#ANOTHERDAYANOTHERCHARTERSCHOOLSCANDAL
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Closed charter school is sued as better options evade displaced students
Welty Building Co. filed the lawsuit in Summit County this month alleging that Colonial Prep Academy, a tenant at 2199 Fifth St. SW in Akron’s Kenmore neighborhood, was short on rent for nearly a year before mysteriously moving out June 27. The school’s for-profit operator, Cambridge Education Group, is named in the civil suit along with the school’s public board.
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.
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.
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.
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.
PBC schools chief calls for ‘immediate’ shutdown of Eagle Arts Academy
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.