Arizona charter school founder makes millions building his own schools
When Glenn Way moved to the East Valley at the end of the Great Recession, he might have been looking for a fresh start.
The charter school operator was deep in debt to the IRS, had sought bankruptcy protection, and recently resigned from the Utah Legislature after his wife filed a protective order against him, public records show.
Arizona offered other opportunities for someone in his line of work:A more lightly regulated charter school industry that's well-funded.
At his American Leadership Academy, which he launched in June 2009, he promised students would find"the best educational experience ... in a moral and wholesome environment."
Thanks partly to Arizona's favorable charter school laws and lucrative no-bid contracts with ALA, Way would find new wealth.
The schools, which have made patriotism central to their brand, including white, or blue student apparel, have been a hit in the conservative East Valley. American Leadership — which bears the same name as a charter school Way and his wife, Shelina, operated in Spanish Fork, Utah — has over nine years grown to a dozen campuses with 8,354 students in Florence, Gilbert, Mesa, Queen Creek and San Tan Valley.
Way's own development and finance companies bought the land and then built most of the school buildings. Then, they sold or leased them to American Leadership Academy, where Way, until last year, was board chairman.
An Arizona Republic review of property records shows that during ALA's nine-year expansion, businesses owned by or tied to Way made about $37 million on real estate deals associated with the schools— funded largely by the Arizona tax dollars allocated Continue reading: American Leadership Academy founder nets millions on deals with school
