This looks like a good deal for the leaders of a charter school who were accused of misappropriating
Ropristing $3 million for their personal use. No jail time. A payback of $600,000 and pocket change. And an agreement not to lead any other charters until 2020. The fines apparently will be paid by insurance companies, not the defendants.
“The former leaders of a public charter school for disabled and at-risk teenagers have agreed to settle a District lawsuit alleging they sought to enrich themselves by diverting millions of dollars in taxpayer money meant for the school into private companies they created.
“Donna Montgomery, David Cranford and Paul Dalton, all former managers at Options Public Charter School, agreed to a collective settlement of $575,000, which will be paid to the school that now operates under new leadership as Kingsman Academy. Jeremy Williams, a former chief financial officer of the D.C. Public Charter School Board, who allegedly aided the scheme, agreed to a settlement of $84,237 in a separate deal signed last week. The defendants agreed that they would not serve in a leadership role of any nonprofit corporation in the District until October 2020.
“This settlement ensures that more than $600,000 in misappropriated funds will now go to Kingsman Academy to serve disabled students in the District of Columbia, and will deter future wrongdoing,” said Robert Marus, a spokesman for the Office of the Attorney General. “As the referees for the District’s nonprofit laws, our office will continue to bring actions against any who would misuse funds meant for public or charitable purposes.”
“A statement issued by attorney S.F. Pierson, who represents Dalton, said all three former managers “continue to contest the District’s claims and continue to maintain their position that they managed Options to the highest standards.” Pierson said the former school leaders are “not personally paying” anything to settle the District’s claims. It’s common that insurance plans cover litigation-related costs for nonprofit directors or corporate officers.”
This is a big win for the accused, but a loss for the disabled students, who didn’t get the services intended for them.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Why were they no required to disclose their conviction in any further effort to open a charter school? How many school districts think to do a criminal records search on prospective charter operator. Maybe I should say, every school district needs to do a do a criminal record search on prospective charter operator.
Some state laws do not require a criminal background check for charter operators and teachers–but do so for public school teachers.
The public schools should sue them for the difference. Maybe the parents of children in the DC public school, should sue for the lost revenue. Charters need to be held accountable for waste and fraud. Society is messed up when poor people are held in prison for the inability to post bail and corporations plunder with few consequences.
What happens to public school educators when they do something wrong like erase answers on a useless, flawed, rank and punish standardized test – they go to prison.
“Prison time for some Atlanta school educators in cheating scandal”
http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/14/us/georgia-atlanta-public-schools-cheating-scandal-verdicts/index.html
What happened to Michelle Rhee for the same crimes – NOTHING. Rhee gets rewarded.
“Why not subpoena everyone in D.C. cheating scandal — Rhee included? (update)”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2013/04/12/why-not-subpoena-everyone-in-d-c-cheating-scandal-rhee-included/?utm_term=.40c07ac9cee0
This is the country the Walton family wants.
This is the country the Koch brothers want.
This is the country that ALEC is building.
This is the world Trump is building.
This is the world the majority of the GOP wants.
This is Tea Party America.
This is fundamentalist evangelical Chrisitan America.
This is the Alt-Right’s America.
A country where the white-collar crime that benefits the wealthiest in the private sector gets off with a slap on the hand while being allowed to keep most of the money they stole, but if you belong to the working class and are not wealthy, you go to prison and lose everything … especially if you are labeled a liberal, belong to a labor union, or are a minority. Just for erasing and changing a few answers on a useless, flawed, rank and punish standardized bubble test that enriches a private sector corporation that made the test in secret.
Let’s not forget what Thomas Jefferson said about nourishing the tree of liberty with the blood of tyrants.
An amazing post. So much truth in the collective influence on the undoing of so much in America.
So let me get this straight:
$3 million – $600,000 = $2.4 million.
So that means that the remaining $2.4 million is sitting in a bank account held by those crooks Donna Montgomery, David Cranford and Paul Dalton (and perhaps the CFO Jeremy Williams), which they’re now free to spend on themselves and live on — until their 3-year ban from running a charter school expires?
And not one penny of that $600,000 fine came out of those crooks’ pockets?
And they’ll never face any criminal prosecution?
Am I getting this right?
Wow, that really sent a message deterring other charter school crooks …. NOT.
Oh, and that 3-year ban, mind you, only applies to Washington, D.C. Those crooks can still pull off this grift in any other city in the good ol’ USA … where, if they’re caught again, they ‘ll likely face the same non-penalty they faced in D.C.
Wow.
SICK!
I can’t read the article, but from what I understand they were not charged with a crime. They settled a lawsuit. Or if they were charged with a crime it was dismissed. The insurance company pays the fine, and they walk off with the money they misappropriated. Is there something wrong with this picture?