Charter schools gone wild: Study finds widespread fraud, mismanagement and waste

[LuckyTheDog]

Charter school operators want to have it both ways. When they’re answering critics of school privatization, they say charter schools are public — they use public funds and provide students with a tuition-free education. But when it comes to transparency, they insist they have the same rights to privacy as any other private enterprise.

But a report released Monday by Integrity in Education and the Center for Popular Democracy — two groups that oppose school privatization – presents evidence that inadequate oversight of the charter school industry hurts both kids and taxpayers.

Sabrina Joy Stevens, executive director of Integrity in Education, told BillMoyers.com, “Our report shows that over $100 million has been lost to fraud and abuse in the charter industry, because there is virtually no proactive oversight system in place to thwart unscrupulous or incompetent charter operators before they cheat the public.” The actual amount of fraud and abuse the report uncovered totaled $136 million, and that was just in the 15 states they studied.

MORE HERE: http://wonkynewsnerd.com/charter-schools-gone-wild-study-finds-widespread-fraud-mismanagement-waste/

[jwirr]

1. Business as usual.

[HooptieWagon]

2. Mission accomplished.

That is the intent of charter schools... to enable unscrupulous people to get ahold of public money. Same reason they want to privatize SS.

[The Magistrate]

3. Of Course, Sir: Their Whole Purpose Is To Put Tax Dollars In Private Pockets

Who could honestly express surprise on finding that many hurried the flow into their pockets through variously cut corners and other sharp practices?

[calimary]

7. Must be some of those teabagger organizations behind it all.

You know - the ones whose leaders are now pocketing salaries bigger than the President of the United States gets, and a tiny sliver of what they rake in actually goes to their candidates? Yeah, those. Teabaggers - or ME-baggers? Just another fancy lipstick-on-pig treatment covering up the IGMFU reality underneath ("I Got Mine, F-U&quot .

[The Magistrate]

8. The Bulk Of It, Ma'am, Is What Used To Be Called 'Pin-Stripe Patronage'

Business types with connections to municipal governments, who have found a new honey-pot to tap.

There is, though, an unfortunate percentage of religious grifters, particularly at the south, who see this as a means of securing state financing for their Bible schools. A number of these, of course, are not just theocrats in waiting, but thieves engaged in open fraud.

[calimary]

11. Yes, sir, you will know them by their media empires and their big fancy-ass churches

and how overwhelmingly they're surrounded by ever-enlarging numbers of the poor - who are not getting any realistic concrete help, but are only told to have faith, get a job, and keep those contributions coming, Praise The Lord. (Where I come from, P.T.L. only means "Pass The Loot"!)

[Brigid]

12. I will never forget when my brother saw Tammy Faye on TV . . .

For the first time back in the '80's. He said, and I quote: "What is that?"

[calimary]

16. Anybody remember the t-shirt that was going around, inspired by her and all her heavy makeup?

It was a white t-shirt with heavily-made-up shadowed and mascara'd eyes and BIG bright red lacquered lipstick and thick smudges of blusher - all all smeared on the front of the t-shirt. And I think the caption was something like - "I just ran into Tammy Faye." It looked like her face paint had actually been smeared on the shirt! Hilarious!!!!

[Supersedeas]

18. you do need connections...but not everyone is in pinstripes these days

[Scuba]

4. To quote Scott Walker, "It's working."

[Ed Suspicious]

5. Surprise surprise. Expected outcome of a profits over people ideal.

[Victor_c3]

14. Yup!

The main purpose of business is to make money. The main purpose of government is to serve the people it's supposed to represent.

Our Declaration of Independence dances around saying that and even the very first Republican president (Abraham Lincoln) flat out says our government is "of the people, by the people and for the people" in the last line of the Gettysburg Address. Try to find a modern republican saying anything like that nowadays.

Business is great at providing certain services and products, but when it comes to something like education and healthcare we certainly are better off when a brand name isn't attached to those.

[dem in texas]

6. Come on down to Dallas and hear about Prime Time prep

Stolen computers, fist fights at the board meetings, committee members getting rental income for the school facilities, parents unhappy about the lack of real teaching in the classes, secret meetings, firings, Reality TV show, it all is a huge joke. But, it is not really funny because the worst part of it is that these schools are taking money away from the Dallas and Ft.Worth public schools while short changing the families that are looking to them for help.

[seabeckind]

9. Hah! Working just the way it's designed.

The intent was to make money for private interests. They'd looked at all that money available from a captive audience (taxpayer) and went for it.

Doing just what it was supposed to.

Privatization of public functions and utilities get more profit from failure than success. Kinda like treating a disease like diabetes. The last the a drug company wants is a single shot of stem cells that cures the disease.

Or the F35.

Or the VA computer system.

Or...

The function of business is to make money. The function of gov't is to provide a service. Two different things. If a business makes more money by NOT providing a service, guess what happens?

BTW, I hate Comcast.

[bvar22]

10. Gee...Who could have foreseen THIS?

From their inception, Charter Schools were SCAM to transfer Taxpayer Dollars from the Public Treasury into the Private pockets of well connected patrons.


Education and Social Security are the two big Public Funds that the crooks have been lusting after for years.
At one time, these were protected by the Democratic party.
Sadly, this is no longer true.
The Democratic Party Leadership is LEADING the looting attacks,
but Hillary will be so much better!


You will know them by their WORKS.

[lpbk2713]

13. The whole idea was to line the pockets of a certain few.

... so in their eyes it was a tremendous success.

[Brigid]

15. I thank God I don't have kids I have to worry about educating.

The public schools are a mess, mostly because of lack of funding; charter schools are corrupt; and private schools cost a fortune. I just don't know what I would do.

[Enthusiast]

17. K&R! This post should have hundreds of recommendations!

Let's stop pretending charter schools are the answer. It's a charade.

[Orsino]

19. Just as in every right-wing "reform" movement.

Their wars, their jobs and their schools are all grifts.

[Blue_Tires]

20. Big surprise...

DUers who have worked in education have only been predicting this as long as I've been here...