#ANOTHERDAYANOTHERCHARTERSCANDAL

Published by DCimarusti

December 2018

DEC 28, 2018 – Pennsbury looking into finances of charter school

Pennsbury School District officials are taking a closer look at the finances of a charter school after a lawsuit filed by the charter’s former business manager alleged a litany of financial misdeeds.

DEC 30, 2018 – Charter school can’t pay teachers

Global Achievers School has shut its doors, and teachers at the K-3 charter school may never be paid what they are owed for their service to the school and its students.

DEC 28, 2018 – Nevada charter authority lands in battle over accountability

Personal cash payments. Drinks and airfare. Government contracts.

Those are the ingredients of a good scandal.

DEC 28, 2018 – Pennsbury looking into finances of charter school

DEC 25, 2018 – Univ. of Florida study: Charter schools less responsive to neediest students

Charter schools may promise to provide access to a top education for more children, but one University of Florida researcher’s findings show hat opportunity doesn’t get offered readily to many of the most at-risk students.

DEC 27, 2018 – Nashville Charter School Chided Over College Acceptance Requirement

Metro education officials are reminding one of the largest charter schools in Nashville it can’t make college acceptance a high school graduation requirement.

DEC 18, 2018 – State audit cites ex-DECA charter school worker for illegal spending

State auditors have issued a demand for recovery of illegally spent public money against Cynthia Shoemaker, a former employee of the Dayton Early College Academy charter schools.

DEC 22, 2018 – Osceola School Board Votes to Close Aviation Charter School

The 111 FAA students are being automatically transferred to Osceola High School once classes resume on January 8.

DEC 21, 2018 – Celerity charter school founder to plead guilty to conspiracy charge, prosecutors say

The founder of Los Angeles charter school network Celerity Educational Group has agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to misappropriate and embezzle public funds, federal prosecutors said Friday.

DEC 20, 2018 – Easton charter school administrators rigged grades, employee evaluations, according to lawsuit

A former principal at the Easton Arts Academy Elementary Charter School claims administrators rigged grades to make the school appear more successful, according to a lawsuit.

DEC 19, 2018 – D.C. officials investigate facility where charter schools send disruptive students

D.C. education officials are investigating a learning center operating out of a Southeast Washington house where charter schools temporarily send disruptive students and children awaiting transfer to other schools — even though the facility has no business license.

DEC 19, 2018 – East-side charter school announces sudden closing

The winter break marks the end for a Tucson charter school, according to a letter to parents. The letter cited low enrollment, new charter schools nearby and “unexpected circumstances” as reasons for the decision to close.

DEC 18, 2018 – APA charter school blew nearly half a million in a botched expansion plan

Would a traditional school district be allowed to rack up half a million in pricey litigation and property acquisition, all because of a hasty expansion plan?

DEC 18, 2018 – Charter school reform: Will big profits, private deals spur changes to Arizona law?

The Charter Gamble: In this series, we examine how Arizona committed 25 years ago to the then-untested concept of charter schools, and what the program has meant for the state.

DEC 13, 2018 – Antioch school board one step closer to revoking charter schools’ approval

Antioch Unified school board trustees voted Wednesday to proceed with revoking the charters for a middle school and a high school under the East Bay Tech Academy name.

DEC 13, 2018 – Charter school principal charged with indecent assault of student

The former principal of a Harrisburg charter school is accused of having indecent contact with a student. Harrisburg police say Timothy S. Hess inappropriately touched a boy on several occasions at Sylvan Heights Science Charter School.

DEC 13, 2018 – Antioch school board one step closer to revoking charter schools’ approval

Two proposed charter schools in Antioch could be shut down before they even open. Antioch Unified school board trustees voted Wednesday to proceed with revoking the charters for a middle school and a high school under the East Bay Tech Academy name.

DEC 12, 2018 – Troubled Global Village Academy charter school in Fort Collins told to close by June 30

After years of turnover and turmoil, Global Village Academy in Fort Collins will have to fight to stay open after June 30 — otherwise about 177 students will have to find new schools.

DEC 12, 2018 – New Mexico charter school gets money for students who left

A charter school in New Mexico that teaches students remotely by phone and internet is receiving public funding for hundreds of students who no longer are enrolled, amid attempts by state education officials to close to the school.

DEC 11, 2018 – State OKs charter school despite business questions

The Arizona State Board for Charter Schools has approved a new charter despite several questions surrounding it. Approval came in spite of concerns about the school’s semi-online model, conflicts of interest in choosing a curriculum and ties to Creamer’s corporate entities.

DEC 10, 2018 – California teacher faces charges after forcibly cutting a student’s hair while singing anthem

A California high school teacher has lost her job and is facing multiple criminal charges after cellphone video emerged showing her forcibly cutting a student’s hair while belting out an incorrect rendition of the National Anthem.

DEC 09, 2018 – Erie Rise charter school and its low scores face big test

Erie School District is taking a hard look as Erie Rise’s charter comes up for renewal. PSSA tests show only 6.9 percent of Erie Rise students are proficient or advanced in math.

DEC 06, 2018 – Charter school suddenly closes in Cape Coral

Parents at Unity Charter School were shocked to hear that the school suddenly closed on Thursday. Parents tell Fox 4 they received an automated message Wednesday evening reporting that there would be no school Thursday, due to circumstances beyond their control.

DEC 04, 2018 – Memphis board votes to close City University Boys Preparatory charter school

Shelby County Schools recommended closure of the middle school in Whitehaven following a scheduled evaluation to determine if the district should renew its 10-year charter.

DEC 03, 2018 – Charter schools allowed to skip disclosure on major contracts

Open enrollment charter schools, which last year received up to $2.5 billion in taxpayer funds in Texas, are immune from a law that all public schools must follow, requiring them to make public the terms of important contracts.

DEC 02, 2018 – New Vision Academy in Nashville is subject of federal, state investigations

New Vision Academy charter school is under federal and state investigations, which expand on the existing Metro Nashville Public Schools investigation launched earlier this year. New Vision is being investigated for financial irregularities and compliance with federal laws regarding building accessibility for students with disabilities.

DEC 01, 2018 – Legislator to gain several ways from charter school handoff

An Arizona legislator selling his state-funded charter school business will receive money from consulting work, rent and a loan to the chain beyond pocketing $13.9 million from the $56.9 million transaction itself.

November 2018

NOV 24, 2018 – SAIL shake-ups have parents frustrated

As summer vacation drew to a close in August, Ashley Swygert said, her children couldn’t wait to return to the School for Arts Infused Learning. But just a month later, that feeling changed as a shake-up in leadership left them and Swygert wondering about the Columbia County charter school’s future.

NOV 23, 2018 – How did schools known for their gatekeeping policies get designated ‘Equity Honorees’?

Given that these schools are designed to be difficult to access and are only letting in the most academically prepared students and/or those from families that are more well off, how does the state see fit to praise them for modeling equity?

NOV 22, 2018 – Cherry Creek district grounds Colorado Skies Academy charter school over low enrollment

A charter school aiming to teach middle-school students about space and aviation is being grounded by the Cherry Creek School District because organizers of the Colorado Skies Academy inflated the school’s enrollment numbers, the district said.

NOV 21, 2018 – Students Outraged at Confederate Banner at Miami-Dade Charter School

Most Americans (up North, at least) likely made it through high-school history class without their teacher flying a Confederate flag in the classroom. It’s perfectly easy to teach kids about the pro-slavery Confederacy without draping the Rebel banner across the room.

NOV 20, 2018 – Report shows half of charter schools in Richmond have substandard financial accountability and lack parent engagement

Seven charter schools in Richmond were among 43 charter schools in the state found to have faulty records for funds generated by high needs students, says a report by nonprofit law firm Public Advocates.

NOV 20, 2018 – New audit shows 2015 charter evaluation scandal even worse than thought

Lack of oversight, a haphazard internal investigation, inexplicable emails that don’t say who sent or received them, a stonewalling state superintendent and a failure to secure data are highlighted in a years-long investigation into a charter-school evaluation scandal at the Department of Education that was released Tuesday.

NOV 19, 2018 – Primavera online charter school CEO pays himself another $1.3 million from school funds

The CEO of Primavera, whose multimillion-dollar payments to himself spurred calls for more oversight of Arizona charter schools, received another $1.3 million from the online charter this past school year, records show.

NOV 17, 2018 – Teacher From Charter High School in Van Nuys Accused of Child Molestation

Police are seeking information after arresting a teacher from Birmingham Community Charter High School in Van Nuys on suspicion of child molestation, authorities said Saturday.

NOV 16, 2018 – Former Goldsboro charter school principal wanted for statutory rape of 12-year-old student

The principal of a Wayne County charter school is wanted on charges related to a sexual relationship with a 12-year-old girl who was a student at the school, according to a press release.

NOV 16, 2018 – State charter school board doesn’t monitor third party charter school contractors

After the school’s administration, and Sharette herself, refused to provide details about the taxpayer dollars, we went to APA’s charter authorizer, the Utah Charter School Board.

NOV 15, 2018 – RECORD EDITORIAL: Charter school oversight?

Charter schools have become private schools funded by public money. And we’ve always had a problem with mixing the two. So did the courts, finding the process unconstitutional.

NOV 15, 2018 – New Orleans parents call on district to directly manage schools

Parents from four New Orleans public schools are putting pressure on the school district out of frustration with what they call the city’s “charter school experiment.”

NOV 15, 2018 – A $5 million question at American Preparatory Academy

American Preparatory Academy is Utah’s largest charter school provider with four campuses and an estimated 2018-2019 enrollment of 5,048 students. Because it’s the largest, reporters with KUTV2’s Beyond the Books decided to dig into the school’s finances.

NOV 14, 2018 – Noble charter schools founder out for ‘inappropriate behavior,’ CPS investigates

Michael Milkie, founder of Chicago’s Noble Network of Charter Schools, is out because of “a pattern of inappropriate behavior” that’s now the subject of two investigations — one by a law firm hired by the publicly funded, privately run chain and the other by the Chicago Public Schools’ inspector general.

NOV 14, 2018 – Charter school art teacher fired, charged

A St. Joseph man has lost his job as an art teacher and faces a criminal charge after he allegedly threw a chair in his classroom.

NOV 14, 2018 – Parents, students sue Colorado charter school they say violated their First Amendment rights

A charter school in Commerce City now faces a federal lawsuit after parents and students said it suspended the entire student body. Students at Victory Preparatory Academy said their First Amendment rights were violated last year on Sept. 28, during a school assembly.

NOV 14, 2018 – Secrecy surrounds the operations of American Preparatory Academy

One of its founders and its Executive Director, Carolyn Sharette, is also the registered agent of a for-profit management company, American Preparatory Schools, Inc., which will charge the school $5,805,200 for the 2018-2019 school year.

NOV 12, 2018 – State revokes school’s charter

The newest charter school in the Twin Counties may be closing soon after its charter was revoked by the state. Upon the recommendation of the Office of Charter Schools, the State Board of Education voted Nov. 1 to revoke the charter of Global Achievers School, Dave Machado, director of the state Office of Charter Schools, confirmed Thursday.

NOV 12, 2018 – Charter school gives no response to $5 million spending

Why isn’t a Utah charter school answering questions about how $5 million of taxpayer money was used for her school?A Beyond the Books investigation digs deeper to find out what’s being done with your money.

Learn more…

NOV 10, 2018 – Troubled school faces closure, possible criminal investigation over board mismanagement

Orleans Parish school district Superintendent Henderson Lewis Jr. told Edgar P. Harney Spirit of Excellence Academy parents and staff crammed into the Central City charter school Monday night that it will close at the end of school year.

NOV 09, 2018 – Philly’s Khepera Charter School loses appeal, plans to close next year

Khepera Charter School in North Philadelphia, which had its charter revoked last year after complaints it hadn’t paid teachers or rent, has lost its appeal to a state board and is planning to close at the end of the school year.

NOV 09, 2018 – Nanakuli charter school in upheaval over finances, leadership

Its head of school and his wife were placed on leave and a state commission took a drastic step of replacing its board of directors.

NOV 08, 2018 – Memphis charter school sues former principal at center of student protests

A Memphis charter high school is seeking $300,000 in damages — alleging that its former principal has been encouraging students to transfer from the high school and that he has violated his severance agreement.

NOV 08, 2018 – Why did 10 SC charter schools transfer from one district to another?

In May 2017, the Charter Institute at Erskine emerged on the scene. For the 2018-2019 school year, ten schools made the choice to transfer from PCSDSC to Erskine. That mass exodus has prompted questions from lawmakers.

NOV 07, 2018 – Ex-charter school operator of Discovery Creemos pleads guilty to theft, conspiracy

Daniel K. Hughes was president and CEO of Discovery Creemos Academy in Goodyear when he abruptly shuttered his charter school in January, disrupting the learning of more than 100 students and putting dozens of teachers out of work.

NOV 07, 2018 – Edgar Harney Elementary School facing closure leaving parents, students worried about future

Another New Orleans school is facing the threat of school closure in the Spring. That’s now a total of four schools that could potentially close in the spring and one that has already closed this school year.

NOV 06, 2018 – Why Some Officials Have Questioned Martha O’Bryan’s New Charter School In East Nashville

As Cayce is being overhauled into mixed-income housing, the nonprofit is about to move one of its charter schools into that complex. But the new school building has received pushback from some city officials.

NOV 07, 2018 – Former director of Goodyear charter school pleads guilty to conspiracy

Daniel Hughes, the former director of the Bradley Academy of Excellence, pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy and theft. According to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, the Goodyear charter school over-reported its number of students enrolled for two years so it could receive additional funding.

NOV 05, 2018 – Harney charter school principal suspended amid inquiry

The embattled charter school board for Edgar P. Harney Spirit of Excellence Academy has suspended its principal amid an investigation into her actions this year.

NOV 03, 2018 – Colorado Springs military-style charter school looks to overcome growing pains, leadership ‘churning’

The executive director, chief financial officer and founding principal have left their posts at Colorado Military Academy, which opened in August 2017 as the state’s first military-style school for young students, in what a new school official calls a “churning” of leadership.

NOV 02, 2018 – Tullytown charter school a financial mess, lawsuit alleges

A charter school in Tullytown chartered by the Pennsbury School District is rife with fraudulent and improper financial practices, former Business Manager and Board of Trustees Secretary Terri Sparango alleges in a lawsuit recently filed in Bucks County Court.

OCTOBER – 2018

OCT 29, 2018 – Federal appeals court affirms most of ruling in Delta Charter School discrimination case

A federal appeals court has affirmed almost all of a district court’s remedies to get Delta Charter School to accept more African-American students and stop violating a consent decree with Concordia Parish School District.

OCT 28, 2018 – Consultant suggests solutions to problems eStem charter school created on UA-Little Rock campus

A private consultant has reported on ways to alleviate problems caused by the arrival of the eStem charter high school on the UA-Little Rock campus. The report says neither institution has realized benefits expected from the partnership to date.

OCT 25, 2018 – Antioch school board could pull approval of two charter schools

Concerns about the management of a charter high school in Concord could result in the revocation of two proposed charter schools in Antioch that apparently are connected to it.

OCT 22, 2018 – Newpoint owner denied bond pending sentencing for fraud, racketeering

A former charter school manager convicted of stealing millions of dollars from Newpoint schools across Florida will remain in custody pending his sentencing.

OCT 22, 2018 – Parent reacts to constant controversy surrounding SAIL charter school

The School for Arts Infused Learning continues to be in a state of controversy. The latest involves thousands of records transferred from the school’s computers.

OCT 18, 2018 – Dorchester charter school overpaid leader nearly $100,000, state says

Trustees at the Helen Y. Davis Leadership Academy charter school in Dorchester lavished its former executive director with hefty pay increases and other perks, including an overpayment of nearly $100,000 as she departed for retirement, the state Inspector General’s Office announced Thursday.

OCT 17, 2018 – Memphis parents demand answers on charter school principal’s abrupt departure

About 20 Memphis parents and their supporters lined a small conference room after being initially blocked from a charter school’s board meeting to learn more about why a beloved principal was gone eight days into the school year.

OCT 16, 2018 – Columbia County parents air frustrations over SAIL charter school

Over 70 parents gathered at Evans Towne Center Park on Tuesday to discuss issues with the School for Arts Infused Learning. The Evans charter school’s lack of transparency was the main topic of the gathering, during which several parents aired grievances over the way recent departures were handled.

OCT 15, 2018 – In appeal of closure vote, Eastern charter school questions District’s oversight

In April, the SRC, which has since been replaced by the local Board of Education, voted against renewing the East Falls school’s charter after the District Charter Schools Office found the quality of academic programming in both the middle school and high school to be unacceptable.

OCT 12, 2018 – New Mexico charter schools founder gets 5-year sentence

The founder of a New Mexico public charter school system has been sentenced to five years in federal prison being pleading guilty to defrauding the schools out of millions of dollars. Federal authorities say 51-year-old David Scott Glasrud devised various schemes over a 15-year period to defraud the Southwest Learning Center Schools in Albuquerque.

OCT 11, 2018 – New Orleans Charter School Closing Mid School Year

The board of New Orleans charter school Crescent Leadership Academy is turning in its charter, effectively shutting down in the middle of the school year, according to a letter from Orleans Parish School Board superintendent Henderson Lewis.

OCT 11, 2018 – After theft charge, the status of Cheryl Pruitt’s Chicago charter school job is in question

Former Gary Superintendent Cheryl Pruitt’s new job may be in question just days after she was charged with theft and official misconduct. The Chicago Virtual Charter School’s board met for 30 minutes in a closed session on Wednesday night to discuss two issues, including a personnel matter, records showed

OCT 09, 2018 – Pointe charter students didn’t take AIMS science test — and it could shut the school down

Pointe Schools, an Arizona charter school operator with three schools and more than 1,100 students, is at risk of closing amid a slew of problems — including neglecting to give its students the required state AIMS science test.

OCT 09, 2018 – Sharon McPhail fired from Detroit charter school due to battle over credentials

Former Detroit city councilwoman Sharon McPhail was fired from her post as the chief administrative officer of a Detroit charter school. Bay Mills Community College, which controls Detroit Community Schools, let McPhail go because of an ongoing battle over her superintendent credentials which has resulted in the school not being able to get financing.

OCT 08, 2018 – Police report states Evans charter school superintendent was fired

Kevin Burnley, current vice-chairman of the Board of Governors for the School for Arts-Infused Learning in Evans, also told the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office his suspicions that the former superintendent, a former school staffer and a now-dismissed board member conspired to illegally alter the superintendent’s contract.

OCT 08, 2018 – State Charter Board makes complaints against schools hard to find

Parents scouring the state Charter Board website for information about their child’s school would in recent years have been left with a false impression. For the past three years, each charter school’s profile on the site displayed the message: “This charter has no complaints.”

OCT 05, 2018 – Ex-treasurer of Mason Classical charter school alleges lax financial oversight, verbal abuse

The complaint states the school’s top administrators, under the guidance of Mason Principal David Hull, “knowingly and willfully created an environment … where fraud can occur without detection.”

OCT 05, 2018 – Charter school in Maricopa closes just months into the new school year

Just months into a new school year, a charter school in Maricopa is closing its doors. The announcement by officials with Camino Montessori came as a shock to parents and students, who will now be forced to change schools.

OCT 04, 2018 – Tulsa Charter School To Hold Meeting Over Allegations Of Staff Inappropriate Behavior

There is a special board meeting scheduled today to discuss reports staff members at Tulsa’s Langston Hughes Academy, acted inappropriately. What that inappropriate behavior was still hasn’t been officially revealed.

OCT 03, 2018 – Langston Hughes Academy Staff Members Accused Of Inappropriate Behavior

Langston Hughes Academy says some staff members accused of inappropriate behavior have been suspended without pay, pending an investigation. The school has also confirmed that they reported those allegations to police.

OCT 03, 2018 – The Easiest Money Bill Ackman Has Made Lately Is In A Bunch Of Charter Schools

It turns out that Bill Ackman is making good money in the most unexpected of places: financing charter schools for low-income kids.

OCT 02, 2018 – Guilty verdict for man who defrauded Newpoint charter schools in Pinellas, Hillsborough

The founder of a company that operated charter schools in Pinellas, Hillsborough and five other Florida counties was found guilty late Thursday of using those schools to steer millions of dollars into his personal accounts.

OCT 02, 2018 – Why we’re suing

Imagine your hard-earned tax dollars being taken away from your kids’ local school district and instead given to an unaccountable online school that was falsifying attendance data and failing to graduate students at staggering rates.

OCT 02, 2018 – This lawmaker stands to earn at least $11M on his own charter schools. His votes helped lay the groundwork.

Near the end of the 2018 legislative session, lawmakers were poised to pass a budget that would give educators large raises and require greater financial accountability for both district and charter schools. House Speaker J.D. Mesnard and Rep. Eddie Farnsworth had other plans.

OCT 01, 2018 – New Castle charter school closes suddenly, students scramble to find new school

With the school year already well underway, hundreds of students from the Delaware Academy of Public Safety and Security, commonly referred to as DAPPS, found themselves at this quickly organized school fair Wednesday searching for a new place to attend class.

September 2018

SEP 28, 2018 – Audit finds steep salaries, misuse of funds at Clayton Valley charter school

The married top leaders of Clayton Valley Charter High School raked in almost $850,000 in less than two years before leaving the school last spring, a county investigation found.

SEP 27, 2018 – Parents sue charter school over handling of reported assault

Parents of a former Boise charter school student are suing the school because they say administrators created a hostile school environment by failing to adequately respond after their daughter reported she had been sexually assaulted by another student.

SEP 27, 2018 – ‘Chaos At Kamalani’: Why It’s So Hard To Run A Charter School

Founders of an arts-focused charter school in central Oahu are facing mounting complaints from parents in the midst of rapid teacher turnover and signs of a possible shift away from the school’s original mission.

SEP 26, 2018 – State auditor confirms embezzlement at Alma D’Arte High School

The New Mexico state auditor confirmed tens of thousands of dollars have been stolen from Alma D’Arte Charter High School. “Any dollar that doesn’t go where it’s supposed to go is a dollar I’m concerned about,” said State Auditor Wayne Johnson.

SEP 26, 2018 – Irate parents seek answers after charter school shakeup

The board of Columbia County’s first and only charter school left a roomful of irate parents with more questions than answers Wednesday night surrounding the departure of the school’s superintendent and the school’s future.

SEP 26, 2018 – ‘This is horrific’: Detroit charter school stuns parents and students with news that it will close next week

Just weeks after starting the school year, parents and students at the Detroit Delta Preparatory Academy for Social Justice got the stunning news Wednesday that their school will close next week.

SEP 25, 2018 – Former charter school board member pleads guilty to receiving child pornography

A former board member of a Saginaw-area charter school has pleaded guilty to receving child porn. Jesse Medina, 36, is the former school board president at North Saginaw Charter Academy in Kochville Township.

SEP 25, 2018 – State College Area School District to seek civil action against Wonderland Charter School

The State College Area school board at its meeting Monday night authorized district solicitor Scott Etter to pursue civil action against the former Wonderland Charter School and its founders and senior administrators, Harold and Marilyn Ohnmeis.

SEP 20, 2018 – For-Profit Charter School Founder Uses Extortion and Threats in Letter to Parents

Livingston Developmental Academy Co-Founder Chuck Stockwell is considered an institution in the Michigan for-profit charter school industry.

SEP 20, 2018 – Weeks into the school year Columbus charter school parents have transportation concerns

Some charter school students in Columbus are facing some pretty big transportation issues to start the school year. A major change in the way students sign up to ride the bus has left some kids with no way to get to and from school.

SEP 19, 2018 – Will Students Drown in a Charter School’s Ocean of Debt?

Imagine if the LAUSD decided that one of their schools was draining resources from the District and decided to shut it down just days into the start of the school year. Of course, this would never happen. Part of the mission of public schools is to serve all students, even if some students cost more to educate than others.

SEP 18, 2018 – Charleston Mandarin language charter school faces closure 1 month after opening

Low enrollment, financial woes and staffing problems could spell the end for East Light Academy, a Mandarin-language charter school that opened in the Charleston area just one month ago.

SEP 18, 2018 – Report Details Florida Charter School Closures

A new report from a Tallahassee-based research group raises questions about the growing role of charter schools in Florida, including citing the closure of 373 charter schools since 1998.

SEP 17, 2018 – Newpoint Charter employee gives court testimony on alleged racketeering scheme

The former owner of a charter school company is on trial in Escambia County. Marcus May is charged with organized fraud and racketeering. May owned “Newpoint Education Partners.” May’s company ran several charter schools throughout Florida, including three in Escambia county.

SEP 17, 2018 – Watchdog group slams state leaders for using public funds for charter schools

An independent government watchdog group on Monday released a biting report on the controversial ‘Schools of Hope’ charter school expansion law passed in 2017.

SEP 15, 2018 – Dallas Charter School Superintendent Resigns Days After I-Team Receives Credit Card Statements

The records showed tens of thousands of dollars the school’s top officials spent on travel, luxury hotels and fine dining.

SEP 15, 2018 – Three charter schools facing penalties for financial records

Three charter schools on the Suncoast are facing state penalties for their financial record. According to an audit report from the 2017 school year, Manatee County School for the Arts and Sciences was found to have a weakness in maintaining their financial record.

SEP 12, 2018 – Michigan fines Detroit charter school over administrator — again

The state has revoked the administrator certification for Sharon McPhail — and fined the charter school where the former Detroit councilwoman serves as a chief administrator — over questions about whether she’s continuing to run the school despite claims by the school that she is no longer functioning as a superintendent.

SEP 12, 2018 – Loophole in $25M school contract highlighted in audit

The Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts could have benefited from a loophole in state law when it built its $25 million school, the state auditor general announced this week.

SEP 11, 2018 – Auditor general: Loophole lets charter schools keep public in the dark

The Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts did nothing illegal during the bidding process for its $25 million facility, but it may have benefited from a loophole in state law that allows charters to conduct construction business in private, the state auditor general said Tuesday.

SEP 11, 2018 – Arizona Rep. Eddie Farnsworth is a charter school millionaire – and you helped pay for it

Yet another millionaire is made, thanks to the latest in charter school scheming. This time, it’s state Rep. Eddie Farnsworth, who has figured out a way to sell his charter school business – the one built with taxpayer funds – and make millions on the deal and then likely get himself hired to continue running the operation.

SEP 11, 2018 – Georgia School Brings Back Paddling as a Form of Punishment for Its Students

The Georgia School of Innovation and the Classics (GSIC) sent home a consent form to parents requesting permission to use the corporal punishment on their children if they act out in the classroom, according to the local news report.

SEP 10, 2018 – Caught on camera: Teacher sexually assaulted inside DC charter school, put on unpaid leave

A DC elementary teacher was sexually assaulted on campus in the middle of a large room. The attack was caught on camera. In a twist, the charter school the teacher worked for switched her to unpaid leave for the rest of the school year.

SEP 07, 2018 – Sacramento High School Students Hold Walk-Out in Protest of School’s Recent Changes

Students at Sacramento High School in Oak Park are in open revolt; refusing to return to class until their demands are met by the school’s administration. At issue is the dismissal of several faculty and staff over the summer and new rules for student’s uniforms and dismissal after class.

SEP 04, 2018 – ‘I can’t believe it’s not a crime’: Brnovich says lawmakers must pass charter school reforms

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich is calling for new legislation to provide more oversight of the state’s charter schools in response to the latestArizona Republic investigation into financial dealings at a major online school.

SEP 03, 2018 – Teachers at Phoenix charter school concerned over Uber usage for student transport

Weeks after a Valley Uber driver put a charter school on blast for using the ride-share service as a school bus to transport students, new concerns are coming forward about the practice.

SEP 02, 2018 – Trenton Ninth Grade Academy cleans up failed charter school’s mess

Trenton Ninth Grade Academy staff entered the failed $17 million charter school building on Perry Street earlier this summer and discovered an unwelcoming interior.

AUGUST – 2018

AUG 31, 2018 – Paris Academy founder says she didn’t inflate enrollment, politics closed school

Nancy Paris says she didn’t create fake students to inflate enrollment numbers to receive more state school aid funds than she was entitled.

AUG 31, 2018 – Clayton Valley Charter hires investigators to look into ‘allegations of misconduct’

Law firm hired to investigate alleged misconduct by the former Executive Director, but school has asked for gag orders for witnesses.

AUG 30, 2018 – Students with disabilities improperly suspended at Newark’s largest charter school network, complaint says

Newark’s largest charter-school network suspends students with disabilities at a disproportionately high rate, violating their rights, according to a new complaint filed with the state.

AUG 29, 2018 – Ethics panel upholds nepotism ruling against charter school CEO

The state Ethics Adjudicatory Board will not reconsider its ruling that Doris Hicks, CEO of charter school network the Friends of King Schools, repeatedly violated state anti-nepotism laws.

AUG 28, 2018 – New Jersey Charter School Caught Booting Mass of Black Kids Into Street for Minor Dress Code Violations

Video uploaded to Facebook shows several Marion P. Thomas Charter High School students hanging out at a public park in their school uniforms after they say they were booted from school over dress code violations. One teen explained he was kicked out simply for having white soles on his shoes.

AUG 27, 2018 – A teacher’s arrest was delayed for months. Then the victim saw him at school

After reporting her son’s science teacher to the police in April, Natalee Clarke figured her son would never cross paths with him again. After all, Boynton Beach police had launched an investigation into whether the teacher had kicked over her son’s stool during class, causing him to fall.

AUG 27, 2018 – A college student is teaching economics at Success Academy — founder Eva Moskowitz’s son

When students arrived at Success Academy’s high school last week, some found a surprising figure at the front of their class. Their economics teacher from day one was gone, having resigned just hours into the school year. In his place: Culver Grannis Moskowitz, the son of Success CEO Eva Moskowitz.

AUG 26, 2018 – Ohio probes charter school operators accused of defrauding parents, students and taxpayers in Florida

Ohio’s top public accountant is actively investigating the case of two businessmen accused of using charter schools to defraud Florida taxpayers, students and schools — and maybe here, too.

AUG 26, 2018 – Ohio probes charter school operators accused of defrauding parents, students and taxpayers in Florida

Ohio’s top public accountant is actively investigating the case of two businessmen accused of using charter schools to defraud Florida taxpayers, students and schools — and maybe here, too. On Friday, Ohio Auditor Dave Yost acknowledged that a probe has been ongoing for a year.

AUG 26, 2018 – Trump Administration Forcing Detained Children To Attend Online, For-Profit Charter School?

Is the Trump Administration forcing detained migrant and refugee children to choose an online, for-profit charter school in Texas?

AUG 24, 2018 – L.A. charter school closes due to low enrollment; campus was in network co-founded by Ref Rodriguez

On the fourth day of its second school year, an Eagle Rock charter school closed its doors this week, leaving parents and students disappointed, angry and tearful — and bucking the usual narrative of ceaseless charter growth.

AUG 23, 2018 – Lawsuit Filed Against Charter School Involving Former Teacher Accused Of Molestation

More disturbing allegations surfacing against Christopher Falzone who was arrested last week on charges of molesting a ten-year-old girl at a Fort Lauderdale summer camp.

AUG 23, 2018 – Charter School in Eagle Rock Abruptly Closes Due to Low Enrollment, Leaving Students Scrambling

AUG 23, 2018 – A Palmdale charter school borrowed nearly $30 million to build a new campus. Then it got shut down

For the last year, construction on the corner of Avenue R and 40th Street East in Palmdale hummed along as a massive school campus took shape.

AUG 22, 2018 – Former Principal Alleges Oakland’s BayTech School Was Source of Funding for Gülen Movement

The school’s former principal, Hayri Hatipoglu, alleges that the embattled charter school was used to bankroll a religious and political movement that was accused by Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of participating in an attempted 2016 coup.

AUG 22, 2018 – Primavera charter CEO gets $8.8M despite having Arizona’s third-highest dropout rate

By most academic measures, Primavera online charter school is a failure. Its student-to-teacher ratio is 215-to-1 — 12 times the state average — allowing little or no individualized attention. On recently released state standardized tests, less than a quarter of its students passed math and about a third passed English, both below the state average.

AUG 20, 2018 – Paterson charter school agrees to $90,000 settlement in sexual harassment case

A city charter school has agreed to pay $90,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit that a substitute teacher filed last December against an administrator who was thinking of running for mayor at the time.

AUG 19, 2018 – Bronx charter school teacher says she was fired for reporting sexual harassment

An award-winning Bronx charter school teacher sounded the alarm on vile sexual harassment by one of her students — and then was fired by vengeful administrators anxious to avoid a scandal, an explosive lawsuit charges.

AUG 17, 2018 – Failed inspection delays start date for new charter school

“This isn’t uncommon. It’s unfortunate, obviously, but it is not uncommon when starting a charter school or starting a school,” McClelland said. “We’re not going to be throwing something together in order to make sure that we can open school, but that we will ensure that kids are safe when they come in.”

AUG 16, 2018 – Glendale charter school drops student because of his disability, mom alleges

The mother of a student at Heritage Elementary has accused the Glendale charter school of kicking out her 6-year-old son because he has a disability.Haylee Barthol made the allegation in a complaint to the state Charter Board.

AUG 13, 2018 – Why are charter schools paying a bounty (with public funds) to get students?

Just as a department store shoe salesman earns a commission if he can sell you a pair of loafers, at least one consultant is earning a commission if she can sell parents on enrolling their child in a certain charter school.

AUG 11, 2018 – Democracy Prep charter school says this will be its last year in Southeast D.C.

A prominent Southeast Washington charter school with more than 600 students announced Friday that the coming school year will be its last. Leaders of Democracy Prep Congress Heights said in an email to parents that the school, which has students in preschool through eighth grade, was unable “to provide Congress Heights scholars the school they deserve.”

AUG 11, 2018 – Pioneering Ohio charter school operator sells off assets

A for-profit charter school operator in Ohio that became a pioneer of the school choice movement has gotten out of the business, the Akron Beacon Journal reported. White Hat Management, founded in 2000 by Akron industrialist David Brennan, has quietly sold off the last of its contracts to run charter schools.

AUG 10, 2018 – Oakland’s BayTech Charter School Violated Multiple State Laws

School administrators forced students to buy uniforms, graduation caps and gowns, and made parents buy tickets to attend ceremonies. BayTech’s board also repeatedly violated the Brown Act.

AUG 09, 2018 – Federal Lawsuit Proceeds Against Success Academy Charter Network

This month a U.S. District Court judge ruled that a federal lawsuit against the Success Academy Charter School Network can proceed. Parents of five former Success pre-school and kindergarten students at its Fort Greene school in Brooklyn charge that the network discriminates against children with disabilities and retaliates against families, forcing them to remove their children from Success schools.

AUG 09, 2018 – Orleans school district cites Harney charter school for possible violations of federal law

The Orleans Parish school district has cited Edgar P. Harney Spirit of Excellence Academy for allegedly violating federal law by improperly withholding tens of thousands of dollars in employee retirement contributions. The district also issued a warning to the school for failing to provide adequate services for special education students.

AUG 08, 2018 – Ohio wins case against online charter school ECOT

Ohio had authority to calculate a giant online charter school’s funding using student participation data rather than only enrollment, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday in the latest blow to the now-dismantled e-school.

AUG 08, 2018 – Ex-Logos head faces $5,500 fine for ethics violations

A state ethics commission will decide Friday whether to fine the former executive director of Logos Public Charter School $5,500 for violating ethics laws when he signed a $1.5 million contract with the school a month after he had resigned.

AUG 08, 2018 – BayTech Charter School Under Investigation

The principal suddenly resigned after the school’s board accused him of fraud, but the controversy raises questions about the school’s links to the Gülen movement.

AUG 08, 2018 – Closed charter school is sued as better options evade displaced students

A major local developer is suing for $870,000 after an Akron charter school abruptly closed this summer with three years left on a rental agreement.

AUG 07, 2018 – Racketeering trial approaching for Newpoint charter school owner

A Sarasota man is set to stand trial in Pensacola next month for allegedly stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in public funding from charter schools he managed.

AUG 06, 2018 – Families scramble after school bus routes canceled

A charter school in northeast Polk County has cut two bus routes, leaving parents scrambling the week before the new school year begins. “That leaves me with four children that cannot make it to school,” Joseline Sanchez told FOX 13.

AUG 04, 2018 – Expectations and limitations color Lake Wales charter votes

Lake Wales Charter Schools wants students; members of the Polk County School Board want a guarantee. A permanent solution could take some time and better communication between the two sides, but the School Board approved a motion that appeared to be a show of good faith earlier this week.

AUG 02, 2018 – Albuquerque charter school abruptly shuts down citing ‘bureaucracy’

A local charter school has suddenly shut down, leaving a lot of students in the lurch less than two weeks before the school year starts.

AUG 01, 2018 – Many charter schools fail to disclose spending on low-income students, report says

The vast majority of California’s charter schools sampled for a study failed to fully disclose how they spent money on students targeted for assistance under the state’s funding formula.

JULY – 2018

Frustrated so far in their attempts to close Eagle Arts Academy, Palm Beach County public school leaders are going for the nuclear option: an immediate shutdown of the troubled Wellington charter school.

The Beaver County woman who helped her brother hide some of the $8 million he stole from PA Cyber Charter School in a far-reaching tax fraud and evasion conspiracy has been sentenced to two years of probation, federal prosecutors in Pittsburgh said Monday.

A new charter school that dozens of families in downtown San Jose hoped would open this fall will not welcome students in 2018 after all, leaving parents scrambling for alternatives as summer winds down.

From the outside, Imagine Schools’ Great Western Academy doesn’t look like much of a school. The sterile building sits at the end of a remodeled strip mall along Wilson Road on Columbus’ West Side, where an abundance of empty storefronts nearby hint of better times.

After months of uncertainty over accusations of grade tampering at Langston Hughes Academy, their contract is renewed just a month before classes begin.

Principal Eddie Hundley put his excitement on hold Wednesday, at the first board meeting for his new charter school, refuting claims that he knowingly recommended someone for a teaching job while they were under investigation for sexual misconduct.

A Santa Fe-based online charter school that received orders from the state to close this summer will get to operate for at least one more semester under a state District Court judge’s recent ruling.

Hours after James handed over the young woman’s Individualized Education Program — the document that spells out the support and services that special-education students must by law receive — the school rescinded the girl’s admission.

For months after federal agents raided the offices of a Los Angeles charter school network, seizing documents and electronic records, the Celerity Educational Group tried to overhaul its image.

For years, Benjamin Banneker Charter Academy of Technology struggled to meet state performance expectations. As a result, last October its sponsor, the University of Central Missouri, severed ties with the charter. Its contract expired June 30.

Odyssey Charter School parents and teachers have been packing board meetings this summer to question the hiring of a new co-administrator, the convening of committee meetings with little public notice and the resignation of a board president rumored to be in line for a full-time job.

Tri-Valley Learning Corp., the charter school operator, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to reorganize its debts in November 2016 and converted that bankruptcy to Chapter 7 liquidation eight months later.

Multiple families tell the ABC7 I-Team their children routinely don’t have enough time to eat lunch or go to the bathroom at KIPP DC Northeast Academy, a public charter middle school.

Eagle Arts Academy’s executive director became the target of a theft investigation Monday after authorities say he took video cameras belonging to a church that rents space on the campus, the latest flareup at the charter school as its future becomes increasingly uncertain.

The Orleans Parish School Board confirmed Tuesday that a charter school improperly withheld employees’ retirement contributions, which The Lens has reported could have reduced their investment gains and may violate federal guidelines.

My son attended a charter school for eight years. And every year, there was a mandatory meeting for parents at which administrators asked parents to donate $1,800 per student to help pay for the school’s renowned arts program.

Heritage Elementary, a Glendale charter school that uses “family values curriculum,” is refusing to pay at least 20 teachers — all women — for merit pay they earned in the past academic year, the educators claim.

The case stems from allegations that a teacher at a charter school grabbed a student with a disability and dragged him down the hall and then slung him against a wall.

Just last month, a virtual charter school serving more than 1,800 kids shut its doors. And last year, four charter schools closed around the state, sending hundreds of students scattering to find a new place to learn.

Private donors are boosting the pay of the city’s charter-school chieftains. Eva Moskowitz, CEO of the 46-school Success Academy network, received a pay package totaling $782,175 in 2016.

The once-mighty White Hat charter school empire continues being dismantled, with its longtime e-school – the Ohio Distance Learning Academy (OhDELA) – being turned over to the fast-growing Accel charter school network.

Frustrated in their efforts to close the controversial Wellington charter school, school district leaders have decided to stop paying it until a judge determines the school’s final fate.

Way’s own development and finance companies bought the land and then built most of the school buildings. Then, they sold or leased them to American Leadership Academy, where Way, until last year, was board chairman.

Palm Beach County public school leaders can’t seem to shut down Eagle Arts Academy, so they’re trying the next best thing: shutting off the school’s money.

The investigation found that about half of the allegations were credible, such as the school failing to properly administer state exams during the 2015-2016 school year, the school employing uncredentialed teachers for extended periods of time and hiring employees who posed a conflict of interest.

A former certified public accountant who helped the founder of PA Cyber Charter School shield millions of stolen taxpayer dollars from the IRS is headed to federal prison for a year and a day.

A total of 22 violations, including financial and operational irregularities, enrollment discrepancies, failure to properly maintain student and employee records, and the determination that the charter school’s purported governing board was improperly constituted and did not meet statutory legal requirements.

An online charter school in Michigan has voluntarily shut down after Michigan State Police launched an investigation into alleged fraudulent practices.

But since the deadly incident, which inspired new statewide regulations, sparked a criminal probe, and got the Rehabilitation Center’s license suspended, Michel hasn’t stopped pitching new business ideas. His latest move? Opening a charter school.

A charter school in Willimantic is closing amid allegations it reported inconsistent student records, enrollment and allowed unapproved school policies, according to state officials.

As Ohio seeks to recover over $60 million from a giant online charter school that closed, the attorney general says the school founder and his two businesses should be on the hook for that public funding.

Kamalani Academy in Wahiawa opened in August. In its inaugural year, more than half of Kamalani’s 14 teachers left the school.

Hundreds of families are scrambling to find a new school for their children for the fall after a contentious vote recently to revoke a Minneapolis charter school of its accreditation.

In May the state board of education began the revocation process and late last month held a day long hearing on the situation. Problems with the school included discrepancies in student records and enrollment, operating unauthorized satellite schools, and the implementation of unauthorized school policies.

Three charter schools recommended for nonrenewal by the School District in 2016 and another three for nonrenewal or revocation in 2017 remain open, with no closing dates imminent. The charter for one of those schools, Aspira-run John B. Stetson, expired even earlier, in 2015.

An Indiana charter school is backing off its unconventional plan to open a statewide virtual school with a farm campus following scrutiny from state officials over its oversight model.

Bankers, developers and real estate brokers are working together with Teach for America (TFA) and charter school enterprises to offer low income housing mainly for Teach for America recruits and other teachers who do not have adequate pay for clean and safe housing along with free space for charter schools through city and state support.

It’s been nearly six months since Christopher Clemons, who helped found Latin Grammar School and Latin College Preparatory Charter School, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for committing the largest charter school theft in Georgia history.

JUNE – 2018

Three people who worked at a Memphis charter high school are alleging that the administration falsified grades, improperly employed uncertified teachers, gave credits for a class that did not exist, and pulled students out of class to clean the building.

Indiana’s Charter School Board says it will not sponsor Xavier School of Excellence, a charter school in South Bend. This will force it to close. Ball State cited financial issues and failing grades for the change.

Legacy Leadership Academy leaders decided to close after they were told by Shelby County Schools that it wasn’t in compliance with state law, district officials announced during a board meeting on Tuesday.

A public military charter school in Los Angeles that’s been plagued by financial woes in recent years has been charging illegal summer school fees and unfairly compensating some students who have been working at the school because they could not afford them, state education and labor officials said Tuesday.

The online school was at risk of losing its charter contract due to the elementary program’s low performance, which garnered the lowest one-star rating under the state’s accountability system.

An Albuquerque charter school will be forced to shut down. APS says La Resolana Leadership Academy, near San Mateo and Central, faced concerns with individual education plans.

Heritage Leadership Academy lost its charter last fall after the state cited issues with low-performance and non-compliance.

Edgar P. Harney Spirit of Excellence Academy has delayed employees’ retirement contributions for weeks, sometimes months. The practice could have deprived employees of investment gains and could violate federal guidelines for retirement accounts.

A new Corpus Christi charter school has ties to a shelter for unaccompanied migrant children in Brownsville that received national attention after U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley was denied entry.

A state audit released Tuesday on the DECA Prep charter school in Dayton identifies a small case of misspent money, but school officials confirm auditors are finishing a larger investigation that has already led to a criminal conviction.

York County Common Pleas Judge Richard K. Renn said Friday, June 15, that Thackston must take all steps necessary to surrender its charter and close by June 30.

As recently as a year ago, the public school system in the nation’s capital was being hailed as a shining example of successful urban education reform and a template for districts across the country. Now the situation in the District of Columbia could not be more different.

Conspicuously absent from the open house were African-American parents. Of the dozen or so prospective families in attendance, all were white except for one South Asian couple.

Comparing them to villains from a Charles Dickens novel who steal from the poor, a federal judge on Friday sentenced Varnett charter school founders Marian Annette Cluff and Alsie Cluff Jr. to 10 years and 3 years in prison, respectively, for running an embezzlement and tax scheme that bilked low-income parents.

Shelby County Schools is recommending the closure of a charter school situated in a Memphis suburb, outside the district’s limits.

The president of a Saginaw charter school has been suspended from his post after being accused of using the dark web to acquire child pornography.

“The for-profit charter school scam is the largest political scandal in Ohio’s history, affecting all 88 Ohio counties and virtually every single taxpayer,” Space said in a written statement.

Is the Public Records Act working in Ohio, particularly when it comes to receiving information about charter schools? If one recent example is typical of compliance with the statute, the answer is probably no.

Students are revolting against summer homework “abuse” at Eva Moskowitz’s Success Academy High School for the Liberal Arts in Manhattan.

Colorado’s largest charter school for gifted and talented students has been hit with eight civil rights complaints in two years.

It stiffed its landlord for months and withheld teachers’ paychecks for weeks, but Eagle Arts Academy managed to finish a turbulent school year without closing its doors.

The State College Area School District Board of Directors will have a hearing to determine if they are going to not renew Wander Charter School’s charter for next year.

Former and current Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board members and some local clergy gathered Tuesday to voice their opposition to House Bill 514 – and threaten a lawsuit.

Vance Charter School Principal Sean Connolly, who has been battling felony charges of identity theft for more than a year, has resigned from his position, effective at the end of the month, according to a Vance Charter School newsletter released Saturday.

In a statement sent to The Trentonian on Friday, International Academy of Trenton (IAT) Charter School Board President Larry Chenault “regretfully” accepted the doomed fate of the school, which spent $17 million to renovate the former Times of Trenton building into a state-of-the-art learning center.

Connecticut educators are supporting a decision by state education officials to begin proceedings to yank the license of a Windham charter school accused of defrauding taxpayers of $1.6 million.

MAY – 2018

School leaders met Thursday about the fate of Phoenix Academy, a charter school offering credit recovery. Phoenix board members got word earlier this week that Toledo Public Schools leaders are considering suspending the academy’s operations.

An attorney for the Republic of Turkey and a documentary filmmaker have issued a call to action for residents of Massachusetts, where a network of charter schools with alleged links to a controversial Turkish cleric continue to expand.

Four administrators at a Denver charter school are suspended after a playground fight captured on video showed the school’s restorative justice coordinator encouraging the students to throw punches.

“Everybody’s afraid.” That’s a D.C. charter school administrator’s assessment of TenSquare, one of the city’s most connected, lucrative, and controversial charter consulting companies.

Path Academy is a charter high school that teaches older students, or those who aren’t on track to graduate on time. The state claims that Path has operated two satellite locations in Hartford and Norwich without being authorized to do so.

The State Board of Education is considering moving forward in the process of revoking the charter for Path Academy in Windham, after the state flagged “significant issues” with the school, officials said.

New Vision Academy came under scrutiny in March after an anonymous whistleblower sent a detailed report to school board member Amy Frogge, who forwarded it to the district.

A local charter school that nearly closed because of about $200,000 in debt is under scrutiny again for how it’s running its special education program.

Three days before summer break at Cypress Academy, the small charter school in Mid-City told parents that Wednesday will be its last day — forever.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg school officials trumpeted a new report that said creating municipal charters would be costly for the towns, bad for teachers and have implications for local governments across the state.

Charter schools in North Texas ranked lower overall in quality than traditional public schools in the state, according to a recent report by Children At Risk, and charter schools serving primarily black or Latino students did worst of all in terms of achievement.

A charter school founder has been sentenced to 55 months in prison. State Prosecutors say that Steven Kunkemoeller and his business partner Marcus May, owner of Newpoint Education Partners LLC, overcharged Newpoint Charter Schools for school items like desks and ipads and kept the profits.

In recent years, some charter schools have discreetly turned to a controversial recruitment strategy: offering low-income families cash stipends or other prizes in exchange for drawing new students into their schools.

The charter school had transferred many of its lowest-performing students to a private school on the same campus immediately before state assessments, preventing those students from taking them and affecting the school’s grade, according to district officers.

A Tulsa County district judge on Thursday issued a temporary restraining order against Carmen Pettie, president of the Langston Hughes Academy for Arts and Technology board of directors, after three fellow board members claimed she misled them regarding grade-tampering allegations at the charter school.

A 41-year-old man who works at a D.C. public charter school has been arrested and charged with several counts of child sexual abuse, D.C. police said.

About 45 percent of area school district campuses earned A’s and B’s while only 27 percent of charter schools got those top marks in an annual report released Wednesday by Houston-based Children At Risk.

Officials at Clayton Valley Charter High School are being tight-lipped about the departure of its executive director and chief program officer, who are husband and wife.

Basis, which last year received about $84 million in state money to operate its Arizona schools, secured loans for its out-of-state schools by pledging as collateral future tax dollars and its Arizona campuses.

A world away from his Central City school, where 97 percent of students are considered economically disadvantaged, the head of a charter school board racked up $778 over six months at an upscale restaurant on St. Charles Avenue.

Ohio’s then-largest online charter school may have broken the law by withholding information used in calculating payments and inflated the amount of time students spent learning, the state auditor said Thursday.

Charter operators representing 138 of the state’s 538 charter schools showed financial warning signs in the 2016-17 school year, according to an Arizona Republic analysis of data from the state charter board.

A Philadelphia-area attorney and accountant was convicted of embezzlement this week for running a charter school scam that also brought down the scion of one of Philly’s formerly most powerful political families.

The for-profit charter school system that has drained more than $1 billion from the state’s public schools. The lack of transparency and oversight and the GOP’s refusal to treat the charters and public schools equally have led to widespread corruption.

Under the new law, school districts will be required to post their budgets and audit information on their websites, but a last-minute amendment to the bill exempts charter schools from those rules along with the new procurement penalties.

Suffering from low enrollment, two Denver charter schools will close, one will delay opening by a year, and another has just over a week to attract enough students to open as planned in August.

The school is under investigation by the Alisal Unified School District. Over a dozen complaints are being investigated by the Alisal Union School District ranging from lack of transparency, to underperforming test scores, to reports that students were allegedly required to clean the school bathrooms.

The leaders of the academically high-ranked French language immersion charter admit that’s jarring for a school in the Kansas City Public Schools district, where almost 9 in 10 students are minorities. It’s also a big change: The school started out nearly two decades ago well-mixed.

APRIL – 2018

But although charter schools are intended to offer students better educational opportunities, they also pose a danger of making inequities worse than they were.

Washington Mathematics Science Technology Public Charter High School’s financial woes have existed for much longer than the DC Public Charter School Board let on.

The Tulsa charter school, Langston Hughes Academy for Arts and Technology, is under investigation after accusations arose that the principal, assistant principal, principal’s secretary and special education coordinator changing students’ grades.

Education regulators are reviewing a whistleblower’s claim that Ohio’s then-largest online charter school intentionally inflated attendance figures tied to its state funding using software it purchased after previous allegations of attendance inflation, The Associated Press has learned.

A former superintendent who now leads six charter schools told Shelby County Schools he will close both of his network’s high schools this summer.

Some families are questioning whether their students will return to Fort Worth’s Academy of the Fine Arts next year amid calls for the president and CEO to resign after the principal’s abrupt departure.

A former superintendent who now leads six charter schools told Shelby County Schools he will close both of his network’s high schools this summer.

An Einstein Academy official announced Wednesday the school would be relinquishing its charter to the Acton Agua Dulce Unified School District effective June 30.

New Mexico Education Secretary Christopher Ruszkowski is upholding a decision to close a charter school in northern New Mexico with 200 students.

A recently released study raises questions about whether charter schools improve academic achievement for students in Indiana more than traditional public schools.

The Public Charter School Commission has voted to put a Big Island school on notice for possible revocation of its charter, citing a range of problems including financial irregularities, enrollment discrepancies and testing procedures

If Red River Charter Academy (RRCA) is given a green light to open in the 2019-20 school year, it could force the Avoyelles School Board to close and/or reorganize schools, Superintendent Blaine Dauzat told the board this past Tuesday.

A pair of state lawmakers are asking for an audit of the Chicopee-based Hampden Charter School of Science to learn how the taxpayer-funded school spends its money.

New Mexico’s top education official has decided to not renew the charter for an online school, citing its failure to live up to its touted potential.

The Cluffs, a husband-and-wife duo who admitted to embezzling $2.6 million in school-related funds and failing to disclose the money on federal tax returns, are seeking buyers for their six-bedroom, 7,000-square-foot estate as they try to pay back the government and local victims

The more than 6,000 students enrolled in Idaho’s virtual schools perform well below their brick-and-morter peers on an array of academic performance indicators, from standardized tests to high school graduation rates.

The closing will impact about 1,900 of the 2,100 at-risk students enrolled in the statewide school. Ten percent of the 2,100 students are on track to earn diplomas in June.

A former charter school principal who pleaded guilty to stealing federal funding from the Academy of Dover will serve a year and a month in prison and must pay $145,480 in restitution.

In April 2015, Inweekly reported that Newpoint High, one of Escambia County’s high-performing charter schools, had been accused of fixing grades, failing to report possible child abuse to state authorities and mishandling funds.

Stargate Charter School in Thornton has an award-winning reputation when it comes to educating gifted students in Colorado. But some current and former parents tell 9NEWS that the school’s image needs repair after seven complaints were filed in the last two years with the Office of Civil Rights inside the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Less than 2 months after Houston ISD in-district charter school Victory Prep North abruptly closed after running out of money, Victory Prep South notified Houston ISD officials that it does not have the funds to finish out the school year.

Eagle Arts Academy’s two principals resigned Monday and several teachers threatened to quit after the Wellington charter school withheld paychecks last week and the school revealed that employees will not be paid for at least another week.

MARCH – 2018

An Atlanta charter school is under fire for conveying blackface masks while reciting a historic African-American poem that symbolizes black oppression.

The July 10 sentencing will come nearly five years after Trombetta, 62, was indicted by a grand jury on 11 counts of tax fraud and conspiracy in August 2013. He pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the IRS in August 2016.

Though far removed geographically from each other, two new Florida charter schools share an uncommon feature: They both have a board member who is married to a state lawmaker heavily involved in crafting state policy on charter schools.

Carpe Diem Preparatory Academy in College Hill is closing its door at the end of the school year, displacing about 200 students and teachers.

“The Southbridge school district has been taken over by the state, and then the state allowed a charter school to come in right next door and siphon off kids from a school district that was already losing kids,” Mr. Durant remarked.

A jury has convicted an Ohio businessman of bilking $1 million from Florida’s public charter schools. An equal amount may have gone missing in Ohio. But for a second straight year, no elected official — not the governor, the attorney general or Summit County’s top prosecutor — will say whether anyone here is paying attention.

The court-appointed receiver Joshua Kern recommended closure after two years of trying to fix perennially low graduation rates, high student turnover and falling enrollment.

Parents at Stargate Charter School in Thornton, the largest charter school for gifted and talented students in the state, are outraged at what they say has been the school’s total disregard of its legal obligations to protect and serve all students.

The Mount Vernon Board of Ethics has accused Mayor Richard Thomas of collecting more than $100,000 as a trustee of the Amani Public Charter School in violation of state education law.

A network of Utah charter schools is facing backlash over its top administrator’s use of social media, including a February statement that criticized illegal immigration for fueling a drug “scourge.”

“This is probably one of the most egregious, most outrageous things I’ve ever read about a charter school,” Kathy Senseman, President of the Arizona State Board for Charter Schools, said in a special session Tuesday.

When it comes to the discipline of minority students, the stats for charter schools nationwide are troubling. Racial segregation still exists in the charter school world, and institutions that are predominantly black have much harsher discipline practices than those that are predominantly white.

During the trial prosecutors said Kunkemoeller intentionally overbilled Newpoint charter schools around the state for goods like computers, iPads and furniture. He then allegedly split the proceeds with the owner of the company that ran the schools.

State, Sonoma and Marin County education officials — along with a Petaluma school district — are seeking documents from an umbrella charter group that formerly backed a Fairfax school to see if the charter group’s financial house was in order.

I was an English teacher at a New York City public school from 2005 to 2009 — until I got burnt out and decided to quit.

North Carolina’s traditional public schools are becoming more segregated and charter schools are partly to blame, according to a new report from the left-leaning N.C. Justice Center.

Palm Beach County public school leaders are moving to shut down Eagle Arts Academy, saying the controversy-plagued Wellington charter school is hemorrhaging money and that its executive director last year steered tens of thousands of dollars from the school into one of his companies amid the school’s financial woes.

Deliberations are scheduled to begin Friday in the trial of an Ohio businessman accused of defrauding charter schools in Pensacola and other parts of the state out of nearly $1 million in public funding.

The finances of one of the first charter schools in the nation’s capital have grown so dire that its survival is threatened and its ability to pay teachers in doubt, a financial analysis shows.

According to court documents, School Warehouse sold items like desks and iPads at inflated prices to charter schools run by Newpoint Education Partners.

For charter schools across the state, the news has been relentlessly bad in recent months: A Western Massachusetts principal fired after a drug arrest. A Dorchester school placed on probation amid allegations of financial mismanagement.

A public feud between the state’s publicly funded charter-school district and four of its low-performing schools is drawing pointed criticisms from lawmakers, asking whether charter schools, granted more freedoms in exchange for better results, are working.

A lawyer for the state Board of Ethics asked a panel of judges last week to order the firing of Doris Roché-Hicks, CEO of Friends of King Schools, for violating nepotism laws. If not, the lawyer said her son-in-law and sister should lose their jobs.

FEBRUARY – 2018

Roiled by unsustainable debts, a disintegrating school board, and violations of state requirements, Indiana College Preparatory School lost its charter and will close at the end of the school year.

Richard Mestas, executive director and principal of GOAL Academy High School, the state’s largest alternative-education program, has been placed on paid administrative leave during an internal investigation, says the school’s attorney, Dustin Sparks of Monument.

KIPP, one of the country’s largest and most successful charter school chains, dismissed its co-founder on Thursday after an investigation found credible a claim that he had sexually abused a student some two decades ago, according to a letter sent to the school community.

Gov. Rick Snyder has signed into law a change allowing charter schools to receive revenue from certain voter-approved property tax hikes. The taxes go to counties’ traditional school districts on a per-student basis, on top of their state funding. The new law lets charters get a share of the extra local funding.

Nevada Virtual Academy, an online K-12 charter school, and Quest Preparatory Academy, a K-6 charter school in Clark County, were both issued “notices of intent to terminate” by the Nevada State Public Charter School Authority.

Like many charter schools, Executive Education Academy spends a good chunk of its budget on rent, some of which is later reimbursed by the state. That’s allowed, as long as the school doesn’t own its building, which Executive Academy doesn’t — technically.

The growing number of charter schools in Syracuse are draining the school district’s finances and hampering efforts to improve city schools. Those are some of the reasons the district may ask the state to temporarily ban additional charter schools in Syracuse.

With less than a day’s notice, some 70 students no longer have a school.

One of the state’s largest public school districts will no longer be allowed to sponsor charter schools. The Ohio Board of Education voted 15-0 Monday to revoke the Cincinnati Public School District’s status as a charter school sponsor.

Are Charter schools fostering segregation in Charlotte-Mecklenburg public schools? According to a new study released by the Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles at UCLA with researchers at UNC Charlotte, the answer is yes.

Standing behind their attorney, former teachers and staff of the now-shuttered charter school are accusing the school’s owners of using state funds to live a life of luxury.

One of Nashville’s three Achievement School District schools will close at the end of the semester due to low enrollment, just months after it opened.

Hundreds of students and their parents were blindsided on Monday morning when they arrived at Goodyear’s Discovery Creemos Academy and found the charter school shuttered.

North Carolina law requires traditional public schools to practice lockdown drills at least once a year to prepare if an intruder ever came on campus. Yet, North Carolina charter schools, which are publicly funded and privately run, are not required to do the same.

JANUARY – 2018

The CEO of one of the city’s most influential charter school advocacy groups has been fired after being accused of “inappropriate behavior” by a non-employee.

James Mata, 47, of Rockford, is charged with assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder (a possible 10-year felony) and third-degree child abuse (a possible two-year felony).

Hundreds of students were suddenly left without a school this week after a financially and academically struggling Goodyear charter school closed its doors.

The CEO of the James M. Singleton Charter School and Dryades YMCA is stepping down after the state voided dozens of standardized tests at the school for suspected cheating and other irregularities.

The D.C. Public Charter School Board, which oversees the city’s charter schools, says it is investigating allegations that one of its employees anonymously wrote blog posts that critics say are aligned with the “alt-right,” an amorphous political movement that is associated with white nationalism.

The head of a South Dallas charter school is accused of taking at least $5,000 to steer a technology contract toward a specific provider under a federal program that’s been tangled up in other controversies.

An Atlanta charter school founder has pleaded guilty Tuesday to stealing more than half a million dollars from local public school systems. The former principal at Latin Academy, Chris Clemons, pleaded guilty to over 50 counts of theft and five counts of forgery after a hearing and sentencing that lasted about two hours.

The vote, which shutters a school so politically-connected it was once thought untouchable, came just two hours after the Ohio Department of Education rejected an offer from the school that would keep it open through the end of the school year.

The Arizona State Board for Charter Schools revealed San Tan Charter School shouldn’t have hired a P.E. teacher because state law says charters schools aren’t allowed to hire teachers who’ve had teaching certificates revoked.

The pro-school-choice Center for Educational Reform ranks Arizona as the state with the fewest regulations and restrictions for charter schools in the country.

A $17 million charter school on Perry Street that promised to offer high-quality education when it opened last September is now at high risk of being shut down.

New Mexico’s education chief is being blasted for linking the growth of charter schools to the controversial 19th-century idea of American expansion known as Manifest Destiny. Even after he apologized to American Indian leaders, criticism of his remarks has persisted.

The recent revelation that the campaign money-laundering case against Los Angeles school board member Ref Rodriguez has expanded to include separate allegations of conflict of interest reveals a hard truth: the public knows far too little about how our money is being spent on charter schools.

Imagine West Gilbert, a K-8 charter school, fired six teachers for violating its alcohol abuse policy on campus during school hours, according to spokesperson Rhonda Cagle.

I asked around and was told that students enrolled in Arizona’s many charter schools are severely punished if they are caught cheating. Weird. Because for the people who own and operate charter schools, it’s just the opposite.