Thursday, October 1, 2015

Feds didn’t carefully monitor $3 billion it gave for charters — and it just awarded $157 million more - The Washington Post

Feds didn’t carefully monitor $3 billion it gave for charters — and it just awarded $157 million more - The Washington Post:

Feds didn’t carefully monitor $3 billion it gave for charters — and it just awarded $157 million more






U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan has been called the most powerful education secretary for a reason.
He has led a department that has been criticized for being “a national school board” because of its micromanaging states on some key education issues. Duncan talks a lot about “accountability” and the importance of making sure that schools are doing right by kids. When the department began its $4.3 billion Race to the Top funding competition among states, it made clear what its priorities for applications were, and when it offered waivers to states from the most onerous parts of No Child Left Behind, there were detailed strings attached. (And when Washington did not evaluate teachers by standardized test scores as the department wanted, it yanked the state’s No Child Left Behind waiver).
But when it comes to its support of charter schools, the department hasn’t been doing all that much to manage the more than $3 billion it has given to charter networks and state education departments for the purposes of creating and expanding existing charters. And it just this week announced that it was awarding $157 million in new grants for charters.
State Educational Agency Grantees:
Grantee NameFY 2015 FundingTotal Recommended Funding
Arizona Department of Education$15,709,697$23,624,997
Colorado Department of Education$18,179,999$36,359,999
Illinois Department of Education$21,143,113$42,286,226
Office of the State Superintendent of Education (District of Columbia)$10,083,900$20,167,800
Ohio Department of Education$32,556,801$71,058,319
Oregon Department of Education$4,180,000$8,790,931
Nevada Department of Education$7,896,989$16,481,251
South Carolina Department of Education$15,218,801$30,437,602
Total$124,969,300$249,207,125

Replication and Expansion of High-Quality Charter Schools Grantees:
Grantee NameStateFY 2015 FundingTotal Recommended Funding
Achievement First, Inc.CT$3,226,599$8,453,100
Across the Bridge FoundationCA$827,128$241,6000
Baltimore Curriculum ProjectMD$217,359$282,720
Einstein Group, Inc.LA$2,189,999$5,000,000
Lawndale Educational and Regional NetworkIL$3,202,879$6,547,950
Mastery Charter High SchoolPA$3,764,836$9,587,266
Noble Network of Charter SchoolsIL$1,564,999$8,412,500
RePublic SchoolsTN$3,799,332$9,599,999
Success Academy Charter Schools, Inc.NY$3,794,396$13,440,000
UP Education Network, Inc.MA$2,167,984$4,335,971
Uplift EducationTX$4,484,112$10,330,905
West Denver Prep DBA STRIVE Preparatory SchoolsCO$3,168,894$6,774,087
Total $32,408,517$85,180,498
The largest recipient — getting $32.5 million this year with a recommended multi-year total of $71 million — is the Ohio Department of Education, which runs a charter school program that is among the most troubled in the country.
How troubled? A June story in the Akron Beacon Journal noted that  “since 2001, state auditors have uncovered $27.3 million improperly spent by charter schools, many run by for-profit companies, enrolling thousands of children and producing academic results that rival the worst in the nation.” It also said: “No sector — not local governments, school districts, court systems, public universities or hospitals — misspends tax dollars like charter schools in Ohio.” A Sept. 19 Beacon Journal story had this headline: “Blame and ignorance follow 200th charter school flop in Ohio.”
Education Department officials say that they only give grants to high-performing charter school operators but that they don’t have a lot of control over the states. On a press call about the new grants on Monday, Duncan said:Feds didn’t carefully monitor $3 billion it gave for charters — and it just awarded $157 million more - The Washington Post: