Key Issues

Transparency

The public has a right to know how tax dollars are spent. In many cases, charter schools' finances and operations are opaque. For example, when a nonprofit charter school operator hires a for-profit company, it sometimes pays the for-profit more than 95% of the tax dollars it receives from the state. Yet, taxpayers have no right to ask the for-profit company how it spent the money. White Hat Management, which runs 33 charters in three states, refused to open its books to the schools’ governing boards. Despite losing repeatedly in the courts, White Hat continues to fight to keep information from its schools’ board members. And in Washington, D.C., charter school boards are exempt from open meetings and public records laws.

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Charter School in PA using facilities to funnel cash away from instruction


  |   Tags: Accountability, Finance and Facilities, Oversight, Public Control, Self-Dealing, Transparency

A recent article on Philly.com outlines a few of the ways charter schools use facilities funding to divert public money. This includes expensive bond transactions, related party deals, and lining the pockets of consultants. As Rutgers education professor Bruce Baker put it: “public policy permits a bad deal for the public — one that essentially […] Read More »

Texas school board rejects Athlos charter school AGAIN


  |   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 »

White Hat may cash in on 12 schools


  |   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 »