#ANOTHERDAYANOTHERCHARTERSCHOOLSCANDAL
Ann Arbor charter school closes as legal battle with former management company continues
An Ann Arbor charter school that lost its authorization while in the midst of a legal battle with its former management company is among four Michigan charter academies that have closed this year.
Ann Arbor Learning Community, which is alleged in a lawsuit to have failed to pay hundreds of thousands in fees to its former management company, Global Education Excellence, did not enroll students this fall after it was informed by Eastern Michigan University in November 2021 that it would not renew its charter when it expired in June 2022.
REVEALED: As state board overrules Metro Schools, commissioner expresses hope for charter schools statewide
During the Wednesday session, commissioners rejected concerns from Metro Schools that the new KIPP schools would interfere with their own plans in the Antioch and Cane Ridge communities, including two new charter schools that are slated to open.
The commission said KIPP Nashville has a proven record and high demand for its approach to educating children.
Parent-sponsored dance organized for students turned away over dress code violations
Parents of students who attend the American Leadership Academy in Spanish Fork are making preparations for a makeup dance after some students who attended the charter school’s homecoming dance were not allowed entrance over dress code violations.
Former Concord Charter School Founder, Trustee To Pay $80K Settlement
The founder and a trustee of what was Concord’s only public charter school accused of questionable disbursements and misappropriation of funds have reached an agreement with a trustee of the school in a bankruptcy filing.
Stephanie Alicea, the former founder of Capital City Public Charter School, and former trustee Caroletta Alicea, a state representative and Democrat from Boscawen, have agreed to make two $40,000 payments during the next six months to Michael Askenaizer, a trustee of the estate for the school.
REVEALED: Tennessee charter school commission accused of ‘enormous conflict of interest’
The charter school commission isn’t composed of school superintendents, school board members or teachers. It’s an unelected group of true-blue believers in charter schools, and even some Republicans are starting to question whether they should have such power.
Rafael expected he would go to a university — the system never did
This is a story about one student’s high expectations for himself, and the people who didn’t share them: the educators who put him on a non-university path, the public charter school that never questioned it, and the state that keeps funding schools with low graduation rates and little accountability.
Charter schools got $1.4B from the state last year. They don’t always have to say how it’s spent.
Michigan’s state Board of Education sent out 278 Freedom of Information Act requests earlier this year to charter schools and traditional school districts, too, asking for copies of a few common contracts.
It was a test of financial transparency, an effort to find out whether charter schools, which got $1.4 billion in state money last year, would give an adequate account of how that money was being spent.
Utah students protested body-shaming after homecoming dress code. Now their teacher is calling them a ‘mob.’
A teacher at a Utah charter school chastised students for protesting a dress code they felt body-shamed girls at their homecoming dance, suggesting that the students overreacted and formed a “mob” when they were the ones “intentionally pushing the limit.”
Nashville charter schools seek financing from Arizona
Two Nashville charter schools have ventured to Arizona for bond financing as recently as this year.
Why it matters: Pathways to out-of-state funding help charter school leaders avoid skeptics involved in local funding decisions.
Metro Schools to recommend shutting down Nashville charter school, school plans to fight
Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) is recommending its board revoke the charter of Knowledge Academy in South Nashville.
Knowledge Academy High School was identified by the State Department of Education as a priority school, meaning it is one of the bottom five percent of the schools in the state.
Tuesday classes canceled at Muskegon Heights High School
Classes at Muskegon Heights High School will be canceled Tuesday, according to a letter sent to parents by principal Erica Patton.
The letter says the cancellation is due to “concerns about various occurrences” at the high school. All other schools in the district will remain open.
Audit of charter school program finds big problems
The U.S. Education Department’s Office of Inspector General has released a new audit of the federal Charter Schools Program that found some alarming results about how charter school networks have used millions of dollars in funding. Among other things, the audit found that charter school networks and for-profit charter management organizations did not open anywhere near the number of charters they promised to open with federal funding.
Lack of teachers, resources impeded Fort Worth middle school’s progress, ex-principal says
The former principal of a struggling Fort Worth middle school said teacher vacancies, a lack of resources and miscommunications between the school district and its charter partner created an almost impossible situation at the school last year.
Students upset after nearly 60 girls kicked out of homecoming dance over dress code
Students who attend a charter school in Spanish Fork said around 60 students were not allowed into their homecoming dance over the dress code, a claim the school later refuted.
Natalia and Isabella are seniors at American Leadership Academy, which hosted the dance Saturday night. Both girls were not allowed in the dance due to their dresses.
REVEALED: Written public comments show strong opposition to Hillsdale charter schools
Written public comments submitted to the state Public Charter School Commission reveal widespread opposition to the three Hillsdale College-affiliated charter schools that are requesting permission to open in Tennessee over the objections of the local school boards.
In Rutherford County, opponents of the taxpayer-funded schools outnumbered supporters by a four-to-one margin, while the differences were less stark in Madison and Montgomery counties. There was evidence on both sides of organized efforts to solicit submissions to the state board that will decide the fate of all three schools.