Mercedes Schneider writes here about a company that casts its nets widely to profit from money that was intended for instruction.
There is a price to be paid by administrators who betray the public trust. Consider the sad case of Barbara Byrd Bennett, once chancellor of the Chicago public schools, now in prison.
Good GAWD. And these people are supposed to be role models??????
There are so many scandals in Michigan.
Michigan State’s sex scandal: http://www.detroitnews.com/story/tech/2018/01/18/msu-president-told-nassar-complaint-2014/1042071001/
When leaders of public school districts betray the public trust, there is oversight and accountability that will hold them accountable. When public money heads to private corporations, there is often no mechanism for accountability. This is an abrogation of the responsibility of government to be good stewards of taxpayer funds. When public money is put in the hands of private entities, there should be the same type of auditing that public agencies routinely experience. Instead, many states are writing big checks, and they do little to nothing to hold them accountable. As a result there is rampant waste, fraud, crooked authorizing and real estate deals and nepotism in the charter industry. In fact, the governments ‘hands off” charters attitude has attracted many dishonest people that exploit the fact that the government is not doing its job. Taxpayers should pressure state representatives to regulate charters and hold them accountable in the same manner that public schools are subject to fiscal scrutiny and oversight.