Funny Money: Pa. Charter School Accused Of Using Public Dollars To Fund Church
January 11, 2012
by Simon Brown in Wall of Separation
Some “school choice” advocates hold up charter schools as a superior alternative to standard public schools, but as a situation in Pennsylvania has shown, some of these charter schools can lead to misuse of public funds.
The Pocono Mountain Charter School in Tobyhanna may have violated a number of state laws, including diverting taxpayer money to Shawnee Tabernacle Church, from which it leases a building. The school may have also improperly received $87,101 in state rental reimbursements because of its lease with the church, according to the Allentown Morning Call.
The newspaper obtained a preliminary report from the state auditor-general, exposing a number of other ethical and legal charges against the school. These included multiple violations of the Pennsylvania Ethics Act rule about conflicts of interest by the Rev. Dennis Bloom, who is president of Shawnee Tabernacle and was CEO of the school until December 2010.
These alleged violations include:
Complete article at link
http://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/funny-money-pa-charter-school-accused-of-using-public-dollars-to-fund
