#ANOTHERDAYANOTHERCHARTERSCHOOLSCANDAL
NOLA Public Schools: Two charter networks violated state law on background checks
James M. Singleton Charter School failed to conduct criminal background checks for some of its employees and employed someone ineligible to work at the school because of a criminal conviction, according to a Wednesday letter to the school from the NOLA Public Schools district warning that the school’s practices on background checks violated state law. The district letter also said that the Louisiana State Police could not confirm the validity of a number of background checks in the school’s files.
WWL-TV’s ‘Taken for a Ride’ investigation leads to criminal charges for school bus owners
The former owners of a charter school bus company and their insurance agent have been charged with insurance fraud as the result of an exclusive WWL-TV investigation two years ago.
The station’s “Taken for a Ride” investigation in 2019 uncovered insurance documents from school bus provider Scholars First that the state insurance commissioner confirmed had been falsified.
Charter schools cite special topics, flexibility as reasons they hire unlicensed teachers
Several charter school leaders are publicly opposing a proposed bill to require charter schools to hire only licensed educators, but they suggested they could support the bill if amended to provide some flexibility.
Success Academy Charter School Network Ordered to Pay Over $2.4 Million in a Disability Discrimination Case Brought by Families of Five Former Students
Charter school network Success Academy, which touts its commitment to children “from all backgrounds,” has been ordered to pay over $2.4 million on a Judgment in a case brought by families of five young Black students with learning and other disabilities who sued after the children were pushed out of a Success Academy school in Brooklyn.
Theodore Decker: Years after its collapse, ECOT still costs Ohio plenty
The school has not repaid the $80 million, and for the past three years has been engaged in court battles about it on various fronts, with ECOT lawyers arguing everything but, “We shouldn’t have to pay back Ohio because the state would just blow it on something else anyway.”
Marin charter school regulator sidelined amid state probe
Two weeks ago, state education official Craig Heimbichner provided pivotal testimony to help Ross Valley Charter stay in business.
Now Heimbichner’s credibility is under scrutiny after he was linked to anti-Semitic writings and conspiracy theories about the government.
Online charter school renews resistance to repaying $60M in state subsidies
Three years after going dark, what was once Ohio’s largest online charter school on Tuesday will urge the Ohio Supreme Court to save it from a $60 million claw-back of state support for students it couldn’t prove it had educated.
Accused A3 charter school ringleaders plead guilty to conspiracy
The two men accused of crafting an elaborate statewide charter school scheme to funnel tens of millions of public school dollars into their own pockets pleaded guilty Friday to felony conspiracy charges.
Police investigating alleged embezzlement at Warren Easton Charter High School
Warren Easton Charter High School’s annual financial audit has revealed a $70,000 discrepancy in the school’s student activity funds, and the New Orleans Police Department is investigating the matter as a theft by a former employee.
NC charter schools get federal loans earmarked for small businesses
Forty-five public charter schools in North Carolina obtained a total of $28 million in forgivable federal loans last year in the early weeks of the pandemic that traditional public schools couldn’t access.
Defunct online charter school fights order to repay $60M
In 2016, the Ohio Department of Education determined that the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow could not back up its student participation claims for the 2015-16 school year when it received $108.9 million in state funds. ECOT was ordered to repay $64 million — a figure that was later adjusted down to $60.35 million.
Milton School District Facing $2 Million Deficit, Tax Hike
That’s because all districts are facing more cyber school costs, but state funding towards that has stopped despite the unfunded mandate continuing, “For a student in the Milton Area School District to attend an external cyber school, we have to pay approximately $15,000 a child. If that child receives special education services, it can cost up to $25,000 a child.”
Valley charter school co-founders indicted for fraud, theft for allegedly stealing more than $500,000
Incito Schools and co-founders April Black and Amanda Jellson have been indicted by the Arizona Attorney General’s Office after allegedly committing fraud to steal more than $500,000 from the Maricopa County Superintendent’s Office. The Arizona Attorney General’s Office filed charges against Incito Schools, Black and Jelleson. They are charged with one count of fraudulent schemes and artifices, two counts of theft over $25,000, forgery, and conspiracy.
NH Attorney General Eyes Financials At Concord Charter School
The New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office has an active review of a Concord charter school after an audit found tens of thousands of dollars in unsupported grant reimbursements and other financial issues with court documents revealing that two connected to the school, its founder and a trustee, also had financial problems and cases in courts around the state.
The “Whitening” of Camden’s Teachers
Over the last twenty years, the teacher workforce in Camden, New Jersey has shifted from majority Black to majority white, according to a new report by New Jersey Policy Perspective (NJPP). The change in demographics coincides with the proliferation of charter schools in Camden, which hire fewer Black teachers than the city’s public school district.