students.

Grand Rapids, Mich.-based National Heritage Academies will manage Alliance Academy in Evanston, which is renting the former St. Mark's Catholic School and will open in late August…

Ruppert said religion is not part of the curriculum. But National Heritage Academies are often criticized for teaching creationism as science theories…

Despite court challenges and concerns from groups such as People for the American Way, NHA continues to grow. The Michigan Family Forum, a religious group, in 1998 called NHA a choice for parents who can't afford private Christian schools.

In 1998, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a suit on behalf of parents who alleged that NHA was violating the separation of church and state at its Vanguard Charter Academy in Grand Rapids. The suit was dismissed in 2000 after the school put policies in place to prevent the types of actions alleged.

The Ridge Park NHA charter in Grand Rapids faced two lawsuits -- one from a parent and one from a teacher -- involving lack of services for special education students. The case was settled.

NHA is one of the first charter-school businesses to declare a profit…

Southside Charter School

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

…At the Southside Charter School in Syracuse, National Heritage Academies’ 100 percent share of revenue totaled $6.64 million in 2008-09.42 The school’s federal tax return, Form 990, was also filed out of Grand Rapids, Mich. and included occupancy charges of $1.8 million, $485,000 for “executive administration,” $183,000 in “professional fees,” as well as $197,000 for supplies, $118,000 for technology services, $112,000 for human resources and $77,000 for “school board oversight.” These and other fees totaled about $3.1 million of the school’s $6.64 million in revenue…

Brooklyn Excelsior Charter School

“Brooklyn charter school being charged $4M above market rate for current lease: audit.” New York Post (NY), 12/7/2012

A for-profit management firm is charging a publicly-funded Brooklyn charter school nearly $4 million above market rate for its current five-year lease, a state audit found.

The Michigan-based National Heritage Academies — whose questionable leasing practices were first exposed by The Post in April — has been using an affiliate to charge Brooklyn Excelsior Charter School a whopping $2.6 million in yearly rent for its Bushwick digs.

An audit by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli shows that the school’s board of trustees had independently appraised the site’s rental value at $1.8 million — but agreed to the higher rent anyway.

READ THE AUDIT (PDF)

They were apparently swayed by an NHA lawyer’s argument that the company wouldn’t get an appropriate return on its investment — including $13 million in renovations to the building — at the lower rate, auditors found.

The building lacks an auditorium, gym and cafeteria, forcing kids to eat lunch in their classrooms.

DiNapoli also rapped the firm for refusing to fully divulge how it spent the $10 million in public funds it received annually to operate the charter school.

NHA claimed portions of its financial formula contained proprietary information...

The Post reported in April that at another site managed by NHA — the Brooklyn Dreams Charter School in Kensington — rent was jacked up by as much as 1,000 percent, according to sources.

The firm’s real estate affiliate has been renting the site from the Brooklyn Diocese for $264,000 per year, according to a source — then subleasing it to the school for $2.76 million.

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“Charter school accused of scrimping on student supplies and support under state investigation.” Daily News (NY), 9/29/2011

A controversial Bedford-Stuyvesant charter school that parents charge is shortchanging students on supplies and services is being audited by the state controller's office.

Parents at the Brooklyn Excelsior Charter School on Quincy St. said school administrators aren't doling out the cash to pay for textbooks or extra help after school.

"The kids don't have the basics. They don't even get tutoring," said PTA President Faye Hodges, whose three children attend the school...

The filings also show that the school spent roughly $3.2 million on staff, including teachers and custodians, and earned almost $10 million last year.

The school made waves last year when the Daily News reported the wife of a top official for the company managing the school was given a cushy job...

A spokeswoman for the State University of New York, which oversees Excelsior, said SUNY has no policy barring nepotism...

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NEPOTISM, CONFLICT OF INTEREST FIND A HOME AT CHARTER SCHOOLS, April 22, 2010, NY Daily News

At some New York City charter schools, it's a family affair.

A Daily News investigation has found some charters hiring wives, husbands and children of school officials and board trustees as vendors, teachers aides and consultants…

Here's what The News' review found:…

BROOKLYN EXCELSIOR CHARTER SCHOOL

Brooklyn Excelsior hired the wife of a top official at the for-profit firm that was paid $7.6 million last year to manage the Bushwick-based school.

Irwin Kurz is director of school quality for all New York schools managed by National Heritage Academies, including Brooklyn Excelsior, where he has an office.

His wife, Arlene, is an instructional specialist at Brooklyn Excelsior. A spokeswoman for Heritage said Kurz does not oversee his wife and that they both have "impeccable records."

A spokeswoman for the State University of New York, which oversees Excelsior, said SUNY has no policy barring nepotism - unlike New York State.

"Hiring decisions for school staff are the responsibility of the school leader and school board," she 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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