#ANOTHERDAYANOTHERCHARTERSCHOOLSCANDAL
New info on multi-million dollar education fraud after recent charter school-related indictment
The individuals listed in the indictment reportedly used fraudulent enrollment reporting methods to receive funding from the state that they were not owed nor supposed to be eligible for. Between 2016 through 2019, the defendants submitted false numbers for more than 4,500 students they knew were not attending either school in order to receive state tuition reimbursement.
Early College of Arvada charter school will close at the end of school year in Colorado
Jacob Bader, a social studies teacher at ECA finds the move by the Colorado Charter School Institute disappointing as well. He says CSI’s decision has a lot to do with high financial risks. The school closure is in part due to declining enrollment, a decrease in academic performance and increasing financial risks.
Peoria Public Schools severs its relationship with Quest Charter Academy. What we know
The vote came after a long presentation by district attorney Frazier Satterly, who explained the facts that prompted PPS administrators to recommend the closure of the charter school concept. Quest has not met academic goals, does not have the minimum number of certified staff, has a high teacher turnover rate, and has a bad track record for student discipline.
Virtual charter school trio federally indicted
Estimates of the alleged fraudulent reimbursements total $85 million while Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita has sued the operators for $154 million as the defendants are accused of steering excessive cash payments to themselves and family members and private for-profit companies they owned for claimed administrative costs.
How did this charter school get a $2 million grant from the federal government? Our Schools USA on Instagram
Shocker that far-right extremists who say they reject public funding of education take $2 million in federal dollars.
We are not surprised. It’s all about the grift
The Wild West of Education: Q&A with Charter School Expert
A Northern California charter school prides itself on educating adults and a large immigrant and refugee population, but whistleblowers and some critics describe the charter school as cult-like, toxic and say the school’s leaders are capitalizing off these students, rather than truly educating them.
Former virtual charter school leaders face federal charges tied to alleged enrollment scam
Several former charter school operators were indicted last week for their alleged roles in conspiring to defraud the state of Indiana by padding student enrollment at virtual charter schools.
Federal grand jury indicts Indiana virtual charter school leaders in alleged $44M enrollment scheme
A federal grand jury indicted three former administrators from two defunct Indiana online charter schools in an alleged scheme to collect millions of dollars in state funds. They are accused of a conspiracy to defraud the state by falsely reporting thousands of students who did not attend as enrolled at Indiana Virtual School and Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy. The indictment claims that as a result of false enrollment reports, the state education department paid more than $44 million to the schools that they were not entitled to receive.
Haven votes to close Yoder Charter School
Yoder Charter school closes due to low enrollment and financial impact on the district. Families will be forced to find a new school over the summer.
Propaganda aside, school choice still seems pretty unpopular
In Arkansas, fewer families applied for vouchers in the first year than expected. A report to state lawmakers that went out in October suggested some of the voucher money allocated for the inaugural year will go unclaimed. With the 2023-2024 school year well underway, Arkansas has spent $7.1 million on vouchers, and projected to spend $32.5 for the school year, a good bit less than the $46.7 million budgeted.
A second New Orleans charter school will shut down this year
The school, located on South Carrollton Avenue, was one of three underperforming charter schools in New Orleans at risk of shutting down after the district’s annual charter renewal and extension process.
Charter high school in Las Vegas’ Historic Westside to close
Parent Latasha Burrell — who has children in sixth and 10th grades at Democracy Prep — said Wednesday that she is “baffled and shocked” by the decision to close the high school.“It was a shock, of course, because this came out of nowhere,” she said. Burrell said her son, who is in high school, is distraught and wanted to graduate from Democracy Prep.
Hawaii charter schools lagging on tests
Test score data suggests that students in Hawaii’s 37 public charter schools as a group are lagging markedly behind regular public school students statewide in core subjects, and that has led some state lawmakers to demand stronger accountability and standards from charter school officials.
Meltdown of prominent CPA firm comes amid crisis for Minnesota charter schools
One owner’s theft led to the demise of the Anton Group, which worked for dozens of charter schools across the state, where there is a shortage of firms to help with finances.
School choice is a high-risk taxpayer-funded experiment. Don’t change Kentucky’s Constitution.
Like salmon swimming home to spawn, lobbyists are again roaming the hallways of the Kentucky State Capitol. This year, big-dollar lobbyists representing corporate-run private schools and churches are pushing House Bill 208 to change the state’s constitution to allow politicians to throw millions of tax dollars into private and religious schools.