April 2019
APR 28, 2019 – Flint Board Of Ed Says Charter Schools Allegedly Dump Students After Count Day But Keep Money
Some Flint Community Schools Board of Education members and the district’s superintendent say enrollment for Flint increases after charter schools send students back before required state testing but after student count day.
APR 30, 2019 – Are charter school leaders ignoring DC laws?
Unsurprisingly, a significant number of charter schools appear to be in violation of the suicide act, which the council approved in spring 2016. The SEED Public Charter School is alleged to have been one of those violators, when in 2018, Stormiyah Denson-Jackson, a 12-year-old student at the Ward 7 boarding school hanged herself in her dorm room.
APR 29, 2019 – Sequoia school district wants charter to return $4 million for allegedly breaking contract
In yet another conflict between Bay Area public and charter schools, the Sequoia Union High School District in Redwood City is suing a local charter school operator to recoup $4 million.
APR 28, 2019 – Investigation of $1M New Orleans bus deal left to law firm after report of falsified meeting minutes
The Orleans Parish School Board has decided not to independently investigate allegations that the CEO of the New Beginnings charter network falsified meeting minutes after entering into a nearly $1 million bus contract without approval from the network’s board.
APR 28, 2019 – Parents of suspended students are owed a conversation
After Sophie B. Wright Charter School doled out five-day suspensions to approximately 30 students who participated in a senior prank and banned those students from prom and commencement exercises, a roomful of people turned out for the school’s regularly scheduled April 9 board meeting. They were presumably there to express their anger at the severity of the punishment, but those folks didn’t get to officially address the board because the board didn’t muster a quorum.
APR 26, 2019 – Parents Left Scrambling as Homestead Charter School Gets Ready to Close
Parents are left scrambling to make alternate plans for their children after school officials announced they are closing a charter school due to low enrollment.
APR 24, 2019 – Sex abuse complaints could be underreported at charter schools, watchdog says
The rate of sexual misconduct allegations reported by Chicago charter school students is less than a third of the rate of complaints logged by their district public school counterparts.
APR 24, 2019 – Nashville charter school Knowledge Academies under scrutiny for financial, academic issues
The Nashville charter school Knowledge Academies is under scrutiny for financial and academic issues that culminated in the firing of its top official earlier this month.
APR 24, 2019 – ReNEW McNair campus closing, parents say they received no notice
ReNEW Schools CEO Tanya Bryant said the decision to close the satellite campus was made in early 2019. However, to this day parents have not received any formal notice, instead finding out through social media chatter. One parent speculates it’s because notice would have been bad for business.
APR 23, 2019 – Plato Academy charter schools in turmoil over management, family feud
One of the largest charter school operators in the Tampa Bay area cut ties with its management company this month, amid legal action that could affect the future of nine schools.
APR 22, 2019 – State should be wary of this charter operator
Charter schools were conceived as laboratories of educational innovation, but increasingly they are becoming laboratories for financial inventions. Among the creations are for-profit school chains with complex ownership arrangements that make it hard for the public to see where its tax dollars go and how much is going into profits rather than education.
APR 22, 2019 – 26 charter schools have the same accountant, but investigators say his work is woefully bad
The auditor of 26 Arizona charter schools faces state sanctions after his work for American Leadership Academy and another school was found to be “woefully below” standards.
APR 22, 2019 – Success Academy forced out a student by suspending him and taking him to a police precinct, lawsuit claims
A Success Academy elementary school pushed out a Brooklyn student with special needs by repeatedly suspending him, calling child services on his mother, and even dropping him off at a police precinct, according to a federal lawsuit.
APR 21, 2019 – Repeat concerns fill case against Erie Rise’s charter
Erie School District, in newly issued nonrenewal notice, says charter school has failed to comply with 2015 improvement plan. Poor academic performance is major concern.
APR 22, 2019 – Suit: Charter school ignored girl’s harassment, retaliated against mother
Fred Birkett, principal of the Alakai O Kauai Charter School, which has 130 students, knows there is a new list on which his school is ranked No. 1 in the state, but he wishes it wasn’t.
APR 11, 2019 – Charter schools-aligned group spends big in Newark school board race
The top spender in Newark’s school board race is a special-interest group with ties to New Jersey charter schools, according to campaign filings reported ahead of Tuesday’s election.
APR 18, 2019 – Many Online Charter Schools Fail to Graduate Even Half of Their Students on Time
If you’re attending a full-time online charter high school, the chances are pretty high that the majority of your classmates are not going to earn a diploma on time.
APR 17, 2019 – Suit: Charter school ignored girl’s harassment, retaliated against mother
A woman is suing a Wayne County charter school where she worked, claiming administrators failed to properly address claims her daughter was sexually harassed then interfered with her substitute teaching job for speaking out.
APR 15, 2019 – REALM Charter School a step closer to closing — or merging with online chain
The future of REALM Charter School is once again in flux, with two very different options on the table.
The Berkeley School Board took the first step toward revoking the school’s charter during a dramatic meeting April 10 — but officials are also considering a proposal for the school to merge with online education chain Compass Charter Schools and stay in operation.
APR 15, 2019 – Savannah charter school group calls for leaders’ resignations
Allegations of mismanagement by the school administration have erupted at Susie King Taylor Community School, which many consider a quiet, family-oriented public charter school in Savannah.
APR 16, 2019 – Parents scammed by school to get back nearly $605,000
Some Houston parents can expect a check in the mail after the founders of a charter school were found guilty of a scheme to ‘nickel and dime’ families for things already paid for by the federal government.
APR 15, 2019 – BASIS teacher had class shame a black student for lesson on school segregation, mom says
A Phoenix mother says her 9-year-old son was forced to walk through his class as his teacher and fellow students yelled at, humiliated and berated him during a lesson on school segregation.
APR 12, 2019 – Beverly Hills businessman quits air board after Times charter school investigation
Beverly Hills businessman Clark Parker has resigned from Southern California’s air quality board following a Los Angeles Time investigation into charter schools he founded with his wife.
APR 16, 2019 – Parents scammed by school to get back nearly $605,000
Some Houston parents can expect a check in the mail after the founders of a charter school were found guilty of a scheme to ‘nickel and dime’ families for things already paid for by the federal government.
APR 15, 2019 – BASIS teacher had class shame a black student for lesson on school segregation, mom says
A Phoenix mother says her 9-year-old son was forced to walk through his class as his teacher and fellow students yelled at, humiliated and berated him during a lesson on school segregation.
APR 12, 2019 – Beverly Hills businessman quits air board after Times charter school investigation
Beverly Hills businessman Clark Parker has resigned from Southern California’s air quality board following a Los Angeles Time investigation into charter schools he founded with his wife.
APR 11, 2019 – Indiana paid for thousands of students who never earned credits at virtual charter schools
Last year nearly 2,000 students never earned a single credit across Indiana’s six virtual charter schools, according to new data — even though most of them were enrolled nearly all year and the schools received funding to educate them.
APR 12, 2019 – Innovative Arts Academy Charter School’s non-disparagement agreements keeping faculty quiet
A public hearing that will help determine the fate of the Innovative Arts Academy Charter School will be missing the voices of some former faculty members who want to share their experiences at the embattled charter school – but can’t.
APR 12, 2019 – Costs pile up at CPS-funded charter network over CEO who ‘acted inappropriately’
Chicago’s Noble Network of Charter Schools has spent $326,000 for costs related to the sudden retirement in November of its founder and CEO, who said he’d “acted inappropriately” with recent female graduates of the city’s largest government-funded but privately run charter school network, records obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times show.
APR 11, 2019 – Former MPS Board President Charged In Charter School Bribery Case
A former Milwaukee School Board president was indicted in federal court Thursday in an alleged charter school bribery scheme.
Michael Bonds is accused of accepting $6,000 in bribes from a Philadelphia-based charter school operator.
APR 12, 2019 – Manatee Co. charter school principal may lose educator certification for 5 years
A Manatee charter school may be looking for a new principal.
The case of Eddie Hundley will come before the Education Practices Commission on May 8, two months after the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) recommended his educator certification be revoked for five years.
APR 12, 2019 – Innovative Arts Academy Charter School’s non-disparagement agreements keeping faculty quiet
A public hearing that will help determine the fate of the Innovative Arts Academy Charter School will be missing the voices of some former faculty members who want to share their experiences at the embattled charter school ― but can’t.
APR 08, 2019 – NC charter school that would pay millions to an Arizona businessman gets state backing
The N.C. Charter Schools Advisory Board recommended that state approval be given to Wake Preparatory Academy, a K-12 charter school that wants to open in Wake Forest in 2020. It would be the first charter school in North Carolina for Glenn Way, an Arizona businessman who has made millions of dollars building, selling and leasing properties to the charter schools he runs.
APR 11, 2019 – Execs at Kenny Gamble’s charter school operator implicated in federal bribery probe
In a statement late Monday, Universal officials said it had placed CEO Rahim Islam on leave after the search warrants were executed late last week. The statement did not specify the nature of the investigation, or which agency was running it, but said the probe’s target was Islam, not the nonprofit launched a quarter-century ago by famed music producer Kenny Gamble.
APR 10, 2019 – How a Washington County charter school failed at every step, and was approved anyway
Woodland Prep is a charter school horror story — and it hasn’t even been built yet.
Located in rural Washington County, Woodland Prep, which will open as a K-7 school this fall and add a grade level each year, is everything state leaders assured us could never happen under Alabama’s charter school laws.
APR 08, 2019 – In ‘ugly’ fight between a charter school and its operator, state board won’t take sides
A state advisory board is refusing to take sides in an ugly fight between leaders of a North Carolina virtual charter school and the for-profit company that’s paid millions of dollars a year to educate its 2,400 students.
APR 08, 2019 – Study: Missouri’s charter school policies hinder integration
If you’re a black student enrolled in one of Missouri’s dozens of charter schools, you can expect about 81 percent of your peers to be black, too. The same goes for white students attending traditional public schools: If you’re white, you can expect 83 percent of your classmates to be white.
APR 09, 2019 – SPECIAL REPORT: Taxpayer-backed charter school experiment goes toxic in Easton
More than a dozen former employees told lehighvalleylive.com an administrator is ruining the school. They described an unpredictable taskmaster who screamed at children, joked about zapping a child with a car battery and took pride in crossing out teachers’ photos on a “bingo board” as they were fired.
APR 06, 2019 – State recommends closing Smothers Academy charter school amid financial, special education issues
Officials with the Louisiana Department of Education are recommending the closure of Smothers Academy Preparatory School, an F-rated charter school in Jefferson Parish, amid allegations of financial mismanagement and a failure to properly serve disabled students.
APR 06, 2019 – Laurel Oaks Charter School in Baton Rouge could be forced to close over alleged mismanagement
A small charter school in Baton Rouge that got off to a troubled start and continued to face problems with its operations could be forced to close in May.
APR 07, 2019 – Parent, teacher defections from Detroit charter school could close it
Michelle Villa’s mind was made up. She would finally pull her kids out of the Southwest Detroit Community School, the tiny charter school her older son Anthony has attended since it opened with help from tennis star Andre Agassi in 2013.
APR 05, 2019 – Charter school superintendent, IT employee charged with embezzlement
The head of a Houston-area charter school and another school employee have been indicted on federal embezzlement charges, accused of siphoning more than $250,000 from the school for themselves and using some of the money to buy a car and condominium.
APR 05, 2019 – More allegations emerge against suspended charter schools CEO
The public board of directors that oversees New Beginnings’ three charter schools engaged attorneys from Adams & Reese to investigate allegations, first uncovered by WWL-TV last week, that Blouin-Williams may have created fake board minutes to make it look like a major school bus contract had received board approval.
APR 04, 2019 – NC teacher tapes student’s mouth. School says action was inappropriate but not malicious.
In a message sent to parents Thursday, principal David Thomas said the school’s administration quickly and seriously handled last month’s incident by contacting the student’s parents and meeting with the teacher. Thomas said that the teacher’s actions were inappropriate but not of malicious intent.
APR 04, 2019 – New federal study: Charter middle schools didn’t boost college enrollment or graduation
A new U.S. Department of Education study – one the agency released this week with little fanfare – finds that attending a charter middle school does not make a student more likely to attend or graduate college.
APR 04, 2019 – Charter Schools Are All About the Kids, OK?
Remember that the original sales pitch for charter schools was that they would be part of the public system and not a drain on it. That, of course, has never been true. The charter industry bridles at any regulation. Hell, it bridles at any form of transparency.
APR 01, 2019 – Promesa: Worst Charter Chain or Just the Tip of the Iceberg?
In December 2018 the New York Times published an expose on Southwest Key. The Texas company is notorious for operating inhumane border shelters for incarcerated migrants hoping to secure refugee status in the United States. Its four immigrant shelters include Case Padre, a detention center located in an abandoned Walmart.
APR 02, 2019 – Financial ties between HISD charter, founder draw scrutiny before renewal vote
A trio of intertwined charter school networks operating within Houston ISD have paid or lent at least $17 million during the last five years to a company owned by their highest-ranking employee, an unusual arrangement drawing criticism from some HISD school board members ahead of a vote to renew their contracts.
APR 02, 2019 – State board votes to close Gateway University after confirming it falsified classes, hired uncertified teachers
Seven Tennessee Board of Education members on Tuesday unanimously upheld the Shelby County school board’s decision to close a charter high school – the second Memphis charter the board has voted to close this year.
APR 01, 2019 – New Beginnings CEO on paid leave amid charter school investigation
The board of directors for the New Beginnings Schools Foundation voted unanimously to place Michelle Blouin-Williams on leave pending an investigation into grade inflation and other allegations at the charter network. The charter board has appointed the executive team at New Beginnings as the interim leaders of the organization.