Charter-school report puts blame on School District
City Controller Alan Butkovitz said Thursday that the Philadelphia School District had failed to monitor 67 charter schools, leaving both it and the taxpayers "extremely vulnerable to fraud, waste, and abuse."
Releasing a long-awaited report that looks in depth at 13 charter schools and at the district's charter oversight office, Butkovitz also proposed amending state law to reduce opportunities for fraud.
"In spite of the numerous problems uncovered at individual charter schools, the biggest problem lay clearly with the school district's Charter Office," he said at a news conference. "There was a complete and total failure on the part of the Charter Office to monitor charter schools and hold them accountable for how they spend taxpayers' dollars. . . ."
Butkovitz said the report, based on a 14-month fraud investigation, disclosed "questionable practices, suspect relationships, and potential vulnerabilities." He called on the district to exercise the oversight called for by the 1997 state law that created charter schools.
As The Inquirer reported this week, investigators in Butkovitz's office found financial and ethical problems at all 13 schools they examined, including excessive salaries for chief executives, compliant boards whose members were handpicked by school chiefs, inflated rents, and rampant conflicts of interest.
Butkovitz said that except for when schools' operating charters were up for renewal every five years, the district provided only "minimal oversight" of ongoing school operations, which cost city taxpayers $300 million a year.
Benjamin W. Rayer, chief of the district's Charter Office, responded that Butkovitz's review began prior to his arrival
Releasing a long-awaited report that looks in depth at 13 charter schools and at the district's charter oversight office, Butkovitz also proposed amending state law to reduce opportunities for fraud.
"In spite of the numerous problems uncovered at individual charter schools, the biggest problem lay clearly with the school district's Charter Office," he said at a news conference. "There was a complete and total failure on the part of the Charter Office to monitor charter schools and hold them accountable for how they spend taxpayers' dollars. . . ."
Butkovitz said the report, based on a 14-month fraud investigation, disclosed "questionable practices, suspect relationships, and potential vulnerabilities." He called on the district to exercise the oversight called for by the 1997 state law that created charter schools.
As The Inquirer reported this week, investigators in Butkovitz's office found financial and ethical problems at all 13 schools they examined, including excessive salaries for chief executives, compliant boards whose members were handpicked by school chiefs, inflated rents, and rampant conflicts of interest.
Butkovitz said that except for when schools' operating charters were up for renewal every five years, the district provided only "minimal oversight" of ongoing school operations, which cost city taxpayers $300 million a year.
Benjamin W. Rayer, chief of the district's Charter Office, responded that Butkovitz's review began prior to his arrival
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