Florida’s Imagine Charter Schools Debacle Grows While State Republican Legislators Continue to Ignore Potential Fraud | Scathing Purple Musings

Florida’s Imagine Charter Schools Debacle Grows While State Republican Legislators Continue to Ignore Potential Fraud | Scathing Purple Musings:

Florida’s Imagine Charter Schools Debacle Grows While State Republican Legislators Continue to Ignore Potential Fraud

by Bob Sikes

Three of the state’s largest newspapers – the Orlando Sentinel, the Miami Herald and theTampa Bay Times – have served the interest of Floridians by reporting on the often questionable and shady dealings of charter schools. In yesterday’s paper, Times reporters Ron Matus and Jeff Solochek detail another example of Imagine Charter Schools disturbingly high rent and lease costs.

Two Tampa Bay charter schools are part of a national chain that is drawing scrutiny for lease arrangements that absorb big chunks of taxpayer funding.

The Imagine charter school near downtown St. Petersburg spent $649,312 last year in rent while