Charter School Case Exposes Big Loopholes in How the State Funds Schools
Here are three vulnerabilities the alleged A3 charter school scam revealed in how California tracks attendance and allocates funding that could be exploited by bad actors.
Last month, an explosive indictment filed in San Diego alleged a charter school scam that was both lucrative and audacious: Two men, along with a handful of close employees, managed to siphon $80 million of public education funds into “consulting” companies they controlled.
The grift was multi-faceted. In the most extreme cases, students from summer football programs were enrolled in classes, but did no schoolwork, prosecutors say. But prosecutors also allege that the schools were able to manipulate the state funding system by using irregular enrollment practices on real students. And it is unclear whether state officials have a plan to deal with all of the vulnerabilities and loopholes exposed by those lesser-known aspects of the scandal.
A3 operated at least 19 online charter schools, which were licensed to pull students from 34 counties around the state, including San Diego, according to prosecutors and independent investigators for a statewide charter schools’ association. Dehesa Elementary School District, a tiny district in East County, authorized three of the schools. One of those is scheduled to close. The future of the other two is uncertain.
Hundreds of charter schools – which are independently controlled, but publicly funded – around the state are, like the A3 schools, “non-classroom based.” In A3’s case, the schools were virtual and operated almost completely online. In other cases, non-classroom-based schools employ an “independent study” method. Students at independent study schools might show up once a week to meet with a teacher and get new assignments.
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