Charter School Defenders Insist They are "Private Entities"
Over the past several years we have become accustomed to hearing that "Charter schools are public schools too," from advocates of their expansion. However, when anyone attempts to subject these schools to any sort of regulatory oversight, this designation is often the first thing to be discarded. Case in point? A California couple, Yevgeny "Eugene" Selivanov and Tatyana Berkovich, who were convicted in April of multiple counts of fraud related to their practice of using their charter school bank account for personal expenses and thousands of dollars worth of meals.
According to the LA School Report, The couple is appealing their conviction, however, asserting that this amounts to a misunderstanding over the nature of charter school finances. An amicus brief has been filed in the case by the California Charter Schools Association, which urges the appeals court to set aside the conviction on numerous grounds.
The table of contents of the Amicus brief enumerates the reasons charter school operators should not be subject to this sort of oversight:
The Employees of a Nonprofit Corporation Operating a Charter School are not Subject to
Penal Code §424 ............................................................................................................................7
- The Charter Schools Act Authorizes Charter Schools to be Operated by Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporations.............................................................................7
- The Nonprofit Corporations Operating Charter Schools Are Deemed to be Private Entities under the law of California ...................................................................................... 9
- Employees of the Nonprofit Corporation Operating a Charter School are Not Public Employees (i.e., Not Officers of the State, or Any County, City, Town or District).................................................................................................................13
- The Nonprofit Corporation Moneys are Not "Public Moneys".
Here is how the brief explains this. Follow the money as it leaves