Ohio wonders if Patriot Preparatory Academy is the same as Liberty Christian Academy.

[madfloridian]

It is at the same location, staffed by many of the same teachers, serves many of the same students, and was founded by the same founder. Ohio law doesn't let private schools become charter schools, so although Patriot Prep gets public money...they say they are just a public school.

Charter's ties to Christian school draw state scrutiny


COURTNEY HERGESHEIMER | DISPATCH
David McIlrath, executive director of Patriot Preparatory Academy and founder of Liberty Christian Academy, shows off one of the new charter school's mottos.

Out went the private Liberty Christian Academy. In came the public Patriot Preparatory Academy, a charter school in the same location with many of the same students and teachers. The state says the new school has changed enough to receive tax money. A new charter school has the same founder, is staffed by many of the same teachers and attended by many of the same students as a private Christian school that previously used its East Side building.

The state was worried that Patriot Preparatory Academy really was the private Liberty Christian Academy masquerading as a charter school. Was the school (initially to be called Liberty Preparatory) trying to collect taxpayer money illegally when it really should be collecting tuition? No, says executive director David McIlrath: Patriot is an all-new public school, and any links to the private school are superficial.

Here are more similarities.

By the state's count, Patriot has 31 teachers, a dozen of whom taught at Liberty last school year. A few others were hired away from other Christian schools. McIlrath said he thinks about 70 percent of Liberty's staff was replaced in forming Patriot.

"Obviously, it didn't break any laws, or we wouldn't have opened," McIlrath said. He estimates that, of the roughly 460 students enrolled there in its first year - a stunning start for a charter school - about half are former Liberty students. Patriot has chosen a new school uniform, but some students still are wearing their Liberty Christian plaid. Patriot is buying the building and its furniture from Liberty.

Amazing how much the two schools have in common. One gets public taxpayer money, though.

The recent WSJ article about charter schools pointed out that they really are allowed to blur the line between church and education. The article was called 10 Things Charter Schools Won't Tell You

5. Separation of church and state? We found a loophole.

Charter schools are public schools, supported by public tax dollars. But among the thousands of charters nationwide are schools run by Christian organizations as well as Hebrew and Arabic language academies that blur the line between church and state. “What would not be tolerated in a regular public school seems to be tolerated when it’s a charter school,” says Diane Ravitch, a professor of education at New York University and the author of “The Death and Life of the Great American School System.” Even if these schools aren’t explicitly teaching religion, “it’s potentially segregation by religious preference,” Bulkley says.

And that is very true. Many charter schools in several states are openly crossing the line that should separate religion from education.

The second problem is also from Texas. Some charter schools there are venturing into the religion business. The Dallas Morning News reports that 20 percent of the state’s charters have religious ties.

.."Finally, it looks like we’re going to need to keep a close eye on Georgia, where the new chief of staff of the state Education Department is a former staffer of TV Pat Robertson’s American Center for Law and Justice.

More about another charter school in Dallas.

Students at Duncanville's Advantage Academy follow biblical principles, talk openly about faith and receive guidance from a gregarious former pastor who still preaches when he speaks.

Advantage's state-funded campuses showcase the latest breed of charter schools, born from faith-based principles and taxpayer funds. More than 20 percent of Texas' charter schools have some kind of religious ties. That's the case for six of the seven approved this year, including ones in Frisco and Arlington.

..."Advantage markets its teaching of creationism and intelligent design. It offers a Bible class as an elective and encourages personal growth through hard work and "faith in God and country." On a recent morning, a dozen uniformed seventh-graders hunched over worksheets, turning fractions into decimals.

An interesting part of the article about the Patriot Academy regarding its motto.

In its letter to Patriot before school started this year, the Education Department made a suggestion: Consider a motto that was more gender-neutral than its proposed "Because It's Easier to Build a Boy Than Mend a Man."

The school went with two: "No excuses" and "Git 'er done."