CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS: Charter schools run by churches

CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS: Charter schools run by churches

Charter schools run by churches

by The Perimeter Primate

CHURCHES MIX WITH CHARTERS, June 17, 2010, Wall Street Journal

Four of the 27 new charter schools opening in New York City this fall have ties with religious organizations, although leaders assert curriculum and instruction will be secular.
Supporters say the new schools are a welcome addition amid overcrowded classrooms and heightened demand for charters, especially in neighborhoods with low-performing schools. But the development blurs the line between church and state, and also calls into question the distinction between public education and private groups, an issue with which charter schools already contend.
Four pastors are involved in starting charter schools, which receive public funding but can be privately run.
The Rev. A.R. Bernard's Brooklyn-based nondenominational Christian Cultural Center boasts a membership of 33,000, with 5,000 coming to services on any given Sunday. Now, 120 kindergarteners and first-graders will be attending Monday through Friday as it opens a charter school called the Culture Arts Academy Charter School at Spring Creek. The charter school will share the same building—but on a different floor—as the private school Mr. Bernard previously

Family Life Academy Charter School

by The Perimeter Primate

NEPOTISM, CONFLICT OF INTEREST FIND A HOME AT CHARTER SCHOOLS, April 22, 2010, NY Daily News

At some New York City charter schools, it's a family affair.
A Daily News investigation has found some charters hiring wives, husbands and children of school officials and board trustees as vendors, teachers aides and consultants…
Here's what The News' review found:…
FAMILY LIFE ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL
This Bronx charter school hired the wife of a pastor whose nonprofit is paid to run the school.
The Rev. Raymond Rivera is also chairman of Family Life's board. His wife, Marilyn Calo, was hired as school principal and was paid $147,000 last school year, tax forms show.
The school also pays rent to Rivera's nonprofit, the Latino Pastoral Action Center, for its W. 170th