Key Issues

About Key Issues

Key Issues To ensure charter schools and neighborhood public schools function in the best interests of students, parents and community members, we believe that, like all public institutions, they must be guided by six basic principles of a democratic society: transparency, accountability, quality, oversight, equity and public control. However, charter schools, by design, are less regulated, and in some cases, fail to live up to these ideals. In fact, we have seen many cases where the interests of owners and shareholders of for-profit charters and educational corporations conflict with the broad public interest and the common good.

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Texas school board rejects Athlos charter school AGAIN

Friday, July 24, 2015   |   Tags: Accountability, Charters, Equity, Transparency, Weak Oversight

The Texas school board of education rejects the Athlos Academy charter application for the second year in a row. The application submitted by Idaho-based Athlos Academies to open two new charter schools in the Dallas area was vetoed by a vote of 12-2 at the Texas State Board of Education meeting on July 17th. Education […] Read More »

Imagine Schools to Ohio: “See You in Court!”

Thursday, June 18, 2015   |   Tags: Charter Chains, Charter School Real Estate, Charters, Cyber Charters, Finance and Facilities, Imagine Schools, Public Control, Quality, Self-Dealing

When the Ohio Department of Education moved to close two imagine charters for “overall poor performance,” Imagine Schools responded like someone trying to get out of a speeding ticket: it’s suing the state for failing to close schools that perform even worse. As reported in the Akron Beacon Journal: The lawsuit alleges that the state […] Read More »

White Hat may cash in on 12 schools

Tuesday, June 16, 2015   |   Tags: Corporate Profiles, K12, Oversight, Public Control, Transparency, White Hat Management

White Hat Management may sell off the management of 12 schools in Ohio. Who will they sell to? Pansophic Learning, a company started by Ron Packard, founder and former CEO of K12, Inc. Pansophic is a Virginia-based, for-profit operator. The contracts give the management company as much as 95 percent of state funding for the 12 schools, […] Read More »