Adelaide L. Sanford Charter School

“With Adelaide L. Sanford Charter School closing, Newark families must move on.” The Star-Ledger (NJ), 6/25/2013

NEWARK — Bobby and Troy Shanks saw the handwriting on the wall last year with the Adelaide L. Sanford Charter School in Newark when federal officials filed a lawsuit against the school...

The embattled charter school, opened in 2007 by longtime activist Fredrica Bey, had been on probation for more than a year. The school is also facing a complaint by the U.S. Attorney’s office which contends Bey took $345,325 in federal grant money earmarked for programs to keep "at-risk" youths off of the streets and instead used it used it to pay bills for the Women In Support of the Million Man March, a non-profit community group she started in 1995.

Desert Heights Charter School

“4 charter-school organizations where insiders benefited.” The Arizona Republic, 11/17/2012 

For several years, [Desert Heights Charter School] had an agreement with Waterhouse Management, owned by a board member of the non-profit school, Richard Waterhouse. From fiscal 2007 through 2011, the firm was paid at least $1 million, according to federal tax returns. In 2009 and again in 2010 and 2011, auditors questioned the transaction, saying the value of the agreement for contracted business services is “not supported by documentation that provides the method and/or rationale for how such fees for services were determined to be fair value.”..

... In August 2011, school-board minutes show the board removed Waterhouse as CEO and board member and terminated the business contract “for material breach of contract.”...

New Millennium Institute of Education

“Troubled New Millennium charter school keeps getting second chances.” Fresno Bee (CA), 9/16/2012

In February 2011, after a decade of dismal performance, the New Millennium charter school in west Fresno turned to Dr. Ernie Smith for help...

As he dug in, Smith said he was unprepared for the sheer level of dysfunction he encountered at New Millennium -- and the hands-off attitude of Fresno Unified...

VLT (Value Learning and Teaching) Academy

“Audit flags ethics questions at charter school.” Cincinnati Enquirer (OH), 9/11/2012

A local charter school overpaid an employee $3,333 and committed possible ethics violations, according to the Ohio Auditor’s Office...

In one case, the school accepted a bid from a janitorial company even though it was higher than other bids. The company’s owner works for the school and is married to the superintendent. In the other case, the superintendent signed a $17,000 summer contract for her daughter. Both are potential conflicts of interest...

Lee said the school has been contracting with the janitorial company for years and has not had any prior issues. But in 2009, The Enquirer reported that the auditor’s office flagged the same janitorial service company contract in 2007, noting the potential conflict of interest.

VLT is one of the larger charter schools in the area, serving around 800 students in grades K-12. Its academic rating last year was Continuous Improvement, the third highest of six categories on the Ohio Report Card...

Florida charter schools (investigator observations)

“Experiences As A Police Officer With The Ugly Side Of Charter Schools And Their Management Companies.” Florida Public Employees Partnership, 12/15/2011 

With such a strong push for continued expansion in Florida, I am compelled to share my experiences as a police officer with the ugly side of Charter Schools and their management companies. As a former investigator and supervisor of a public corruption unit, several years ago my unit was responsible for a series of criminal investigations involving personnel, owners, and partners of Charter Schools. Where as some of these investigations resulted in schools being shut down and arrests others culminated in utter frustration resulting from criminals getting away with fraud. A fact made possible by industry wide practices that benefit from weak laws and the impossibility of effective industry oversight. 

During the course of these investigations members of my unit worked with a host of local, state, and federal investigators. One of which became the target of a multi-state Federal Bureau of Investigations criminal investigation. Where as, I do not claim to be an expert in the business of running Charter Schools my investigative experience provided a good insight into the big businesses of collecting Tax Dollars for educating public school children. It is from this insight that I share the following:

In everyone of our investigative cases, the schools were set up as nonprofit organizations. Most hired management companies to oversee the day to day operation of the schools. They all had a Board of Directors, had applied for and granted a Charter to be a school from local school districts as governed by Florida State Statute 1002.33 http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/. Their main source of revenue was per pupil funding – called Full Time Equivalent (FTE). Some received more funding based on student disabilities.  In every case the drive to recruit more students was the primary focus of the schools and management companies. Most schools had received additional funding from available grants and all claimed Tax Exemptions as nonprofit organizations.

In just about every case the founders of the Charter Schools had ties to the Board of Directors which authorized the hiring of the management companies to run the schools. Even worse, we discovered the owners of the management companies were either the same as the school founders or were directly connected to them.  All of which revealed major conflicts of interests in most of the decisions made on the spending of Tax Dollars and education of students.

Like the Miami Herald’s Charter Schools expose, we confirmed the common practice of management companies charging for the leasing of school site facilities, vehicles, and materials. Items that were either owned by the management company or linked to their owners.  A practice that was followed with exorbitant management fees charged for services that often could not be explained, were unjustified, or could have been done by school staff for less. In all, these companies’ rule over all matters of business resulted in the majority of the schools’ money being collected by the management company or vendors of their choice without the benefit of competitive bids.

Internally, school staff like teachers, school administrators, and other staff were generally paid less than their public school counterparts. Staff had no benefit of collective bargaining, union representation and as such were at will employees.  Teachers were commonly discovered to be teaching out of field. Interviews revealed there were individuals hired with minimal to no qualifications to teach or perform the job functions of their assignments. The majority of these schools were found to be ill equipped with teaching materials that often were substandard to those in public schools.  The lack of common resources available in public school districts was a constant...

Fulton Science Academy Middle School

(Updated 6/5/2012)

NOTE: Also see entry about Georgia Gulen charter schools HERE. 

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“Fulton Science Academy Shifts to Private.” Johns Creek Patch, 5/29/2012

The Alpharetta school's charter ends this week as it shifts from a public middle school to a private Pre-K through 8th grade school charging $8,500 annual tuition.

Fulton Science Academy Middle School's charter expires after Thursday, May 31, as the school continues its quest to reopen in the fall as a private school open to all students Pre-K through 8th grade in Georgia.

Tuition starts at $8,000 with another $300 in application and enrollment fees...

The school announced it is registered under Georgia GOAL Scholarship program, which allows state tax credits for scholarship donations...

The FSA Private School Financial Aid Application will be available its website soon. The financial aid requests will be determined starting in July 2012.

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“State Board Denies FultonScience Academy Middle School Charter; Many Sandy Springs students attend FSA. Board members criticize the school's Governing Board and management over noncompliance, bond issues.” SandySpringsPatch, 5/10/2012

Fulton Science Academy Middle School lost its appeal to the state Board of Education for a charter this morning, so the school will be closed in July.

The school's charter through Fulton County Schools expires June 30...

The school's governance and financial stability were called into question, particularly regarding the issuance of $19 million in bonds and the construction work on a new school campus.

State Board Member Dan Israel said even though bond documents say the state, county and city aren't liable for anything doesn't mean they can't be sued...

"The Fulton Science Academy Governing Board and school management have acted during the past five months as if the state charter process is an opportunity for them to strike a deal so they can have a charter. The state charter process is instead an appeal by the school to the state," [Board member Linda Zechmann] said...

"Thirty more days won't change a thing," said Board member Brian Burdette. "They had the opportunity to work with the department and that didn't happen."

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“Fulton Science Academy, State Don't Agree; While the middle school's governing board believes it has met requirements and answered all questions for its state charter application, the Department of Education still sees problems.” Alpharetta-MiltonPatch, 5/8/2012

Fulton Science Academy Middle School has spent $5.78 million to buy land and start construction of a new campus that its students seem unlikely to ever occupy. By mid-summer, there may be no school at all.

The state Board of Education will receive a recommendation to deny the school's charter petition at its May 10 meeting. A month later it is scheduled to vote on the petition.

The school's current charter with Fulton County Schools expires June 30.

The school sent a response to the recommendation for denial — "Supplemental Information for the FSA MS State Chartered Special School Petition", signed by Governing Board president Ayhan Korucu — but that may not sway the state board. (A pdf version of Korucu's plea, without supporting documents, can be found with this article.)

Lou Erste, Charter Schools Division director for the Georgia Department of Education, says the information in the May 4 letter wasn't enough to change the recommendation for denial.

"The answers provided by FSAMS in their unsolicited response to our April 30, 2012 denial letter are almost completely nonresponsive to the issues we raised in our letter," Erste said via email to Patch...

The school spent at least $2.7 million to buy land on Fanfare Way in Alpharetta. The school bought the land before the state approved the site, and started construction before a site plan and building design were even submitted for approval, all of which the state said were required.

But to pay for the land and build the school, $18.9 million in bonds were sold, and that has put its sister schools — Fulton Sunshine Academy and Fulton Science Academy High School — at risk, as all three schools are liable for the bond repayments...

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“Uncertainty faces Fulton Science Academy as state mulls charter application; Decision on charter renewal likely to come after end of school year.” Johns Creek Herald (GA), 3/29/2012

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — The fate of the Fulton Science Academy Middle School will likely not be determined by the end of the current school year, leaving parents, students and school staff in a state of flux for at least three more months.

In December, the Fulton County School Board rejected the charter school's application for a charter renewal, effectively severing the relationship between the school district and the academically successful charter school. FSA has been in operation for 10 years in Fulton County and was recently named a National School of Excellence...

With local options exhausted, FSA applied to the state Department of Education (GDOE) in December to become a state charter school beginning with the 2012-2013 school year.

According to state officials, the final decision will be made by the state Board of Education in June, once the application has been thoroughly reviewed...

The indecision over the plans for FSA also impacts local middle schools, which are looking at two enrollment projections for next school year: one with FSA students returning, and one without.

In the meantime, construction has stopped on a new school building in Alpharetta that was intended to house FSA Middle School, FSA High School and the elementary school, Fulton Sunshine Academy. The school, which is being funded by an $18 million bond, is on hold, pending the state approval of the charter. If approved, FSA officials say they anticipate construction to be complete by January 2013.

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“FSA fails to satisfy state about school site permit; Second letter to charter school says state has concerns as FSA continues to build.” Appen Newspapers (GA), 1/31/2012 

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — An application for a site approval permit from the Fulton Science Academy (FSA) still fails to meet the state's litmus test after a second attempt to submit documents was returned by the Georgia Department of Education (GDOE).

The charter middle school is moving forward with plans to build an $18 million K-12 campus in Alpharetta, but must first receive the blessing of the GDOE to put the school on the 44-acre parcel. The state sent back FSA's first application last month, requesting additional information and clarification...

Last month, FSA was denied a renewal of their charter by the Fulton County School System and is now seeking to become a state charter school beginning next school year.

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“School Board Reject State's Mediation Offer with Fulton Science Academy; Charter school's executive director responds to accusations about the school's construction process.” Roswell Patch, 1/19/2012

...Superintendent Robert Avossa told the state Department of Education that Fulton County Schools has no interest in a mediation request by Fulton Science Academy after direct negotiations that lasted four months failed...

Two vital items communicated by Fulton County Schools to the charter school were not included in the charter renewal petition submitted to the Board of Education, he said: A listing of specific waivers for school personnel, and a three-year term aligning the middle school's charter with its partner schools–Fulton Sunshine Academy and Fulton Science Academy High School–which are bound financially through an $18 million bond.

Other issues have been revealed since the local board voted against the charter renewal, Avossa said in his letter. Not only did the school issue the $18 million bond before receiving a charter renewal, it also spent a large portion of the money and broke ground on its new facilities without state permission...

Avossa said these problems are even more evidence of problems.

"This pattern of reckless, premature actions taken by the FSAMS management constitutes additional breaches of their charter contract and has also now endangered the financial health of its FSA sister schools due to their joint and several indebtedness on the bond," Avossa said in his letter.

He also said this isn't the first example of irresponsible management and disregard for the district policies by the school...

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"School board denies Fulton Science Academy MS renewal petition.” Fulton County Schools press release, 12/20/2011

At its December 20 meeting, the Fulton County Board of Education denied the Fulton Science Academy Middle School’s petition to renew in a unanimous vote. The board based its decision on the FSA governance board’s inability to meet the school system’s requirement for a three-year charter term and a blanket waiver...

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“Fitch Downgrades Fulton Science Academy, GA's Revs to 'BB-'; Rating Watch Negative.” iStockAnalyst, 12/20/2011 

...CHARTER RENWAL TENSION NOT REFLECTIVE OF INVESTMENT GRADE:

The downgrade to 'BB-' reflects Fitch's heightened concerns regarding Fulton Science Academy Middle School's (FSAMS) ability to effectively manage the charter renewal process; a fundamental credit characteristic of investment grade ratings in this sector. Last week, Fulton County School District's (FCSD, the local charter authorizer) superintendent recommended that the FCSD board deny FSAMS' current petition to renew its charter, expiring June 30, 2012. Fitch views recent events as a significant, rapid and unexpected deterioration in the authorizer relationship. This level of uncertainty over the charter renewal is more reflective of a 'BB-' rating.

CHARTER RENEWAL AT RISK:

The Rating Watch Negative reflects Fitch's concern that the FSAMS charter may not be renewed. The FCSD board is scheduled to vote on the renewal petition this evening (December 20). Based on discussions with FCSD and FSAMS staff, Fitch believes rejection of the petition is a real possibility. In that event, FSAMS' charter would be scheduled to expire on June 30, 2012...

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“Fulton County Schools, Charter Interim Compliance Report, Fulton Science Academy Middle School.” January 2011 (emphasis added) http://fsamiddle.org/images/stories/interimcompliance.pdf

Requested Actions (pp. 2-3)

While the school continues a strong academic record, it remains challenged in the areas of governance transparency and participation…

…We understand that the school is now using the services of the Grace Institute. We request that the relationship with the Grace Institute cease effective March 4, 2011, and that the original terms of the contract approved by the FCBOE be honored…

     1. According to its website, the Grace Institute does not claim to be an EMO. However, the scope of the services provided by the Grace Institute according to the contract supplied do indeed fall into the commonly accepted definition of an EMO and under the areas of governance as defined by the GADOE (personnel, finances, curriculum and instruction, resource allocation, establishing and monitoring school improvement goals, and school operations).

The renewal contract did not specify the use of an educational management organization in general nor Grace Institute in specific. As such, the relationship is not approved b either the school system or the state.

     2. According to the Federal 990EZ Form, the Grace Institute’s board of directors includes the FSAMS Executive Director (who also serves Fulton Sunshine Academy and Fulton Science Academy High School) and the principals of the FSAHS and FSA MS, among others. This represents a business practice that is not in compliance FCBOE policy prohibiting conflict of interest.

     3. There in no indication that a Request for Proposal (RFP) process was followed by the governing board in the hiring of the Grace Institute.

     4. The operations of the school reflect attendance at one conference conducted by Grace, but no transparency regarding the scope of the services provided is evident in any documentation provided by the school to date. Neither is any review period to assess the quality of the services indicated in the contract.

     5. Finally, although the contract supplied reflects that there is a fee associated with Grace services, there is no detail as to the amount of tax payer dollars gong to the Grace Institute on an annual basis nor the formula for establishing such funding levels. Neither is there an articulation of the actual per pupil fee amounts to be paid by the school nor the schedule of payments in the contract. No payments are mentioned in the Annual Audit by the independent auditor, Mr. Sam Durden, CPA. Since the Grace institute serves schools outside of Fulton County and the state of Georgia, the lack of transparency in the supplied contract makes it impossible to determine if state and local tax dollars are funding activities to benefit schools outside of Fulton County and the state of Georgia…

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The proposal for the Fulton Science Academy Middle School was submitted in March 2001 by Cosmos Science Academy, Inc. See http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/_documents/schools/charterschools/Fulton%20Science%20Academy.pdf

The founding board:

• Bekir Ozcan, Staff Engineer at Georgia Power Company
• Yucel Altunbasak, Georgia Institute of Technology, Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Serdar Tunaboylu, Electric Motor Drive Specialist at Siemens
• Erdogan Dogdu, software engineer
• Kemal Cem Gur, teacher in Turkey, moved to Georgia in 1999

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Fulton Science Academy (“Fulton Science Academy Middle School Inc.” (EIN 582512910)

Names appearing on 2004-2008 Form 990s: Ali Ozer, Ayhan Korucu, Baybars Bakay, Cevdet Akbay, Cheri Garvin, Feroz Fatehali, Fethi Gotepe, Kenan Sener, Levent Bulut, Mustafa Basgun, Mustafa Kecici, Sabrina Moore, Selim Ozedmir, Sherry Saylam [possibly related to Mustafa Z. Saylam and/or Saltuk B. Saylam], Steven Greene, Tuncay Kucuktas, and Wendi Murphy.

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From http://graceschools.us/ (accessed Oct 2010): 

“In short, Grace Member Schools are also called “Grace Schools“. However, this abbreviation is a bit misleading as the Grace Institute is not a Charter Management Organization (CMO). This usage more correctly should be read as Grace Schools Network or Grace Member Schools.”

Current members include:

• Fulton Science Academy-Middle (GA)
• Fulton Science Academy-High (GA)
• Stars Middle School (FL)
• River City Science Academy Middle and High School (FL)
• Orlando Science Middle and High School (FL)
• Sweetwater Branch Academy Middle and High School (FL)
• New Springs Middle School (FL)
• Fulton Sunshine Academy Elementary School (GA)
• River City Science Academy Elementary School (FL)
• Sweetwater Branch Academy Elementary School (FL)

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Grace Institute for Educational Research & Resources, Inc. (EIN 262674420)

• Names appearing on 990s for 2007-2009 Form 990s: Yucel Aktas, Ilbey Budak, Avni Cokavci, Selim Ozdemir, Ali Ozer, Namik Sercan, Kenar Sener. Each of these individuals has held positions at Fulton Science Academy schools

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Additional reading:

• Fulton Science Academy / TEACH / Fulton Sunshine Academy: Evidence of affiliation with Gulen Movement http://gulencharterschools.weebly.com/fulton-science-academy.html
• Florida Schools: Orlando Science Middle/High Charter School, River City Science Academy, Sweetwater Branch Academy, Stars Middle School, New Springs Middle School. Evidence of affiliation with Gulen Movement http://gulencharterschools.weebly.com/florida-schools-orlando-river-city-sweetwater-stars-new-springs.html

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Students from the Fulton Science Academy at the 2011 Turkish Olympiad Southeast sponsored by the Istanbul Center, a Gulenist organization ("That center is devoted to the practice and propagation of the teachings of Muslim leader Fethullah Gulen." See @ fgulen.com). These pageants are held in multiple regions in the U.S. and around the world. The student performers have been trained in Gulenist schools.

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Eagles Peak Charter School (4000 students)

FORMER SCHOOL DIRECTOR GETS $1M.  North County Times (San Diego County, CA) 20 Aug 2010 

A jury awarded the former executive director of the now-defunct Eagles Peak Charter School $1 million this week in a wrongful termination lawsuit filed after the administrator was fired in 2008, an attorney said Friday.

In the lawsuit, the former executive, Rich Alderson, accused the school’s board of directors of firing him after less than a year on the job for refusing to retaliate against employees who had criticized them.

The jury determined that the school acted with fraud, malice or oppression, according to Bob Ottilie, Alderson’s attorney…

Academica Schools / Florida politician (ethics complaint)

ETHICS COMPLAINT FILED AGAINST STATE REP. FRESEN; / An ethics complaintwas filed against a Miami lawmaker over his connection to a charter schoolscompany; April 29, 2011; Miami Herald (FL) 

A Tallahassee mother of three said she filed an ethics complaint this week against state Rep. Erik Fresen over his family’s ties to a charter school company.

Fresen, a Miami Republican, voted in a Florida House committee last week for a broad charter schools reform bill. His sister and brother-in-law work for Academica, which runs numerous charter schools in Florida…

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QUESTIONS RAISED OVER LAWMAKER’S PUSH FOR CHARTER SCHOOL BILL; A provision tucked into a Florida House charter schools bill has prompted South Miami officials to cry foul on a state lawmaker; April 27, 2011, Miami Herald (FL)

State Rep. Erik Fresen, who sits on several education committees in the Florida House, is again raising eyebrows for his family ties to a prominent Miami-Dade charter school company.

Fresen’s sister and brother-in-law run Academica, a for-profit company that manages dozens of charter schools.

Last week, Fresen slipped language into a bill that would prohibit cities from imposing stricter zoning and building restrictions on charter schools than on traditional public schools. Charter schools are publicly funded but privately run.

The provision is aimed in part at South Miami, which recently approved charter school regulations that could directly affect Academica. The company, city Mayor Philip Stoddard said, may be looking to expand Somerset Academy at SoMi, where Fresen’s twin sons go to school. And Academica has expressed interest in building a school in Palmetto Bay.

Fresen scoffed at the idea that he put forth the provision to benefit his family. His brother-in-law, Fernando Zulueta, runs Academica with Fresen’s sister, Maggie. And Fresen is a land-use consultant for Civica, an architectural firm that has designed several Academica schools…

But while school districts must meet certain criteria to expand or build a new, traditional public school — such as hold public hearings — charter schools are often exempt. The new provision would prevent cities and counties from setting some of those rules at the municipal level, said Tucker Gibbs, a Miami land-use attorney who is fighting a proposed Academica school in Coral Gables…

Philadelphia School Reform Commission

NUTTER ORDERS AN INVESTIGATION OF THE KING CHARTER SCHOOL FLAP; April 26, 2011; Philadelphia Inquirer (PA)

Mayor Nutter has launched a city investigation into the withdrawal of an Atlanta charter school company from operating Martin Luther King High School, amid allegations of conflict of interest and political wrangling involving School Reform Commission Chairman Robert L. Archie Jr. and State Rep. Dwight Evans.

Nutter said Monday that he had directed Joan Markman, the city's chief integrity officer, to conduct a series of fact-finding interviews and report the results to him as soon as possible.

The development follows a week of disclosures about a closed-door meeting involving Archie, Evans, and one charter operator who later backed out of King, and the subsequent departure of a second charter operator. It also follows requests by some King parents for a state investigation…

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MLK HIGH CHARTER PLAN FALLING APART; April 21, 2011; Philadelphia Inquirer (PA)

The New Jersey-based nonprofit that has overseen Martin Luther King High School for the last seven years has withdrawn its bid to run the school as a charter, amid a controversy involving School Reform Commission Chairman Robert L. Archie Jr. and State Rep. Dwight Evans.

Citing a climate of "unrelenting hostility," Foundations Inc. Chief Executive Officer Rhonda H. Lauer in a letter to Archie and Superintendent Arlene Ackerman sent Wednesday night said her organization no longer was interested in participating in the district's "Renaissance" school reform plan…

The decision follows a report by the Philadelphia Public School Notebook this week that Archie met in a closed-door session with Evans and John Q. Porter, of Mosaica Turnaround Partners to discuss the fate of the school even though he had recused himself from voting on the charter earlier that day because of a potential conflict of interest. The law firm at which he is a partner, Duane Morris LLP, has represented Foundations, the Notebook reported.

The charter, which would be for five years, is estimated to be worth approximately $12 million dollars a year, according to the Notebook.

The School Reform Commission in March had voted to give Mosaica, an Atlanta-based for-profit charter school company, the right to negotiate the charter for King.

But Mosaica later withdrew its application after Evans publicly expressed his disappointment to the Commission and continued to support Foundations, with which he has had a long-standing relationship. Some parent leaders at the school, who supported Mosaica, however, have complained…

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SRC CHAIR FACES CONFLICT-OF-INTEREST QUESTIONS; April 19, 2011; Philadelphia Notebook (PA) 

Just over a month ago, the chairman of the Philadelphia School Reform Commission took part in a pivotal closed-door meeting to discuss the fate of a charter school deal potentially worth $60 million, only hours after publicly recusing himself from voting on the matter due to a conflict of interest…

The meeting was held on the evening of March 16 at School District of Philadelphia headquarters, and included Archie, State Rep. Dwight Evans, and John Q. Porter of Mosaica Education, an Atlanta-based, for-profit school operator. [Read summary about Porter on The Broad Report]

Earlier that day, Archie’s fellow commissioners had voted 3-0 to award Mosaica the right to negotiate the charter to run Martin Luther King High in Germantown. Archie didn’t vote, citing his law firm’s ties to another applicant for the charter. Porter described himself that afternoon as “ecstatic” about the vote.

But the day after the three men met, Mosaica walked away from the King deal.

Porter explained the reversal at the time by saying that he did not want to interfere with Evans’ plans for his community. He also said that his company “did not believe that without full support we could be successful.”

Mosaica’s abrupt about-face left Foundations Inc., a New Jersey-based nonprofit with ties to both Archie and Evans, as the only bidder for the King charter. King is being transformed as part of Superintendent Arlene Ackerman’s signature Renaissance Schools initiative. …

Zack Stalberg, chair of the Committee of Seventy, a watchdog group, called Archie’s action “highly improper."

The chair of a volunteer panel at King advising the District on the school’s turnaround plan said the group wants a full investigation into Archie’s behavior.

Archie has publicly acknowledged that the law firm where he is a partner, Duane Morris LLP, represents Foundations. (Archie has also recused himself from decisions involving Universal Companies, a charter provider slated to run Audenried High and Vare Middle School, for similar reasons.)

Evans also has deep connections to Foundations, which has for decades been his preferred partner for education projects of all kinds in and around his West Oak Lane district. For the past eight years, Foundations has been managing King under contract with the District.

In addition, Archie and Evans have a longstanding personal relationship. Evans has referred to Archie in press reports as a friend for more than two decades, and Archie has been a frequent donor to Evans’ political campaigns, as have many Foundations executives.

King’s charter, initially for five years, is estimated to be worth approximately $12 million dollars a year to its manager. The charter could potentially extend indefinitely…

Stalberg says he believes Archie's presence at the meeting will likely trigger the interest of state and federal investigators…

Stalberg believes Archie’s presence in the March 16 meeting will trigger not only questions about the King charter, but about the politically appointed board that oversees the $3.2 billion dollar district and its nearly 200,000 public and charter school students. “I think there’s a good chance that this will fire up the question of who is the SRC, and why is the state running our schools anyway?” Stalberg said. “The incident and the larger question may be totally different things.”

Stalberg, who edited the Philadelphia Daily News for three decades, said the story of Archie and Evans’ closed-door meeting is unlike anything he’s heard in recent years…

New Voyage Academy

STORMY END FOR CHARTER SCHOOL: NEW VOYAGE ACADEMY HAD FINANCIAL, STAFFING PROBLEMS; March 18, 2006: Pioneer Press (St. Paul, MN) 

A St. Paul charter school plagued by management and financial problems was dissolved Friday, leaving about 50 children without a school.

A week in which classes were cancelled for three days so school leaders could resolve their differences culminated Friday in a series of stormy meetings between parents, the school's recently fired director and the board of New Voyage Academy. All but one board member wound up resigning, and the 10-year-old school was shut down…

Representatives from the state Department of Education, St. Paul Public Schools, the Center for School Change and the Minnesota Association of Charter Schools were on hand Friday along with school officials at New Voyage's University Avenue site for a series of meetings, which included consultations with the commissioner of education and the attorney general's office. In the end, the decision was made that the school needed to dissolve immediately.

"(The Minnesota Department of Education) says it is bankrupt," said Mary Chorewycz, executive director of research and development for St. Paul Public Schools, which sponsored New Voyage…

Chorewycz said that recommendation was based on the school's financial problems, unlicensed and inadequate staff, inadequate discipline, poor student performance and unstable leadership.

The school has had seven directors in five years, Chorewycz said. "How can you offer a consistent program for children with that much change?"

The most recent strife among school leaders centered on the frequency of elections for board seats and concerns about potential conflict of interest involving a board member who also was employed by a firm that consults with charter schools…

Rehoboth Charter Academy

"Regulation of charter schools debated after academy is shut down." The Press-Enterprise (CA), 2/17/2008

…The Riverside County schools office cited concerns about conflict of interest, among other problems, in 2006 when it refused to sponsor a Riverside charter school. The Riverside Unified School District declined to renew the charter for the school, Rehoboth Charter Academy, and the operators appealed to the county office.

County schools officials said they were uneasy that the husband of Rehoboth's principal was serving as president of the school's board. The school closed in 2007, after an unsuccessful appeal to the State Board of Education…

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.

American Preparatory Academy

CHARTER SCHOOLS’ FAMILY TIES SPARK QUESTIONS; November 13, 2010; Salt Lake Tribune (UT)

A state school board member is questioning whether family members should be allowed to contract with one another to run charter schools, calling the relationship between a charter-school academy and its management company “not right.”

But the practice of family members running charter schools together is not unique to one school. Charter schools are independently run public schools often started by groups of parents.

Outgoing state school board member Denis Morrill raised the issue at a board meeting this month as the board considered American Preparatory Academy’s request to expand beyond its current plans. The academy pays a charter school management company $986 a year per student to run its two schools, according to the management agreement. The company is owned by sisters of the chairman of the academy’s board.

“I’m not willing to approve and watch expand something that puts another $920 a year in the pocket of the sister of the person who’s asking for the expansion,” Morrill said.

With about 1,140 students enrolled in American Preparatory Academy’s two schools, the for-profit management company, led by Carolyn Sharette, receives more than $1 million a year, she said. Sharette’s brother, Howard Headlee, chairs the American Preparatory board, which hired Sharette’s company. The academy is opening a third campus in the fall with another 720 students.

Sharette, Headlee and their sister Laura Campbell opened the first school together in 2003. Sharette and Campbell worked at the school and later created the charter management company, called American Preparatory Schools Inc…

Joel Coleman, a founder and board member of Monticello Academy charter school, won Morrill’s seat this month. Coleman’s wife had served as director of Monticello until the state Charter School Board ousted her last year after an investigation spurred by complaints from parents about low teacher morale and efforts to block parental involvement in the school’s management, which they said was paralyzed by conflicts of interest.

Kim Coleman is now suing a number of state Charter School Board members and other education officials for more than $5 million for allegedly unlawfully removing her from her post, among other allegations…

Young Women's Leadership Network charter school (Rochester, NY)

PROPOSED ROCHESTER CHARTER SCHOOL HAS TIES TO JEAN-CLAUDE BRIZARD; November 12, 2010; Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, NY) 

Organizers of a new all-girls charter school aiming to open in 2012 have been busy amassing supporters in the city of Rochester.

But they already have one high-profile local education leader behind their effort — City School District Superintendent Jean-Claude Brizard, who also happens to be married to one of the new school's would-be founders.

Brizard makes no secret of his support for charter schools, saying that he wants to help more of the privately run programs open in the city school district. Now, K. Brooke Stafford-Brizard could lead one such school, drawing students and state money away from city schools and raising questions about a potential conflict of interest. "We have the vision and the passion and we're working on the application," said Laura Rebell Gross, who is partnering with Stafford-Brizard.

Stafford-Brizard and Gross have been working with the Young Women's Leadership Network, known nationally for opening the first single-sex charter school in the country. Gross also serves on the network's Board of Directors…

Both Jean-Claude Brizard and Gross said they were trying to keep the proposal quiet until the women submitted the application. But word of the proposed school started circulating in the community after they hosted an informational meeting with a number of high-profile community leaders to try to win support for their effort several weeks ago…

The meeting occurred at the Brizards' house after the group went to see Waiting for Superman, a new documentary about the public school system that has been criticized for glorifying charter schools…

New York Flex Charter High School

CHARTER SCHOOL FAVORING VIRTUAL INSTRUCTION PULLS BACK, September 29, 2010, City Limits (NY) 

Upper East Side — A proposed charter school favoring a combination of classroom learning and virtual instruction, and having ties to a for-profit company with links to a top state education official, has abandoned its push to win state approval this year, City Limits has learned…

City Limits reported last week on the unclear nature of NY Flex's relationship to K12 Classroom LLC, a publicly traded firm that provides curriculum, and the uncertainties around what process would govern the school's charter application given that Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch is married to the brother of K12's chairman.

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PEDAGOGY AND PROFITS: CHARTER SCHOOL BID RAISES QUESTIONS, September 21, 2010, City Limits Magazine (NYC, NY)

Upper East Side — A new charter high school proposed for Manhattan has close ties to a for-profit curriculum provider with family links to the chair of the state board that will decide on the school's application…

At the proposed New York Flex Charter High School, a company called K12 Classroom LLC will supply the curriculum to support that model, along with other services. The involvement of K12—whose chairman, Andrew H. Tisch, is the brother-in-law of New York State Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch—could be a test of the state's new charter-schools law, passed in late May, which forbids for-profit charter school management. At the very least, the proposal raises questions about what kind of educational approaches are fair game for New York's charter schools.

Andrew Tisch is a longtime philanthropist with ongoing education and civic interests. He led Lorillard Tobacco during the 1990s—appearing on its behalf during infamous 1994 Congressional hearings, where he testified that he did not believe cigarettes cause cancer. Tisch currently serves as co-chairman of the board of his family business, the Loews Corporation, which has interests in insurance, hotels, natural gas pipelines and a Texas-based offshore oil-drilling company, among other ventures.

K12, founded in 1999 and traded on the New York Stock Exchange, is the "nation's premier provider of online curriculum," Jeff Kwitowski, company spokesperson, tells City Limits. K12 classes are conducted on line, some in real time ("synchronous") and others in self-paced and self-directed modes… Company documents show 2009 revenue of $316 million…

The NY Flex board is led by private investor Salvatore Vasi (formerly of Merrill Lynch and Bear Sterns), real estate advisor and business developer Michael Cohen and attorney Victor Geraci. Roger Griffith, an associate conservator of sculpture at MOMA, and Roberto Gutierrez, who once headed communications at Notre Dame University and has worked with the for-profit entity Edison Schools, complete the board…

K12's participation is crucial, according to Gutierrez. "They are the premier provider of this kind of technology," he says. "We are counting on an organization that has a strong reputation nationally to guide us."

He dismissed questions about the involvement of a for-profit company in a charter school venture. For-profit or not-for-profit, he says, "everybody gets paid."

But the nature of K12's planned involvement is murky…

That [charter approval] process culminates in recommendations to the State Regents–headed by the K12 board chair's sister-in-law, Chancellor Merryl Tisch. Merryl Tisch, a personal friend of Chancellor Klein and the Mayor, is married to Andrew's brother James, the president and CEO of Loews Corp. Andrew Tisch's first wife was Merryl's sister…

"Chancellor Tisch must have knowledge that her brother-in-law is the chairman of the K12 board," says City Council education committee chair Robert Jackson. "If she doesn't know, someone has to bring it to her attention. If she does know, that is a possible conflict of interest. She needs to bring it forward to the Conflicts of Interest Board and explain the situation and/or recuse herself from voting" on the NY Flex application.