#ANOTHERDAYANOTHERCHARTERSCHOOLSCANDAL
How Many More Years of a Failed Reform Must Orleans Parish Endure?
It has been said that the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again and expect different results.
Well, NOLA Public Schools must be certifiably insane; because here we are — 17 years deep into a so-called education reform movement; and this year’s recently released school performance scores continue to reveal the what we have long known — this reform was and is a farce and a failure.
WATCH: Investigation into four administrators at southern Colorado charter school
Parents of students at Liberty Tree Academy received letters from the school in recent weeks. They say the school’s appointed board is investigating claims of unchecked nepotism, favoritism and an unprofessional and hostile work environment, backed by a dozen people.
Urban Prep loses charter agreement for last Chicago campus
After months of controversy surrounding Urban Prep Academy, the Illinois board of education ended the charter school’s agreement for its downtown campus Thursday, citing enrollment declines.
The move marks the latest blow to the nationally recognized charter network that specializes in serving Black boys on Chicago’s South and West Sides.
What you don’t know about the UW System’s new charter schools should worry you
The UW System’s Office of Educational Opportunity (OEO), created by the Wisconsin Legislature in 2015, is well on its way to overseeing more K-12 schools than the superintendents of most of Wisconsin’s 423 school districts.
Currently, the OEO, the UW System’s charter school authorizer, lists 10 independent charter schools it has authorized on its website. Three more schools haven’t opened yet but have signed contracts with the office. With 13 schools, the OEO has enough schools under its umbrella to be one of Wisconsin’s 20 largest school districts. Yet there is not much publicly available information about how the office is choosing to approve new charters, or even which schools it has already approved.
Local charter schools share teachers as shortage continues
For three periods a day at Momentum Academy Tower Grove South certain classes aren’t being taught by the teacher physically in the classroom, but by a teacher a couple miles down the street at Live for Life Academy.
Muskegon Heights Academy board gives charter school company new deadline to fix staffing issues
The Muskegon Heights Academy board says the Detroit-based charter management company hired to help run the school system breached its contract by failing to fill critical staff vacancies.
The board approved a motion last week to give New Paradigm for Education a 30-day notice to correct the ongoing staffing issues, vice president Joseph Warren told MLive/The Muskegon Chronicle.
A Denver charter school focused on Indigenous education is fighting to stay open
The American Indian Academy of Denver opened in 2020 during the height of the pandemic with a goal of educating Indigenous students, who have long been among the most underserved in the district.
But the school is now struggling with low enrollment and a lack of funding, two factors that have doomed other Denver charter schools.
Charter school ‘gets creative’ to boost enrollment and pay off pricey lease
Underwater on a pricey lease on its facility, a charter school official in Plaquemine said he decided to “get creative” as they looked for ways to boost flagging student enrollment and generate enough money to pay the school’s landlord.
In a report released last week, outside auditors hired by the state to look into Iberville Charter Academy questioned both the onerous terms of the lease and how the school went about increasing its enrollment.
Why is the UW System working with the controversial Hillsdale charter school network?
Controversy surrounding Hillsdale charter schools led the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University in Wisconsin to threaten to sever ties last month with Lake Country Classical Academy — Wisconsin’s first Hillsdale-affiliated charter school. The tribe cited “inflammatory, derogatory, and racist comments captured by hidden camera” by the president of Hillsdale College, Larry Arnn. Arnn’s comments, which made headlines after they were leaked from a private meeting he had with Gov. Bill Lee of Tennessee, also led to the collapse of a plan to launch several Hillsdale charter schools in that state.
1 out of 4 Duval County charter schools get D or F grades from state
Ten of Duval County’s 40 charter schools are now working to improve their operations after receiving “D” or “F” grades from the state. When charter schools get low grades, state law dictates that they turn in a plan to their sponsor, – in this case Duval County Public Schools, – with a roadmap of how to get the school preforming well again.
Washington Heights Church Puts A Stop To Charter School Possibility
The Fort Washington Collegiate Church in Washington Heights sent a letter to its community recently saying that it had voted against a partnership that would lead to a charter school getting opened at the site.
The vote and email comes after a petition was signed by more than 600 people in an effort to stop the church located at 729 W. 181st St. from partnering with Civic Builders and opening the school.
Report: Decline in teachers with traditional education degrees linked to growth in charter schools
As charter schools proliferate across America, there has been a corresponding decline in the number of new teachers earning bachelor’s degrees in education from traditional preparation programs, according to a new study from the National Center for Research on Education Access and Choice (REACH).
Hallelujah’: Kidnapping victims of former CT charter schools leader praise jury’s quick verdict
Thirty-eight years after he broke into four women’s homes, sexually assaulted them and held them against their will, a jury on Wednesday convicted former Connecticut charter schools leader Michael Sharpe on all eight counts of first-degree kidnapping
Charter school improperly charging fees despite state law, taxpayer funding, audit says
Outside auditors are recommending the immediate closure of a charter school in Plaquemine for, among other things, charging parents thousands of dollars “in tuition and fees” to educate their children at remote locations across the state — even though the school received between $14,000 to $16,000 a year in public education funding for each of those kids.
Indianapolis charter school announces intent to acquire IPS school building if it closes
The district’s Rebuilding Stronger plan — an attempt to address declining enrollment amid charter school growth — would leave multiple school buildings open for charter schools to potentially occupy. Victory College Prep is the first to publicly announce its intentions to acquire such a building.
State law allows charter schools to lease or acquire empty school buildings for $1.