The FBI Has Been Raiding Charter Schools

[Newell Steamer]

Sorry, this isn't another story about an abusive government terrorizing good natured individuals trying to educate our country's future,..

“Education entrepreneurs and private charter school operators could care less about innovation,” says Buras. “Instead, they divert public monies to pay their six-figure salaries; hire uncertified, transient, non-unionized teachers on the cheap; and do not admit (or fail to appropriately serve) students who are costly, such as those with disabilities.”

http://inthesetimes.com/article/17109/the_con_artistry_of_charter_schools

Yes, lets privative as much of the public sector as possible - ppppfffftt!!

 

[Oldgamer]

Holy crap...lol Just now reading this!

 

[DrDoug]

Hey, at least the money isn't being wasted on them damned worthless teachers! Those charter school executives have mansions, planes and yachts to maintain and that can be awful expensive! Why do you hate those poor, starving executives? It's the teachers you should be hating on because those commie librul fuckers hate our wealthy capitalists.

As an aside, $4.1 mil in compensation to one guy? Yup, it's a scam.

 

[michal1980]

why not raid some public schools?


This stinks of political payback. Once again Obama is using the federal government to target his opponents.

 

[ivwshane]

Wow! This is the first I've heard about this.

Capitalism works people!!

 

[Newell Steamer]

As an aside, $4.1 mil in compensation to one guy? Yup, it's a scam.

And remember, when a public school teacher asks for a raise - he/she is self entitled leech.

 

[Exterous]

Yes, lets privative as much of the public sector as possible - ppppfffftt!!

Charter schools started out as a good idea but the implementation has been terrible. People quickly realized that the state and federal governments were just shoveling money as fast as they could at schools to 'make them better' with no thought about how to account for it all. Full accounting was never really a focus for Public schools because the books are required to be completely open. Only a small handful of states require open books for charter schools.

It didn't take long for shady people to realize they could get millions of dollars handed to them with little work, have next to no need to account for its expenditure and no consequences for delivering a sub-par product.

why not raid some public schools?

Because the books on public schools are completely open which tends to discourage this type of abuse.

 

[Exterous]

And remember, when a public school teacher asks for a raise - he/she is self entitled leech.

There are some *cough* Chicago New York *cough* that give everyone else a bad name because people tend to lump all teacher unions together. Might as well demand changes to the state of Vermont because someone in New Mexico did something they didn't like...

 

[highland145]

Because the books on public schools are completely open which tends to discourage this type of abuse.

I've looked at their budget. I don't have a masters in accounting to figure it out.

In SC, $11K per kid in school from fed, state local monies. Only $6K makes it to the local schools. The county school board just voted to give $10M+ for the building of a baseball stadium/hotel/shops boondoggle. This is the same baseball team just across the river that has about 10% attendance. And they're asking for a 1 cent sales tax increase to go to education. And out test scores suck. Screw them.

And, yes, someone should be over seeing the charter schools.

 

[manimal]

I've looked at their budget. I don't have a masters in accounting to figure it out.

In SC, $11K per kid in school from fed, state local monies. Only $6K makes it to the local schools. The county school board just voted to give $10M+ for the building of a baseball stadium/hotel/shops boondoggle. This is the same baseball team just across the river that has about 10% attendance. And they're asking for a 1 cent sales tax increase to go to education. And out test scores suck. Screw them.

And, yes, someone should be over seeing the charter schools.

I sometimes wonder if we have the same brain. was going to post something very similar!


Depraved minds think alike!

 

[glenn1]

Yeah, you keep focusing on those charter schools while your urban public schools fester and produce stupid kids, teacher "rubber rooms," and tens of thousands of dollars spent per pupil to produce abysmal results.

Just so long as you stay the fvck away from the suburban schools where anyone with a brain sends their children, I don't give a damn what you do with charter schools.

 

[Exterous]

I've looked at their budget. I don't have a masters in accounting to figure it out.

In SC, $11K per kid in school from fed, state local monies. Only $6K makes it to the local schools. The county school board just voted to give $10M+ for the building of a baseball stadium/hotel/shops boondoggle. This is the same baseball team just across the river that has about 10% attendance. And they're asking for a 1 cent sales tax increase to go to education. And out test scores suck. Screw them.

And, yes, someone should be over seeing the charter schools.

Well, I didn't say it prevented issues. All you need to do is look at LA public's borked iPad contract to know that. Even so the issues are in the public light. You don't see Public school school boards making $21 million a year in salary. If you go to the ultra-crazy 'school workers make too much' websites you'll find them crying about 'outrageous' superintendent salaries. I couldn't find a single one over $500,000 yet the head of K12 made $4.1 million.

Closed book accounting lead to several cases where 'non-profit' schools ripped off the state and parents charging both for the students instead of only one going back to 2002 and only discovered recently. Good luck trying to do that with completely open accounting books

As for your case at least it is open to the public so you know the money isn't being spent well and the public might be able to do something about it. It took a special investigation to find that several charter schools in MI paid well over fair market value to a management company where the School board had interests (In one case they paid 40% or $2 million more than the property was worth).

 

[dank69]

Yeah, you keep focusing on those charter schools while your urban public schools fester and produce stupid kids, teacher "rubber rooms," and tens of thousands of dollars spent per pupil to produce abysmal results.

Just so long as you stay the fvck away from the suburban schools where anyone with a brain sends their children, I don't give a damn what you do with charter schools.

You can't blame urban schools for shitty urban parents.

 

[glenn1]

You can't blame urban schools for shitty urban parents.

I don't, but likewise I don't want them meddling with schools outside their own districts. They can deal with their own problems however they want, but don't screw with ours. People in the suburbs moved away from the urban people for a reason.

 

[highland145]

I sometimes wonder if we have the same brain. was going to post something very similar!


Depraved minds think alike!

Brother from a different Mother.

:fistbump;

 

[highland145]

Well, I didn't say it prevented issues. All you need to do is look at LA public's borked iPad contract to know that. Even so the issues are in the public light. You don't see Public school school boards making $21 million a year in salary. If you go to the ultra-crazy 'school workers make too much' websites you'll find them crying about 'outrageous' superintendent salaries. I couldn't find a single one over $500,000 yet the head of K12 made $4.1 million.

Closed book accounting lead to several cases where 'non-profit' schools ripped off the state and parents charging both for the students instead of only one going back to 2002 and only discovered recently. Good luck trying to do that with completely open accounting books

As for your case at least it is open to the public so you know the money isn't being spent well and the public might be able to do something about it. It took a special investigation to find that several charter schools in MI paid well over fair market value to a management company where the School board had interests (In one case they paid 40% or $2 million more than the property was worth).

Off to research a new business venture.....

 

[Sattern]

This reminds me of how you can start a school in Sicily and then pocket the money without having any students.

It isn't the charter schools fault because they knew they could get away with it and decided to take a risk they knew wouldn't negatively affect them.

The government decided to let it slide for too long and now is trying to sound like the good guy.

 

[SunnyD]

Imagine that... schools competing against each other in order to provide academic excellence.

Let me ask you this:

- If you were a teacher, where would you want to work? A shitty public school for a shitty public school teacher salary or a charter school that was providing you a better than average salary and extra perks?

- If you were a parent, where would you want to send your child? A shitty public school with teachers that have exactly zero motivation to provide anything more than a substandard education to your kid or a charter school stocked with teachers that are motivated to keep their above-average salaries by educating your child and having them excel versus the surrounding charters (or they might not have a job next year)?

Yeah, I understand if the public funds are being siphoned off to fund ISIL or some other terrorist group, then bring down the boom. But really? Charters are generally making public school systems look silly for a reason: Because they work.

 

[highland145]

Charters are generally making public school systems look silly for a reason: Because they work.

One more reason for the govt to go after them? Just a thought.

 

[DrPizza]

Imagine that... schools competing against each other in order to provide academic excellence.

Let me ask you this:

- If you were a teacher, where would you want to work? A shitty public school for a shitty public school teacher salary or a charter school that was providing you a better than average salary and extra perks?

- If you were a parent, where would you want to send your child? A shitty public school with teachers that have exactly zero motivation to provide anything more than a substandard education to your kid or a charter school stocked with teachers that are motivated to keep their above-average salaries by educating your child and having them excel versus the surrounding charters (or they might not have a job next year)?

Yeah, I understand if the public funds are being siphoned off to fund ISIL or some other terrorist group, then bring down the boom. But really? Charters are generally making public school systems look silly for a reason: Because they work.

Uh, no they don't. I'll try to explain with numbers; not the actual numbers but for the purposes of trying to get through to you what's happening, they're good enough.

Pre-charter: public school overall average = 75%

Charter school comes in. Give us your best students. We don't want the special ed students.
Charter average: 80%
Public school average drops to 65%. See how much better the charter school is doing? However, if you look at the average of those students pre-charter school, the students they siphoned off used to have an 85% average. And, in many cases, there's a lot more grade inflation in charter schools.

Clue: why don't you think there's a charter school whose mission it is to take the special ed students and all the other academically challenged students, and educate them?

You have to apply to get into charter schools. By default, that eliminates the kids whose parents don't give a shit about their educations. So, of course they end up with better students, on average, than public schools. That gives a false illusion that they're doing better.

 

[Exterous]

- If you were a teacher, where would you want to work? A shitty public school for a shitty public school teacher salary or a charter school that was providing you a better than average salary and extra perks?

Where are these charter schools that provide a better than average salary and extra perks? Nationwide Charter schools pay about 10-15% less than Public and have much worse retirement options.

Interestingly enough Charter schools have a much higher administrative cost due to either an increased number of admin positions, higher salary or both

- If you were a parent, where would you want to send your child? A shitty public school with teachers that have exactly zero motivation to provide anything more than a substandard education to your kid or a charter school stocked with teachers that are motivated to keep their above-average salaries by educating your child and having them excel versus the surrounding charters (or they might not have a job next year)?

So your premise is based on a false statement and an incomplete\outdated one? Most states have gotten rid of the traditional tenure and gone to a merit based system and have done so for years. If the teacher provides a substandard education in a public school they are let go regardless of seniority. Keep in mind that in addition to below average pay charter schools also experience 2-4x as much teacher turn over and that the average charter school teacher only has a few years of experience teaching. Doesn't sound like an environment that attracts and retains great teachers.

Charters are generally making public school systems look silly for a reason: Because they work.

Yes - the work so well that many states are having huge problems with them. You may find some interesting reading here

Not to mention the large swath of the student population Charter Schools just flat out refuse to accept

Changes and reforms to education need to be made but the implementation of charter schools has been fucked up almost nationwide.

 

[bshole]

Yeah, you keep focusing on those charter schools while your urban public schools fester and produce stupid kids, teacher "rubber rooms," and tens of thousands of dollars spent per pupil to produce abysmal results.

Just so long as you stay the fvck away from the suburban schools where anyone with a brain sends their children, I don't give a damn what you do with charter schools.

This is all on the right. School choice is the Right's busing. A school-ruining scheme based on egalitarian ideological fantasy.

Middle class bread-winners sacrifice greatly to get their children even into good public schools. To live in the neighborhoods those schools serve means a high level of mortgage debt, to service that debt means, perhaps, taking a less fulfilling but more secure or higher paying job, and longer commuting - time in stressful traffic away from family and recreation. Mothers have to go to work rather than stay home.

School choice, like busing, makes this massive investment worthless, by bringing in precisely the lower aptitude, poorly behaving, even dangerous "students" these parents have gone to such lengths to distance and shield their children from.

We know all about this in Wisconsin where the Republicans have ruined many once great schools with their evil machinations. Parents of school age children have front row seats to the carnage. Schools that once had great shool ratings of 10, now have a rating of 7 or less. There is a fair amount of rage by the PAYING parents towards the parents who are getting a free lunch and in return have provided the school with their rude and misbehaving children.

Nutty Walker and his Republican cronies are doing their level best to completely demolish Wisconsin's once peerless educational system under the guise of school choice. It is a real travesty.

The problem is bad students not bad schools. Transferring bad students to good schools does nothing but ruin good schools.

 

[IBMer]

This isn't much different that the current "For Profit" College scheme. Its nothing but a money grab at federally backed student loans. People talk about student loan debt and "For Profit" colleges are a big problem with it.

 

[Sonikku]

If anything Charter schools are a great value because by privatizing something you eliminate the waste and red tape and get efficiency and cost savings. Everyone knows this.

 

[werepossum]

I've looked at their budget. I don't have a masters in accounting to figure it out.

In SC, $11K per kid in school from fed, state local monies. Only $6K makes it to the local schools. The county school board just voted to give $10M+ for the building of a baseball stadium/hotel/shops boondoggle. This is the same baseball team just across the river that has about 10% attendance. And they're asking for a 1 cent sales tax increase to go to education. And out test scores suck. Screw them.

And, yes, someone should be over seeing the charter schools.

Holy crap, 45% lost before it even hits the school? Wow!

Imagine that... schools competing against each other in order to provide academic excellence.

Let me ask you this:

- If you were a teacher, where would you want to work? A shitty public school for a shitty public school teacher salary or a charter school that was providing you a better than average salary and extra perks?

- If you were a parent, where would you want to send your child? A shitty public school with teachers that have exactly zero motivation to provide anything more than a substandard education to your kid or a charter school stocked with teachers that are motivated to keep their above-average salaries by educating your child and having them excel versus the surrounding charters (or they might not have a job next year)?

Yeah, I understand if the public funds are being siphoned off to fund ISIL or some other terrorist group, then bring down the boom. But really? Charters are generally making public school systems look silly for a reason: Because they work.

Well said.

We have a very successful local public system charter school and the lady running it made only one non-negotiable demand - the right to dismiss teachers at will. They still have their jobs, just not at the charter school. Also, parents have to stand in line for hours to get a child in and must provide some free labor during the school year. Personally, I think concentrating those students and parents who give a damn is an excellent idea.