#ANOTHERDAYANOTHERCHARTERSCHOOLSCANDAL
Opinion | CHOOSE Act will further hurt Alabama’s public schools
The money for these “education savings accounts” – essentially school vouchers by another name – will come from sales and income tax revenues that otherwise would go to Alabama’s public schools under the Education Trust Fund (ETF).
Montgomery charter school must repay $1.9 million to feds, but it says it doesn’t have the money
A Montgomery public charter school must repay $1.9 million after an audit found that the school did not accurately track more than 600,000 meals served in 2021 and 2022.
Alabama charter school Legacy Prep needed $250,000 to keep running, state says
Prior to an audit that discovered Birmingham charter school Legacy Prep misspent as much as $311,000 of funds over a two-year period, state education officials were at the table with school officials because of money trouble.
Alabama State Superintendent Eric Mackey told AL.com that school officials contacted him in September 2021 asking for help meeting payroll. Without the state’s financial help, they said, they might have had to lay off teachers at the kindergarten through fourth grade school.
Superintendent: Charter could close one Dothan school
Dothan could lose one public school if a church receives approval of its charter school plans, the city’s superintendent predicts.
“That (approval) would create a negative impact on the (Dothan) public school system,” Dr. Dennis Coe told News 4 on Tuesday.
Greater Beulah Baptist Church has applied for a charter permit and plans to outline its polarizing proposal during a public hearing tonight (Wednesday).
Titusville community leaders working to block new Memphis charter school from opening in neighborhood
Titusville neighborhood leaders and one Birmingham city councilor told WBRC they are against Freedom Prep Charter School from opening because they have concerns about what it will do to Birmingham City Schools and to the students. Officials with Freedom Prep said they are hoping to build a relationship with the neighborhood leaders moving forward.
Low test scores bring new scrutiny for Montgomery charter school
Low test scores bring new scrutiny for Montgomery charter school
Alabama looks to shut down controversial charter school before it opens
Today’s vote by the Alabama Public Charter School Commission denied a request by Woodland Prep officials to extend the deadline to obtain a certificate of occupancy for the school. That denial opened the door for the Commission to begin revocation procedures.
Opinion | Problems continue for Montgomery’s first charter school
As former LEAD Academy principal Nichole Ivey-Price prepares for another hearing in her ongoing wrongful termination lawsuit against the charter school, a number of current and former LEAD employees have told APR that the environment at the school remains one of near-chaos.
Judge orders charter school principal back on the payroll
Ivey-Price filed suit against the school claiming that she was fired because she spoke to Alabama State Department of Education officials about wrongdoing occurring at LEAD. Her lawsuit made a number of startling claims — none more shocking than claims that LEAD administrators had sought to prevent learning disabled students from attending the charter school and also encouraged special needs students to transfer out of LEAD.
Terminated LEAD principal Nicole Ivey sues charter school, citing 14 complaints
The suit claims LEAD’s objective is to “maximize school revenue and academic achievement by minimizing the presence of students with special needs.”
‘Craziness’: How Montgomery’s first charter school has devolved into chaos in less than six weeks
LEAD Academy, Montgomery’s first charter school, has been a chaotic mess since it opened less than six weeks ago.
LEAD Academy principal: Charter school not in compliance with state laws
The former principal of Montgomery’s first charter school said she was let go after raising questions about whether the school was following state laws on charters.
The failures of the Alabama Charter School Commission
The Alabama Charter School Commission is a mess.
And that might be an insult to messes.
Friday morning, the 10-member Commission, which has, apparently, full authority to approve or deny charter schools that suck millions of dollars from our already underfunded Alabama public schools, will meet with just four members in good standing.
A telling story about a charter school controversy in a rural Alabama county
This is a story about a loud and rather unlikely controversy in a sleepy rural Alabama county over the establishment of a charter school.
While the specifics are unique to Washington County, the narrative is being repeated in states throughout the country.
How a Washington County charter school failed at every step, and was approved anyway
Woodland Prep is a charter school horror story — and it hasn’t even been built yet.
Located in rural Washington County, Woodland Prep, which will open as a K-7 school this fall and add a grade level each year, is everything state leaders assured us could never happen under Alabama’s charter school laws.
