September, 2019
SEP 30, 2019 – The Unmet Promises of a New Orleans Charter School
Only six of Sci’s first graduates finished college within six years, the federal standard for on-time graduation. Three others earned degrees this year. Though eight, including Pierre, are still working toward a degree, 32 of the 49 who enrolled in college have dropped out.
SEP 29, 2019 – Manatee Charter School Contract Terminated For ‘Gross Financial Mismanagement’
In a 95-page ruling, an administrative law judge Friday backed a decision by the Manatee County School Board to terminate a contract with a charter school that he said showed “gross financial mismanagement,” including failing to pay salaries and payroll taxes, getting cut off by food suppliers and facing a shutoff of water service.
SEP 27, 2019 – Prominent STEM charter school may be in crisis, says whistleblower
Peachtree Charter Middle School is said to be a high-performing STEM school, but based on five-page grievance written by teachers and staff the school may actually be in crisis.
SEP 26, 2019 – Inspire charter schools CEO goes on leave of absence
An Inspire official said the charter school network will not say why, to protect Nichols’ privacy.
The announcement comes as multiple school districts and county offices of education are looking to investigate the statewide Inspire home charter school network for questionable financial and organizational practices.
SEP 26, 2019 – Charter school and public school students have same academic performance, report finds
A new report from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) finds that charter school and public school students have the same academic performance in testing conducted at the fourth- and eighth-grade level.
SEP 27, 2019 – Some Palm Beach County charter school staffers soon may carry guns
A handful of Palm Beach County charter schools are taking steps to arm members of their own staffs rather than pay for a police officer or security guard to patrol their campuses, school district officials say.
SEP 26, 2019 – Orange charter school fires teacher after learning of his ties to 2012 prostitution scandal
An Orange County charter school has fired a science teacher after learning he had been forced out of his job at Lake Brantley High School in 2012 when he was caught up in a prostitution scandal that also ensnared local politicians.
SEP 26, 2019 – School administrator didn’t report allegations of sexual misconduct at charter school
An administrator at Orlando Science Charter School did not report allegations of sexual misconduct at the school and the school board can’t do anything about the violation of the law.
SEP 24, 2019 – Waldorf charter school closed days after opening
As the school opened on Sept. 3, Director Rob Wilkening said it had 32 secondary students enrolled. But enrollment dropped to 18 students, and that was not enough to make operating a school financially feasible, he said.
SEP 24, 2019 – Nearly 100 N.O. school buses have failed inspection; hundreds more haven’t been looked at
With 78 charter schools run by more than 40 nonprofits, there is no centralized school bus system in New Orleans. WWL-TV’s “Taken for a Ride” investigation found dozens of safety violations, falsified inspection records and insurance documents and problems with individual bus companies and drivers.
SEP 24, 2019 – Knowledge Academies actively recruiting despite having charter revoked
Last month the Metro school board voted to revoke their charter and close all three schools in December after allegations of misconduct.
That’s why many found it strange when they found fliers on their cars over the weekend in Antioch actively recruiting more families to enroll in Knowledge Academies.
SEP 23, 2019 – Are Public Schools Safer Than Charters During An Earthquake?
Charter schools like 18 local campuses of Alliance Schools don’t have to comply with the Field Act, even though they accepted $6.4 million in taxpayer money this fiscal year to rent these buildings.
So are students safer in buildings under the Field Act?
“Students are absolutely safer in a Field Act when an earthquake happens, no question about it,” said Tom Duffy with the Coalition For Adequate School Housing.
SEP 22, 2019 – Officer Under Investigation After Arresting 6-Year-Olds, Chief Says
The officer, Dennis Turner, has been suspended pending the outcome of an internal investigation, Orlando Rolón, the police chief, said in a statement.
Officer Turner was working as a school resource officer at a charter school when he arrested the children, Chief Rolón said.
SEP 22, 2019 – A tiny Marin County district got California’s first school desegregation order in 50 years
A state review found that Bayside MLK students have suffered under years of rapid staff turnover, inadequate class offerings, excessive discipline and substandard academic performance. As a result of the desegregation complaint by California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra, the district is under a court order to end the unequal treatment of students who attend Bayside MLK.
SEP 20, 2019 – Crosstown High students protest against education changes
Students say the school has not lived up to its promise. In a letter, students outlined issues they have including an unfair grading system that is failing students who are passing, curriculum that is below high school standards, and they say the school purposefully segregates black and white students into different grade groupings.
SEP 20, 2019 – Whistleblower letter, booting of board member raise Seeworth Academy oversight concerns
Six weeks before agreeing to relinquish its charter and close, the board of an Oklahoma City alternative school for at-risk youth held a special meeting and quickly voted to remove one of its members: pastor and human resources professional Greg Dewey.
SEP 19, 2019 – Calls mount for investigation of Inspire charter schools
The California Charter Schools Association has expelled the Inspire home charter school network from its membership and is now calling for a third-party investigation, citing concerns about the network’s operational and governance practices.
SEP 17, 2019 – Philadelphia can’t impose conditions on charter operator seeking to open middle school, state appeal board rules
A powerful state board decided on Tuesday that the Philadelphia school district, home to more charter schools than any other public school system in the state, cannot impose conditions on a charter school operator before allowing it to open a new campus in the city.
SEP 16, 2019 – Charter school transparency rules: clear as mud but changing
If you ask charter school leaders, they are treated exactly the same as public schools when it comes to legal requirements for public records and open meetings.
Charter foes and transparency advocates agree that charter schools are indeed subject to the state’s transparency laws – except when they’re not.
SEP 16, 2019 – Parents, community members call for closing of Memphis charter school amid investigation
Several of the protesters are part of Memphis Lift, a parent advocacy group. This is the first time in the group’s four-year history that the group has called for a school to close, members said at the protest.
SEP 16, 2019 – Anderson: Former CEO of Manatee County charter school stood to profit from contract
Total Life Prep is owned by Eddie Hundley, former CEO of Lincoln Memorial Academy. The school was a charter in Palmetto now being run by the district. Hundley, under federal investigation for fraud, bribery and embezzlement related to his time at the school, is the only person associated with Total Life Prep.
SEP 11, 2019 – LASD accuses Bullis Charter School of discriminatory enrollment practices
The Los Altos School District sent a strongly worded letter to the Santa Clara County Board of Education on Tuesday demanding that it prevent “longstanding discrimination” by Bullis Charter School, accusing it of seeking to enroll the wealthiest and least needy students in the district.
SEP 13, 2019 – Turning a Profit through Nonprofit Charter Schools: Communities Get a Bad Deal
Tortured financial relationships like these have been documented in for-profit nursing homes and hospices. As we say elsewhere today, in some fields, the profit motive is just destructive to the public good.
SEP 11, 2019 – Scottsdale charter school to shut its doors this Friday
Another Valley charter school is shutting its doors, leaving parents, students, and teachers scrambling to find a new school by next week.
Administrators with the Arts Academy of Scottsdale blame low enrollment numbers for the decision.
SEP 10, 2019 – More Than 300 Privately-Operated Ohio Charter Schools Have Closed In 20 Years
Across the country, thousands of charter schools have closed in under 30 years. Corruption and poor academic performance are two key reasons for the high failure rate in the charter school sector.
SEP 10, 2019 – Rowan County charter school placed on ‘allotment restrictions’ amid financial, leadership concerns
The sanctions came after school leaders were unable to competently discuss the details of its more than $1 million budget with certainty or adequately explain why a convicted felon was added to the board of directors.
SEP 07, 2019 – The warnings about safety came for months. But regulators didn’t force Monument Academy to make changes.
Top D.C. education officials knew for months about safety issues plaguing a charter school that serves some of the city’s most vulnerable children but did not force changes, public records and interviews with school employees show.
SEP 07, 2019 – The Walton plan for the Little Rock School District
Will the robust public call for a unified, democratically controlled school district be heeded? Or will the public outcry at a series of meetings be ignored? Will the governor instead direct the state to adopt Gary Newton’s plan, with more dollars than people behind it?
SEP 05, 2019 – Charter schools fly below the radar on spending and transparency rules
It’s a treat to fly at the front of the plane, where seats are bigger and fares are roughly double the cost of a coach seat. But for the state’s most prolific charter school operator, first-class air travel is allowed. In addition, the company will pay for the travel of employee spouses, family members and “companions” of executives as well.
SEP 04, 2019 – Audit: Charter school uses $100,000 in MFP funds to open private day care
A charter school in Monroe that lost its authorization to continue operating earlier this year may have used state funds to open a private daycare and pre-K school, a recent audit report says.
SEP 04, 2019 – Charter schools are not free
Every child deserves a quality education. Parents have the right to make educational choices for their children. No one disputes either of these statements. However the choices parents make have consequences for their communities — financial consequences of which they may not even be aware.
SEP 03, 2019 – Chartered:
Florida’s First Private Takeover Of A Public School System
Florida’s first all-charter school district was engineered by unelected state bureaucrats at then-Gov. Rick Scott’s Department of Education, funded by the state Legislature and carried out by a charter school network based in South Florida, nearly 500 miles away.
SEP 03, 2019 – How big a mess is Pennsylvania’s charter school sector? This big.
The charter sector in Pennsylvania has long been beset by fraud and a lack of transparency and accountability. In fact, in 2016, the state’s auditor general called the state charter law the “worst” in the nation.
SEP 01, 2019 – Charter schools in some cities enroll few students mid-year. Here’s why that matters.
Nearly half of all public school students in Washington, D.C. attend a charter school. But if a student shows up in D.C. in the winter or spring — or wants to transfer schools — the chance that they’ll end up at a charter school is vanishingly small.
SEP 01, 2019 – Records disappear at Lincoln Memorial Academy
The school, which is more than $1.5 million in debt, is under federal investigation for fraud and embezzlement. No longer a charter, it is now being run by the Manatee County school district, much to the consternation of some in the community.
SEP 01, 2019 – White Pine board must restore its legitimacy
White Pine is a private nonprofit organization, but it is almost entirely funded by taxpayers, according to tax filings. Disasters of governance like those that have recently taken place at White Pine would never be tolerated at District 91 or District 93.
