Denis Smith used to work for the Ohio Department of Education, where he oversaw the charter schools. Now that he has retired, he can speak freely.
In this post, he reflects on the recall of faulty cars and airbags. And he wonders, what if faulty charters could be recalled?
The post is priceless for the number of links to industry malfeasance.
He includes a long list of charter industry failures, suggesting that embezzlement and cooking the books is not a one-off phenomenon, but a systemic failure.
Here are some examples of problems in that other, non-automotive, non-manufacturing industry:
A record 17 industry locations in one city – Columbus – closed in just one year.
One of the industry’s treasurers embezzled nearly $500,000 from several locations, earning a two-year prison sentence.
An executive in the industry, operating under a phony consulting contract, also embezzled about a half-million dollars, while employee salaries had to be cut in an economy move.
In Cleveland, five industry executives were charged with stealing nearly $2 million in a scheme that saw the creation of five shell companies to receive public funds. Even the board chairman, who owned the building in which the industry operated, was part of the fraud that was detailed in a 32-count indictment.
Three industry treasurers were singled out several years ago for their responsibility with more than $1 million in “questionable spending,” according to audit findings.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“Now that he has retired, he can speak freely.”
If he had information that the public needed to know (which apparently he did), he should have spoken freely before.
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Dienne,
That sentence jumped out at me also. Can you say GAGA?
Expediency triumphs justice, unfortunately as usual.
“Should we therefore forgo our self-interest? Of course not. But it [self-interest] must be subordinate to justice, not the other way around. . . . To take advantage of a child’s naivete. . . in order to extract from them something [test scores, personal information] that is contrary to their interests, or intentions, without their knowledge [or consent of parents] or through coercion [state mandated testing], is always and everywhere unjust even if in some places and under certain circumstances it is not illegal. . . . Justice is superior to and more valuable than well-being or efficiency; it cannot be sacrificed to them, not even for the happiness of the greatest number [quoting Rawls]. To what could justice legitimately be sacrificed, since without justice there would be no legitimacy or illegitimacy? And in the name of what, since without justice even humanity, happiness and love could have no absolute value?. . . Without justice, values would be nothing more than (self) interests or motives; they would cease to be values or would become values without worth.”—Comte-Sponville [my additions]
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That’s an especially good question in light of the references to “the recall of faulty cars and airbags.”
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That’s rich, Dienne. What sacrifice have you ever made for the greater good? Actually, what are you doing right now, regardless of employment, to prevent taxpayer scams, robbing children of their childhoods, exploiting vulnerable families, etc. Please enlighten the blog readers about how you achieved media coverage for your cause b/c where I am sitting in Ohio, unless you are associated with the Fordham Institute, the reporters can’t find you.
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Funny cartoon from L.A. Progressive…
It sums up charter schools in a little over 2 minutes:
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Well, we in Ohio are assured by Ohio politicians and lobbyists that they “reformed” charter schools so it’s all taken care of and they can go full speed ahead on the publicly-funded expansion plan.
I was hoping some of the public employees in the Kasich Administration could tear themselves away from promoting the charter sector long enough to put in a couple of hours towards the public schools that 93% of the children in this state attend, but that doesn’t look likely again this year.
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When Atlanta teachers were on trial for cheating on bubble tests, the sad tale was smeared all over the evening news. We do not hear a peep from the major news outlets regarding the waste, fraud, cooking of books and public relations manipulation in the charter industry. Not only is the splintering of services inefficient and costly for no better results in charter schools with taxpayers paying double for fixed costs, there is a tremendous amount of embezzlement and deliberate fraud. I am sure that the typical Americans that clip coupons and shop sales would be offended and outraged by such fiscal impropriety on the taxpayers’ dime. We have to do better! Average Americans need access to this information. commondreams.org/news/2015/04/29/fraud-waste-and-lies-charter-schools-cheating-communities-out-millions-dollars
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