The ex-principal of the Franklin Towne Charter School has filed suit against his former employer, charging that he was fired because he objected to improper activities.
A federal whistle-blower suit claims an elementary principal at the Franklin Towne Charter School in Bridesburg was hired under false pretenses and then terminated after he raised serious concerns about its operations.
Todd A. Dupell alleges that he was wrongfully dismissed as principal last August after he complained to the board chair that the charter was billing the Philadelphia School District for full-day kindergarten even though the program was not full day; the charter was awash in nepotism; and the school was paying the wife of a former board member $80,000 for a nonexistent job because otherwise her husband could “make noise.”
Dupell also alleged that the charter was violating state law because it was not providing required services to students who were learning English….
Dupell gave up his tenured post as a principal in Bucks County to work for the charter school. He was told by staffers that the former principal had been removed because of improper activities, including charges of shoplifting and using excessive force against a student. Then Dupell learned that the former principal would be his supervisor. Dupell said that when he met with the chair of the charter board to express his concerns, he was terminated.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
How does a school that’s only been in existence since 2000 have a “longtime lawyer?” (from the linked article)
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I don’t know about you, Deb, but at my age (65) potentially 15+ years sounds like pretty long term to me.
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This is the tip of the iceberg for Pennsylvania’s problems. In addition to all the mismanagement, cronyism as well as waste and fraud in charters left from Corbett administration, the current Democratic leader, Governor Wolf, is at impasse with the legislature and cannot get a budget passed. They are facing a $2 billion dollar deficit, and the governor wants to raise taxes, which the Republican led legislature does not want to hear.
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Does anyone wonder why so many of us are anti-charter? This charter movement is so contrary to the original intent that it is literally criminal and these schools should be called something more indicative of what they represent (maybe Enter at Your Own Risk schools).
It also gives those charters who are trying to provide an alternative education a bad name.
As far as I’ve witnessed, the charter experiment has been a dismal failure. Even the “successful” schools are tainted with segregation, not just of the minority populations, but based on needs. If your child needs services, they “need” not apply.
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Flos56: How about Caveat Emptor schools?
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This sort of thing is happening all over the United States and will continue until charter laws are overturned or amended to allow strict oversight of tax money.
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Pennsylvania is as bad as Ohio re: on charter schools. I’ve never understood why it isn’t discussed more or covered more. I know they had an ed reform governor for a period prior to Wolf being elected, but that doesn’t explain why there’s so little oversight or even coverage of the lack of oversight.
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Chiara, the head of former Governor Tom Corbett’s education transition team owned a major charter; he is a big GOP donor. And the charter returns $$.
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I believe the remaining cronyism from Corbett’s administration was the reason Wolf was willing to give up five schools to charters annually in Philly. He was trying to appease the thugs in the legislature in order to cut a deal to pass a budget. Their overseers are used to milking charter funds. So far it has not worked as a compromise.
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and then there is OHIO
Politico Feb 10 EDU-PINION:
The Cleveland Plain Dealer’s editorial board says the Ohio Department of Education still has a lot of explaining to do about charter schools. Last year, federal officials froze Ohio’s Charter Schools Program grant after questions arose about the accuracy of the state’s application. “The latest news?
A Jan. 29 letter [http://1.usa.gov/1Rnoiji ] from ODE to federal regulators sent in an attempt to win back the grant reveals that Ohio has nearly 10 times as many failing charter schools as it first reported to the U.S. Department of Education in its 2015 charter-school-expansion grant application,” the editorial board writes. More: http://bit.ly/1Q53iso.
Ohio has nearly 10 times as many failing charter schools as it first reported to the U.S. Department of Education in its 2015 charter-school-expansion grant application. The application was never looked at SERIOUSLY by USDE reviews. The lies could have been detected before money was shoved out the door. I looked at the reviewers. There were red flags but the scoring rubric “forced” an OK. In other words opportunities for fraud are in the grant and authorizing process and have been put there by the charter industry.
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Too bad Ohio’s charter scandals are kept under wraps. Kasich is moving up in the polls. He is being viewed as a “reasonable alternative.”
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Kasich is selling himself as Mr. Reasonable.
He is no different from Cruz and Rubio.
He has been in politics long enough to know not to talk like Trump and offend people
But his politics are hard-right.
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Typical of many, but not all charters.
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So, are we to therefore conclude that, even though ALL charters divert funds and resources from the public schools, and thus destabilize them, it’s OK because only “many” of them are run by crooks?
That’s hardly a strong argument for trashing public education and funding private apartheid schools funded on the public’s dime.
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Is anyone keeping track of all these law suits and court cases against the private sector corporate charter school industry? It would be nice to have a comprehensive data base of all the law suits and court verdicts by state and U.S. Territory.
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“FTC Complaint Assistant”, provides an easy-to-use website complaint form, that can be used to send a request that the government, prohibit false advertising, by charter schools. When charter schools call themselves, “public”, I consider it false advertising that compels a complaint.
The Dept. of Ed., DOJ, SEC, FDA, and some of the EPA, works against the American people. I’m curious about the FTC.
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