RAVITCH: Bombshell Report: $100 mil in Taxpayer $$ Wasted or Stolen by Deregulated Charter Schools
Last edited Tue May 6, 2014, 01:09 PM - Edit history (1)
Apparently the Dept. of Ed inspector general came to similar conclusions.
The particular kind of misspending, on luxuries and excessive salaries for execs, and even diverting funds into their other businesses tells you what the real priorities are of these hedge fund managers and trust fund babies who suddenly took an interest in our kids.
Lets hope they don't develop a similar concern for our kidneys.
I wonder if Arne Duncan misplaced the report or just fired him.
by dianeravitch
A new report reveals massive waste, fraud, and corruption in the charter industry, where private corporations control public funds with minimal oversight or accountability.
"FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 5, 2014
CONTACT:
Kyle Serrette: KSerrette@populardemocracy.org, 202-304-8027
Sabrina Stevens: media@integrityineducation.org, 720-295-0238
A new report released today reveals that fraudulent charter operators in 15 states are responsible for losing, misusing or wasting over $100 million in taxpayer money.
Charter School Vulnerabilities to Waste, Fraud And Abuse, authored by the Center for Popular Democracy and Integrity in Education, echoes a warning from the U.S. Department of Educations Office of the Inspector General. The report draws upon news reports, criminal complaints and more to detail how, in just 15 of the 42 states that have charter schools, charter operators have used school funds illegally to buy personal luxuries for themselves, support their other businesses, and more.
The report also includes recommendations for policymakers on how they can address the problem of rampant fraud, waste and abuse in the charter school industry. Both organizations recommend pausing charter expansion until these problems are addressed.
We expected to find a fair amount of fraud when we began this project, but we did not expect to find over $100 million in taxpayer dollars lost. Thats just in 15 states. And that figure fails to capture the real harm to children. Clearly, we should hit the pause button on charter expansion until there is a better oversight system in place to protect our children and our communities, said Kyle Serrette, the Director of Education Justice at the Center for Popular Democracy.
Our school system exists to serve students and enrich communities, added Sabrina Stevens, Executive Director of Integrity in Education. School funding is too scarce as it is; we can hardly afford to waste the resources we do have on people who would prioritize exotic vacations over school supplies or food for children. We also cant continue to rely on the media or isolated whistleblowers to identify these problems. We need to have rules in place that can systematically weed out incompetent or unscrupulous charter operators before they pose a risk to students and taxpayers.
"The report can be found at http://www.populardemocracy.org and http://www.integrityineducation.org.
dianeravitch | May 5, 2014 at 6:08 pm | Categories: Charter Schools | URL: http://wp.me/p2odLa-7Qe
Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)bvar22
(39,909 posts)Last edited Wed May 7, 2014, 11:31 AM - Edit history (1)
"Charter" Schools... a SCAM designed to transfer Taxpayer Dollars from the Public Treasury (Commons)
to the Private pockets of well connected political cronies.
Education and Social Security... the Privatizers (Democrat & Republican) LUST for this money that belongs to The Commons, and will do anything to get their greedy hands on it.
QED
2pooped2pop
(5,420 posts)Squinch
(50,955 posts)profits of the powers that be.
yurbud
(39,405 posts)they may be afraid to keep doing it.