Sometimes it is hard to believe that anyone cares anymore about old-fashioned things like integrity, honesty, accountability, and transparency, especially in the red red states where the charter chains have bought the legislature and the governor.

 

But look at this story.  All of these schools are associated with the Gulen movement, a Turkish chain of charters, the largest in the U.S. They get high test scores. but apparently they crossed the line, wherever that is.

 

 

The Ohio Board of Education ordered an immediate investigation of a chain of 19 charter schools in the state today after hearing allegations of test cheating, attendance tampering, sexual misconduct and other misdeeds.

Former teachers from the Horizon Science Academy Dayton High School in Dayton testified at the board’s monthly meeting in Columbus about years of misconduct. Some said they had been afraid to come forward before finding new jobs.

One teacher said he’d made a previous complaint to the Department of Education but never heard back from agency officials.

“Your concerns have not fallen on deaf ears,” promised Board President Debe Terhar. “We hear you and we will move forward with making sure this is investigated.”

Other board members said they were outraged and disgusted. Some said they were taken aback because they’d visited the schools and observed nothing questionable.

“Inside my blood is boiling,” said Deborah Cain, a board member from Uniontown. “It is almost incomprehensible.”

Kellie Kochensparger, a teacher at the school until last year, told board members of an incident in which school officials failed to tell parents that their children were suspended for having oral sex while other students watched at a school festival. The activity was caught on surveillance cameras.

“The school told parents the suspensions were handed out because the kids were outside of their assigned areas,” she said. “As a teacher and parent, when I questioned further, I was told that I ask too many questions and the situation was being handled.”

On another occasion Kochensparger said she was asked to make sure students completed all questions on a standardized state exam before allowing them to turn it in. When she told an administrator that it was not permitted and she would inquire of the Department of Education, she was forbidden from contacting the state.

“I know of one student who failed the 7th grade and then had to repeat the year with the agreement with (an administrator) that she would be promoted to the 9th grade if she passed 7th grade during the second attempt. She indeed completely skipped 8th grade and all associated curriculum,” Kochensparger said.

“I don’t think parents had any idea what was going on at the school. There was great emphasis on keeping parents happy and there was a culture of intimidation intended to discourage teachers from doing anything that could adversely affect the school’s relationship with parents,” she said. “Any teacher who asked too many questions was at risk of getting fired.”

The Chicago-based Concept Schools operate 30 schools throughout the Midwest, including the 19 Horizon Science academies in Ohio. Four are in Columbus. Like all charter schools, they are publicly funded and privately operated.

Some of the schools, including some in Columbus, are part of a broader probe by the FBI.