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 2001. Show all posts

Sarasota School of Arts and Sciences

“Sarasota karate teacher charged in sexual battery on student.” Herald-Tribune (FL), 3/9/2012

SARASOTA - Sheriff’s officers have arrested a karate instructor at the Sarasota School of Arts and Sciences on a charge of sexual battery on a child after a female student said the teacher had sex with her in his classroom seven years ago.

John Garcia, 47, of the 2800 block of Poplar Street in Sarasota, was arrested and jailed without bond Friday on the felony charge, according to a sheriff’s release.

A former student of Garcia’s told detectives that she had sex with Garcia in his classroom at the school seven years ago, when she was 14, the release said...

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AUDIT RAISES QUESTIONS OVER CHARTER SCHOOL; SARASOTA SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES OVERSPENT BY $560,000 AND MUST COVER A $300,000 DEFICIT; February 13, 2001; Sarasota Herald Tribune

The Sarasota School of Arts and Sciences overspent by about $560,000 during the last fiscal year, and the mistakes could result in the closing of the 4-year-old school.

The school must cut 21 percent from its budget this year or find other ways to cover a $300,000 deficit, said Al Weidner, the Sarasota County School District's budgeting director. "It's going to be hard."

Not only is the charter school faced with the prospect of drastic cuts, but school leaders are also under scrutiny from Sarasota County School District officials, who have hired a consultant to examine the school's spending…

District leaders became alarmed about the charter school's finances recently when a consultant's audit, for which the district paid $2,000, listed pages of questionable spending policies…

Independent Auditor’s report of June 30, 2008

http://www.myflorida.com/audgen/pages/chschools_efile%20rpts/2008%20sarasota%20school%20of%20arts%20and%20sciences.pdf

Gateway Charter School (Arkansas)

FIRST CHARTER SCHOOL FAILED, BUT OTHERS HAVE HIGH HOPES; September 17, 2001; Arkansas Business

Gateway Charter School in Ponca knew it was in financial trouble the first day of school in September 2000.

The first open-enrollment charter school in Arkansas needed 40 students to break even, but it only had 13, said Steve Brewer, director of the Ozarks Unlimited Resource Cooperative in Harrison, which oversaw the school.

The school never recovered from its early student shortages and voluntarily surrendered its charter on Aug. 24, leaving in $400,000 in debt…

A recent special report by the Division of Legislative Audit showed Gateway spent $972,376 during its two years in existence, although students didn't start attending until fall 2000. During that period, its revenue was $570,792, leaving a $401,584 deficit…

Brewer said he decided to take the school off life support because it wasn't luring in enough students. And Gateway never recovered from a $180,000 debt it, incurred by renovating the facilities it got from Ponca Bible Camp, Brewer said.

Gateway was supposed take the fourth-,fifth-and sixth-grade students who had fallen behind academically and keep them 24-hours a day, seven days a week for six weeks at a time…

A strong marketing campaign could have helped the school, but it didn't have the money to advertise, Brewer said.

Although Gateway made "good strides" with the students' academic performance, it was too expensive to house them at the school for the six-week session, Greenway said…

Martin Hughes Charter School

BUHL SCHOOL LOSES CHARTER, GOES PRIVATE; THE IRON RANGE OPERATION WAS MIRED IN A DISPUTE OVER WHO WAS IN CHARGE; December 4, 2001; Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)

The Martin Hughes Charter School in Buhl, Minn., embattled for months over whether teachers or managers would call the shots, has lost its charter, and started classes Monday as a private school.

The new Iron Range School still will teach the same kids, those sent by the courts to the Mesabi Academy treatment facility, and offer an almost identical program, officials said. Mesabi Academy, a residential program for troubled youth, is owned by KidsPeace.

But its life as a charter school is over.

"We very much wanted to retain the charter model, which allowed us great financial efficiencies that could be passed on to educate our kids," said [redacted], executive director of Mesabi Academy, in a written statement. "Unfortunately, ongoing governance issues would not allow for the charter to continue."

The school had been granted two extensions to its charter to give it, its teachers and its sponsor, the Mountain Iron-Buhl School District, time to work out a governing pact…

The school now will come under the educational oversight of the Mountain Iron-Buhl district, said Superintendent James Techar. The state Department of Children, Families and Learning will keep an eye on its financial operations. The new private school will receive funding from students' home districts…

Fort Snelling Academy

NEW CHARTER SCHOOL AT FORT SNELLING LOSING KIDS, CASH; May 15, 2001; Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)

A charter school at Fort Snelling will end the school year early because of financial trouble.

Classes at Fort Snelling Academy will end June 1 instead of June 7 so the school can begin to recoup a $300,000 budget deficit, school officials said Monday. A loss of students and the funding tied to them led to the shortfall.

Fort Snelling Academy opened last fall as a college-prep high school, wooing average students who may not have had college plans but who had the potential for higher education. It opened in September with 264 students and 11 more on a waiting list.

The school has lost about 100 students since opening day. Peter Kordell, chairman of the school's board, said half of those students left because they could not or would not keep up with the rigorous curriculum, and the other half left because the school had a chaotic environment when it first opened.

Fort Snelling Academy received its charter in February 2000 and opened in September without a permanent site or the temporary building at 5000 Bloomington Rd. that it is now using.

For the first month, students were shuffled from one location to another. At one point, they even ate lunch under a large tent…

The school was soon closed.

Jefferson Academy

JEFFERSON CHARTER SCHOOL MUST MEET CONDITIONS TO STAY OPEN; March 30, 2001; Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO)

A Jefferson County charter school must clean up its books, replace most of its governing board and notify parents of students' rights if it wants to remain open.

Those are among the conditions imposed on Jefferson Academy, a K-12 charter school in Broomfield serving 650 students, by the Jefferson County school board late Wednesday after a nearly five-hour hearing…

… Arrington and Mund, who served on the board during the past two years, are among four of seven Academy board members who would have to be replaced under the conditions imposed.

Reactions of Academy parents and staff to the school board's decision varied widely, Reynolds said. Some want to accept the conditions while others want ``to fight it to the death,'' he said.

The Academy could appeal the Jeffco board's decision to the state Board of Education.

Jeffco's board took its action after district officials and an independent auditor found evidence of sloppy accounting practices, conflict of interests by board members, improper disciplining of students and the espousing of Christian views by the school.

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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

Sarasota School of Arts and Sciences

Gateway Charter School (Arkansas)

Martin Hughes Charter School

Fort Snelling Academy

Jefferson Academy