Once a bright light of the charter industry, Chris Clemons pleaded guilty to major thefts from the school he founded and led and is now bound for prison.
http://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/former-charter-school-director-expected-to-plead-guilty
“An Atlanta charter school founder has pleaded guilty Tuesday to stealing more than half a million dollars from local public school systems.
“The former principal at Latin Academy, Chris Clemons, pleaded guilty to over 50 counts of theft and five counts of forgery after a hearing and sentencing that lasted about two hours.
“Clemons was accused of defrauding three Atlanta area schools, and forcing at least one, the Latin Academy, to close because of a lack of funds. He faced up to 865 years in prison and $5.5 million in fines.
”The state alleged that the 39-year-old Clemon spent more than $50,000 to Atlanta strip clubs and made countless cash withdrawals.
“Parents said they were devastated when they learned what Clemons was doing.
“In the end, he has been ordered to pay $810,000 in restitution and was sentenced to 20 years, 10 to serve and 10 on probation.”
The moral of the story is that public money must be accompanied by public oversight.
Mercedes Schneider wrote about Clemons’ sterling resume. He was trained by Boston’s reformer “Building Excellent Schools” then earned an MBA at MIT, where he was featured for his vision and dedication to children.
Even for MIT grads, crime doesn’t pay.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Ah, the joys of privatization!
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Another non-educator, so-called reformer and “miracle worker” who was in reality was a thief and looter.
There’s a lot of that going around. In fact, it’s a pandemic…
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Is any one looking into the closing of a charter school in Goodyear, AZ? Or do the administrators of it get away with no oversight? They have left their parents and students wondering what happened.
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Intelligence does not give people character and ethics. Clemon is a perfect example of this. In fact, he represents why we need oversight and accountability of public funds.
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10 years in the slammer.
I hope that’s without any chance to get out early due to alleged good behavior. Will he spend that time in a country club prison for wealthy white collar criminals or a prison designed for the rest of us where he can get stabbed in a hallway with a sharpened spoon handle, raped in the shower, or become the sex toy of a psycho killer?
Or Maybe Trump will pardon him.
Did you read the news this morning about one of Trump’s appointees? She resigning as director of the CDC because she was caught in conflicts of interest over making money through tobacco stocks?
Conflicts of interest are the norm in the Trump administration.
This Trump appointee is named Brenda Fitgerald. It looks like she is a member of ALEC like many of Trump’s appointees. Koch brother libertarians seem to support this kind of alleged illegal behavior.
“She advocated in support of legislation proposed by the corporation-dominated American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).”
http://www.allgov.com/news/top-stories/director-of-the-centers-for-disease-control-who-is-brenda-fitzgerald-170728?news=860260
ALEC = American Legion of Equivocating Criminals
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Trump can’t pardon him. It’s a state crime, not a federal crime. The governor of the state could pardon him, but not the president.
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Thanks for letting me know. Good.
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Everyday it’s another scam from these charter schools and the government stands by and does nothing, as usual.
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But wait! No doubt he was frequenting strip clubs to make an in depth study of human anatomy and physiology! You know, in order to offer anatomy and physiology classes at the schools. Ahem.
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I teach arts and humanities, not math, so I cannot figure how someone could spend over $50 grand at strip clubs. What about the additional cash withdrawals, though. Was that to buy drugs or a truckload of one dollar bills? I guess we’ll never know.
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Now that’s what I call meritocracy!
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