Another failed charter school.

Shut Orange charter school now, its ex-teachers urge
Imani Elementary Charter Academy promised parents a model school when it opened in one of Orange County's poorest neighborhoods in August.

The Pine Hills K-through-5 school said it would have the latest technology, field trips, bus service, before- and after-school care, and two adults in every classroom.

It has none of these things.

The troubled school underscores the limits of Florida's charter-school law, which strips away many of the accountability requirements faced by other public schools. Even when charter schools appear to have broken the law or failed their students, they have multiple chances to improve or appeal, a process that can stretch for months or longer.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/education/os-charter-school-troubles-orange-20110205,0,4492149.story

Without warning, charter school suddenly closes; parents, kids, teachers say it breaks their heart

CLEVELAND - Parents, teachers and students were left stunned and searching for a new school when their charter school shut down without warning overnight.

Fifty students and 13 teachers filled new classrooms at the new charter school called "School of Tomorrow" on Cleveland's west side this fall. Classes were sailing along until students came home Thursday with a letter stating the school was closing down and would not be open Friday or ever again.

http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/cleveland_metro/without-warning-charter-school-suddenly-closes-parents-kids-teachers-say-it-breaks-their-heart

I wonder where all the money is ......
I am sure the admins have plenty sticking out of their pockets

These poor kids were cheated out their education

but somebody made a big pile of money off them

yup

State educators are seeking criminal charges against the executives of a charter school operation after an audit found they had misused at least $25.6 million in public education money, including $2.6 million for personal expenses.

The audit found that executives of the now-closed California Charter Academy used public funds to pay for personal watercrafts, travel, health spa visits, Disney-related merchandise and more. Two employees even paid their income taxes with $42,000 in school funds. "The magnitude of waste of precious education funds outlined in this audit is appalling," state schools Superintendent Jack O'Connell said Thursday as he released an audit of the charter...

From 1999 until it went out of business last year, the California Charter Academy was the state's largest charter school operation, with more than 4,557 students in kindergarten through 12th grade, and more than 7,000 adults enrolled.

Its founder and chief executive, Steven Cox, formed the for-profit management company to run the vast network of satellite campuses across the state, including several in the Bay Area. Three Southern California school districts authorized four separate charter contracts with the company, each earning percentages of the state funding but providing little fiscal or academic oversight.

http://brockton.massteacher.org/charter_schools/california_csfraud.html



Charter School Owners Found Guilty of Fraud
Posted on: Tuesday, 4 October 2005, 15:00 CDT
By Beth Silver, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.

Oct. 4--A federal grand jury Monday convicted the onetime owners of a former St. Paul charter school on charges they defrauded the school to pay for vacations, luxury cars and private homes.

After a three-week trial and nine hours of deliberation, the jury convicted William and Shirley Pierce of Minneapolis on all 13 counts, including conspiracy, filing false tax returns, and mail and wire fraud.

According to evidence presented at the trial in Minneapolis, the Pierces diverted money from the now-defunct Right Step Academy, using it for Caribbean cruises, clothes, and furniture. The Pierces, both 46, also used academy funds to buy charter schools in North Carolina and Arizona, and to buy houses in both states, prosecutors said.

http://www.redorbit.com/news/education/260395/charter_school_owners_found_guilty_of_fraud/



Date: Friday, March 1 2002

Law enforcement officials in California have raided an Islamic charter school suspected of having ties to a terrorist organization and carted off 60 computers and 100 boxes of documents.

The GateWay Academy, a so-called "public charter school," was shut down in January and is the focus of an ongoing investigation. State officials said they are looking into allegations of fraud and financial wrongdoing at the school, but anonymous sources told The Washington Times there may be more to the matter.

According to the newspaper, the school is suspected of being tied to a militant U.S.-based black Muslim group called the Muslims of America. That group is in turn believed to be tied to al-Fuqra, a terrorist group linked to fire bombings and murders in the United States and Canada.

"We are not denying the Fuqra connection," Hallye Jordan, a spokeswoman for the California Attorney General's Office told the newspaper. "But that is not the focus of this. We are looking to allegations of financial fraud..."

http://www.articlearchives.com/crime-law-enforcement-corrections/criminal-offenses-fraud/1093549-1.html



Grifters using privatization craze/trend/insanity to bilk folks while pretending to offer education.

Reminds me of the de-regulation of federally guaranteed funds to S&Ls back in the '80s. More of that good ol' Reaganomics and the typical de-regulation fever used to defraud the US taxpayer, yet once again.


Hands off my Social Security!
Hands off Latin America!


rdb

I'm sure regular schools have managed to screw up estimates,especially of construction funding, but the government officials just give more money to fix things.

Maybe it is impossible to run a school without deep pockets to bail you out of bad estimations.

there aren't any fast bucks to be had from educating ordinary kids. It's a money sink, which is why it was pushed into the public funding area.

Health care is the same way. They only suck money out of it by cheating people and people are getting wiser and wiser to them.