The dean of students at a Mastery Charter School in Philadelphia has been arrested and charged with statutory rape. He has been fired.
Omar Harrison, 42, of Cheltenham, Pa. was arrested on Wednesday. He was a dean of students at Mastery Charter’s Harrity Elementary School in the 5600 block of Christian Street in West Philadelphia.
Police say the victim was a 14-year-old 8th grade student.
The victim allegedly told investigators the incident happened at the end of the past school year after Harrison gave her a ride to a hotel in Tinicum Township near Philadelphia International Airport.
Officials from Master Charter Schools say the incident came to light on Friday after the victim’s mother came to the school to confront Harrison. The school was placed on lockdown for student safety, officials said, and no one was hurt.
Harrison has been fired from his position.
Did the charter give him a background check before hiring him? Did he have a previous criminal record? The answers to these questions are unknown. These are procedures that are customary in public schools.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“The school was placed on lockdown for student safety….”
Safety from whom? The victim’s mother, presumably, because Harrison had been there all along and the school was never locked down before due to his presence. How very odd when juvenile rape victims’ mothers are more dangerous than the rapists themselves.
LikeLike
“for Harrison’s safety” would seem more likely.
LikeLike
Well, true. If that were my daughter, his safety would be in danger.
LikeLike
This is, of course, shocking and disturbing. However, when communities turn public money over to private companies with little oversight, parents may be putting young people at risk, This is the logical conclusion of little oversight and accountability in addition to the more common waste and fraud.
LikeLike
Well said! Charters and vouchers are DISASTERS. This is called free enterprise with a blank check. Sickening.
LikeLike
One of my comments at the article thread:
“Found an ad for a Philadelphia Mastery Charter Dean of Students online. Requires bachelors or masters in ed or related field plus min 2 yrs working in schools; admin exp & computer competency; candidates w/teaching exp as well given preference. The job seems a tall order for that skimpy background: includes– besides intensive data analytics– managing discipline for 800 students!!
“My sis has a similar job at a fine upstate-NY public hisch [tho disc mgt for more like 1200 students]: she came into job w/20 yrs’ teaching exp & 7 yrs in admin, w/BA & TWO Masters’ & addl post-grad admin courses/ certs… !”
Of course that does not speak to the question of whether Mastery Charter does ‘perv checks’. Tho I have to be fingerprinted for every one of my free-lance PreK enrichment positions, none of them are charter schools w/their free-wheeling release from / non-enforcement of state/ fed ‘red tape’ that might restrain their ‘innovation’ >sarc< (let alone infringe on their ‘private’ status despite public funding…!)
The fact that charters are allowed to operate pretty much like privates (despite public funding) is a big factor , I’m guessing. Because, culture-wise, inner-city charters are absolutely similar to our longtime private schools for the privileged: they are hidden from public scrutiny; parents whose alternatives for quality ed are limited & who struggled to get their kids a seat are a captive market & not wont to challenge admin. They are not part of a larger community, thus don’t have feedback on alternatives.
Worse: charter parents do not have the resources nor $ clout to demand better even if they perceive shortcomings: they’re not footing tuition.
I mention all that because my first few yrs of teaching were in a private academy where behavior cited in the article, though not routine, definitely happened (sometimes openly!), was known about campus among teachers, was never challenged nor reported; perpetrators went on their merry way w/o consequence. It is a risk one runs in a private establishment: opprobrious stuff happens whenever you have an imbalance of power unchecked by public scrutiny, & sanctions do not happen unless they can be managed sub-rosa w/o damaging the profit-generating brand.
LikeLike
Oddly, the first people that came to my mind were Rhee and her Pedo husband Kevin Johnson. Perhaps they socialize together.
Seriously though, how sad for the 14 y.o. girl.
LikeLike
Calling Campbell Brown . Do pervs in charters count?
LikeLike
And where is Campbell Brown? Someone should tweet this to her. Seems like her theories about the superior quality of charters just took a hit.
LikeLike