Pages

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

ALEC Charter School Policies - High Fraud Risk

FRAUD = Stealing
Charter School Fraud = STEALING TAX DOLLARS for corporate profit.


Corporate profit - the middle name of the American Legislative Exchange Council.  ALEC even wrote a whole report on "Designing School Choice", that they distributed to EVERY ALEC member.

When was the last time you saw a news article about a "real" public school official engaged in fraud? (As a for-profit corporatist stealing tax dollars)
WHEN?

BUT - when you put taxpayer dollars in the hands of for-profit companies - you are asking for trouble.

For profit companies don't give a damn about taxpayer dollars and where they come from - they are only concerned on where they can spend the tacpayer dollars they receive.

Greedy people with no respect for taxpayer dollars.
So when your ALEC legislator starts telling you how good it is for the free-market to take over control of public education systems - remember these stories.
 
Read it and weep!  YOUR tax dollars.

<><><><><><><><><><

Gregory Goner, 41, of Milwaukee was indicted Tuesday by a grand jury on four counts of theft of federal funds and one count of wire fraud. The theft counts carry a maximum of 10 years in prison and the fraud count 20 years.

<><><><><><><><><><
FORMER CHARTER SCHOOL HEAD ACCUSED OF EMBEZZLEMENT INDICTMENT ALLEGES WOMAN STOLE MORE THAN $300,000 IN FEDERAL MONEY; January 24, 2008; Associated Press

    The U.S. attorney's office accused the former head of a Milwaukee charter school Wednesday of embezzling more than $300,000 in federal money.

    A grand jury indicted Rosella Tucker, 54, of Milwaukee, on two counts of theft from a program receiving federal funds.

<><><><><><><><><>< 

'Lack of oversight' in charter schools encouraging education fraud
- Lauren McCauley, staff writer

In the latest incident of charter school fraud, the state of Oregon is going after a pair of charter school con men who reportedly scammed the state out of $17 million.

The Oregonian is reporting that Tim King and Norm Donohoe, who ran a chain of taxpayer-funded charter schools under the guise of a nonprofit named EdChoices, "submitted false, incomplete and misleading records about how many students were enrolled in the schools and how they were spending the state's money.

 <><><><><><><><><><
Jet Skis, Scottish real estate, Louis Vuitton bags: how crooks have cashed in on the charter school boom.
—By Stephanie Mencimer
| November/December 2011 Issue

Charter schools have been held up as models of innovative school reform, but due to a striking lack of oversight (PDF), the sector is also a magnet for fraud. Between 2005 and 2011, the US Department of Education opened 53 investigations into charter school fraud, resulting in 21 indictments and 17 convictions


<><><><><><><><><>< 
By PATRICK McGEEHAN
Published: April 12, 2012

When state investigators demanded last year to see personal tax returns filed by Eddie Calderon-Melendez, the founder and chief executive of a troubled network of charter high schools in Brooklyn, he produced them. One problem, according to the investigators, was that those state tax returns were falsified and had never been filed.

Then, when the investigators studied the books of one of the schools, Williamsburg Charter High School, they found that Mr. Calderon-Melendez had used a school credit card to pay for parts of a European vacation, including accommodations at a Paris hotel and some expenses in England, they said. On Thursday, a grand jury in Brooklyn indicted Mr. Calderon-Melendez on 11 felony counts, including tax fraud, grand larceny and falsifying business records.

<><><><><><><><><>< 
Jill Tucker
Published 4:00 am, Tuesday, April 3, 2012

A controversial Oakland charter school with a history of rigid rules, harsh discipline and the second highest test scores in the state faces closure after an investigation found evidence of fraud and multiple violations of state laws.

Oakland school district staff has recommended the Board of Education deny the renewal application of American Indian Charter School II based on preliminary findings of a state audit. If denied, the public school would close after this academic year.

The financial allegations involve more than $1 million in public funds funneled to the school's founder, Ben Chavis, and his wife, Marsha Amador, for rent, consulting, construction projects and other questionable payments with little to no oversight by the school's own board.

<><><><><><><><><>< 

By: Hrafnkell HaraldssonJan. 6th, 2013
According to the Oregonian, “Tim King and Norm Donohoe, who ran a chain of taxpayer-funded charter schools across small-town Oregon from their headquarters in Clackamas, scammed the state out of $17 million and must repay that plus $2.7 million more, the state said in a court filing this week.”

 <><><><><><><><><><
    State educators are seeking criminal charges against the executives of a charter school operation after an audit found they had misused at least $25.6 million in public education money, including $2.6 million for personal expenses.

    The audit found that executives of the now-closed California Charter Academy used public funds to pay for personal watercrafts, travel, health spa visits, Disney-related merchandise and more. Two employees even paid their income taxes with $42,000 in school funds.

 <><><><><><><><><><
Four School Executives Charged with Conspiring with Brown to Obstruct Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office July 24, 2012   

    Eastern District of Pennsylvania (215) 861-8200

PHILADELPHIA—Dorothy June Brown, 75, of Haverford, Pennsylvania, was charged today by indictment with defrauding three charter schools of more than $6.5 million between 2007 and April 2011.

<><><><><><><><><>< 
Posted: Wednesday, March 6, 2013 9:00 am

Jeb Bush, governor of Florida, was cited as a model for charter schools. But Florida’s charter school record is not pretty.

Most charter schools are managed by a for-profit corporation. The charter school initiative just passed here authorizes a for-profit corporation to manage charter schools. So not only will we pay for education, we will also pay dearly for a management company to make a profit.

Orlando, FL, Channel 9 WFTV, investigated Dayspring Academy charter school, and John Legg, who requested a change in admission rules, that favored the schools’ achievement records. Legg is a powerful state representative. Conflict of interest charges have been filed.

Orange county, FL, Orlando Sentinel, reports that Northstar Charter School paid principal, Kelly Young, $519,453.36 of taxpayer money two days after the school closed. Her yearly pay and bonuses were higher than the superintendent of public schools.

These are only a few of the thousands of cases of fraud involving charter schools nationwide.

These are only a few of the thousands of cases of fraud involving charter schools nationwide.

These are only a few of the thousands of cases of fraud involving charter schools nationwide.

These are only a few of the thousands of cases of fraud involving charter schools nationwide.

These are only a few of the thousands of cases of fraud involving charter schools nationwide.

No comments:

Post a Comment