I recently posted a story about Eagle Arts Academy Charter School in Palm Beach, Florida, which seemed to be in chaos. There was financial mismanagement, constant turnover, and multiple snafus.
Peter Greene dug deeper and exposed the back story. He calls it “Florida Charter Scam: Part 23,174.”
He writes:
“Gregory James Blount was a 40-ish-year-old former model and events producer who was working his way out of bankruptcy by teaching modeling and acting classes when he decided that getting into the charter school biz seemed like a fine career move. He recruited Liz Knowles, a teacher and private school chief, to run the school and write his “Artademics” curriculum. But Knowles walked away from Blount soon after (final straw– discovering he had created a Artademics company to cash in). Knowles recalled Blount’s argument for her to stay. “Don’t worry, :Liz. You’ll be rich.”
“The Eagle Arts Academy opened up, and Blount was cashing in. What’s repeatedly impressive about these scam schools is that even people with no education experience or even successful business experience can still figure out how to make big money at this game. Blount was no exception.
“The technique is familiar. The non-profit school hires other companies, and that’s where you make your money. Blount set up a business that he called a “foundation,” though it was not registered as one. The foundation sold uniforms to students at hefty prices, and that money went to Blount. Blount’s company also ran a profitable after-school tutoring program on school grounds, rent free. And when Knowles walked away from writing the school’s curriculum, Blount set up a company to do that; the school paid him for that as well– even though the curriculum was both late. A third company charged the school for consulting services as well.
“The Eagles Arts charter did include a clause saying that no board members of the school could profit directly or indirectly. Blount apparently got around that by simply resigning from the board during the periods that he was making money through his companies.
“So, does this story end with Blount disgraced and in handcuffs?”
No, he is opening for a second year in August.
The wonderful world of school choice, brought to you by Jeb Bush and Betsy DeVos.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Easy to find a few failing charters, but it’s lots easier to find tons of failing public schools. The best charters show the way, and without them, public schools will continue to get worse and dumb down.
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William, in Nevada, charters dominate the state list of failing schools.
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Do you have any research citations for your opinions, Bill?
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William,
It’s obvious you have NOT done your homework.
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Reblogged this on David R. Taylor-Thoughts on Education.
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We have entered the “Twilight Zone” of so called reform where we can clearly see the main objective without pretense. Evidence, waste and fraud mean nothing. The goal is mass privatization and putting public funds in private pockets. It has nothing to do with improving outcomes for children.
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Right. It’s all about the money.
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The entire notion of charter school’s today is the farthest thing from the original purpose of fostering innovation. Today these skills are all about undermining true public education, enriching private business, destroying teacher unionization and the resegregation of schools.
The vast majority of charter school teachers can’t wait to get a job in a real public school to escape corporate education.
Politicians that support charter schools do so for two reasons: 1) They have a political ax to grind with public school unions and 2) They are receiving huge campaign contributions from the billionaires who fund the charters.
Charter schools are robbing kids of their youth, destroying their opportunity to receive a well rounded education, complete with clubs and sports, etc in a real public school.
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My friend runs an independent charter that follows the original intent. With the teacher shortage looming she may be in a position to attract minority beginning teachers and keep them for a few years while training them for urban schools using her vast knowledge of best practices and current research. Although she will lose a few, as do most urban schools, she might be able to retain a majority.
Her biggest worry will be the state charter assoc. which will demand high scores from this non-profit while turning a blind eye to the large established schools and for profits.
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Thanks for the outline. I once ran a day care in NC using gov’t building under auspices of OEO. I even have experience!
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