tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191988759715347962.post8922877202562799609..comments2024-02-21T04:11:17.898-08:00Comments on CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS: White Hat ManagementThe Perimeter Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12619173438763495716noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191988759715347962.post-24291327091734560512010-06-06T10:34:03.803-07:002010-06-06T10:34:03.803-07:00http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100605/NEWS01...http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100605/NEWS0102/6060302/Charter-school-operator-on-hot-seat<br /><br />"Charter school operator on hot seat" on June 5, 2010<br /><br />Excerpts:<br /><br />The state's biggest charter school operator last week refused to testify at a state legislative hearing into whether Ohio's laws give too much power to for-profit charter school companies.<br /><br />and...<br /><br />State Rep. Stephen Dyer, (D-Green) chairman of the primary and secondary education subcommittee, said lawmakers may need to revise Ohio's laws. He was disappointed that White Hat, which lobbied for the laws, declined to testify about them.<br /><br />He estimated the company has received more than $400 million in state funds over the years.<br /><br />"It appears right now that the way they're running charter schools is interfering with kids' ability to learn," Dyer said.<br /><br />"Their operation appears to be putting profit ahead of performance. That's unfortunate. Not all charter school operations are doing that. And it appears in this case that there are provisions in law that allow that to happen."<br /><br />White Hat has said that if it is fired from a school it manages, it is entitled to most of those charter schools' assets - including buildings, furniture, books, curricula and equipment.The Perimeter Primatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12619173438763495716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191988759715347962.post-73797837456854622562010-05-30T07:07:19.640-07:002010-05-30T07:07:19.640-07:00http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2010/05...http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2010/05/ohio_must_tighten_laws_governi.html<br /><br />Editorial » "Ohio must tighten laws governing for-profit charter schools": The Plain Dealer Editorial Board, May 30, 2010<br /><br />Excerpts:<br /><br />The courts will decide the merits of a lawsuit filed by 10 dissident charter school boards against White Hat Management, a for-profit charter school company based in Akron. The suit alleges White Hat has unconstitutional control over the boards...<br /><br />...White Hat, for example, gets 96 percent of all state funds provided to the complaining charter schools but doesn't have to account for how much of that it takes as profit. Nor must it justify capital expenditures that it could inflate to boost its operating revenues.<br /><br />Even worse, White Hat gets to handpick the initial boards of the charter schools it runs, which then can turn around and negotiate favorable management contract terms, with little or no oversight from the state.<br /><br />The General Assembly should begin by demanding that charter school operators report profits and expenditures in minute detail -- something they are not required to do now. And, with millions in public money on the line, management agreements should be subject to much more public oversight.<br /><br />In the case of a divorce between a school board and an operator, the rules should be amended to ensure that charter boards don't pay inflated prices for buildings and equipment, allowing operators to walk away with taxpayer-provided golden parachutes...The Perimeter Primatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12619173438763495716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191988759715347962.post-80412912548946809492010-05-24T15:22:44.525-07:002010-05-24T15:22:44.525-07:00See http://www.coloradoforethics.org/node/26329 re...See http://www.coloradoforethics.org/node/26329 re: White Hat Brennen paying off Colorado State Board of Education Member Bob Schaffer<br /><br />Excerpt:<br />Schaffer received the "Dishonorable Mention" award for failing to recuse himself from votes.<br /><br />One conflict of interest stems from campaign contributions Schaffer received from David and Ann Brennan, who operate White Hat Management -- an embattled charter school firm that runs 50 Life Skills Centers around the nation. When the Denver Public School Board voted to close its poor-performing school, Life Skills appealed to the Colorado State Board of Education. Schaffer cast the the tie-breaking vote, forcing the Denver schools to continue the Life Skills program, and thus White Hat's dip into an estimated $8 million in tax money shunted from the local public schools since 2003.<br /><br />Schaffer has also previously failed to disclose conflicts of interest in other state board votes regarding Poudre School District charter schools, where his wife is a board member and their son is a student.<br /><br />The Colorado State Board of Education has since adopted an ethics policy though critics contend it is weak and easily circumvented by ignoring conflicts of interest when the member's vote is needed to achieve a quorum.The Perimeter Primatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12619173438763495716noreply@blogger.com