#ANOTHERDAYANOTHERCHARTERSCHOOLSCANDAL
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.