[Sponsored Message] Five Signs Of A Privatized Charter School

[Sponsored Message] Five Signs Of A Privatized Charter School:

Five Signs Of A Privatized Charter School

Charter schools as a form of K-12 education have been around for 25 years. In those 25 years however, many charter school founders and managers have sought increased public funding and decreased public oversight into school operations, resulting in schools that are essentially privatized.

Charter schools are not structured and do not function in the same way as a neighborhood school or local school district or directly elected Board of Education. With each passing year, charter schools more resemble the privatization of education to private foundations or for-profit companies. In 2015, the Washington State Supreme Court found its state law creating charter schools to be unconstitutional because public education is the sole function of an elected government authority – and charter schools were found to be privately operated.

Recent studies conclude that 40% of the country’s 2 million charter school students are at schools operated by private, for-profit companies while the vast majority of the other 60% of students are in schools operated by private non-profit foundations.

MOST CHARTER SCHOOLS are governed private boards – in many cases, these private boards set their own rules and by-laws with no direct public oversight whatsoever.

In 2009, Kevin O’Shea and Rosemary DiLacqua were charged with defrauding the Philadelphia Academy Charter School (“PACS”). DiLacqua, as PACS’ board president, authorized the quick rise of O’Shea, who had no educational qualifications, from facilities manager for the school, to its CEO, earning $200,000. The malfeasance included using approximately $710,000 to buy a building with the aim of reselling it to another charter school for a $1 million profit; demanding kickbacks from PACS vendors; using approximately $145,000 to outfit offices for themselves with posh amenities including at-screen televisions, executive bathrooms and granite countertops; submitting for reimbursement at least $40,000 in fraudulent invoices for personal meals, entertainment, home improvements, and gas and telephone bills; billing approximately $50,000 worth of home repairs to PACS; collecting approximately $34,000 in rent from entities using PACS facilities, attempting to destroy computer evidence to obstruct the investigation against them, and ling a false tax return.

MANY CHARTER SCHOOL BOARDS further hire distant school management companies that are either for-profit or not-for-profit corporations.

In Ohio, dozens of charter school boards turn about 96 percent of their taxpayer funding over to White Hat Management Company, a for-profit EMO. White Hat takes in more than $60 million in public funding annually for its charter school management services, yet refused to comply with requests from the governing boards [Sponsored Message] Five Signs Of A Privatized Charter School: