The New Vision Academy in Nashville is in trouble for violating the fire code andquestionable financial practices.
“The Nashville charter school New Vision Academy has been violating city fire code by enrolling more students than the capacity allowed at the south Nashville church building where it rents space.
“Because of the overcrowding issue, Metro Nashville Public Schools is forced to remove at least 64 students from the school in the coming weeks, according to a letter from the district’s charter school chief.
“It’s the latest development for a school that has been embroiled in turmoil. New Vision Academy remains under federal and state investigations related to financial irregularities, special education requirements and compliance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.
“In a letter to school board members on Friday, MNPS Executive Officer of Charter Schools Dennis Queen said the school has been cramming 18 to 20 students into classrooms that are only allowed to hold eight to 10 students….
”Last year, a group of teachers sent the district a whistleblower’s report detailing an array of concerns at the school, including students with disabilities and English-learning students not receiving the specialized classroom time required by federal law.
“The teachers also criticized the school for financial issues, complaining they sometimes were denied requests to buy books and other classroom supplies.
“New Vision CEO Tim Malone makes $312,971 annually, and his wife LaKesha Malone makes $250,000 per year, according to New Vision’s most recent public tax documents. For context, Tim Malone’s salary is $27,000 more than MNPS Director Shawn Joseph’s salary.
“The Malones said through an attorney last year that they both worked two jobs under a single nonprofit umbrella. In addition to the school, the Malones run a social work nonprofit.
“Several of the teachers who raised the concerns about New Vision were fired on the same day The Tennessean published an investigative story detailing issues at the school. The teachers subsequently were hired for this school year by other schools.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Where are the building inspectors? Any other business that violates its occupancy limits gets quickly slapped with fines and worse. Why not charter schools?
Oh, right, because they’re filled with poor kids and no one cares.
“New Vision CEO Tim Malone makes $312,971 annually, and his wife LaKesha Malone makes $250,000 per year, according to New Vision’s most recent public tax documents.”
Among the many, many reforms needed in this country is a re-working of non-profit regulations to, among other things, limit executive compensation. How can it be legal for anyone to profit off a non-profit?
“Salary for School Superintendent in Nashville, TN. The average School Superintendent salary in Nashville, TN is $145,051 as of July 31, 2018, but the range typically falls between $118,491 and $175,024. ”
Charter owners and operators make twice the money public school superintendents make.
How can they possibly justify this? It’s 100% public funds. They don’t justify it- instead they just make sure no one knows about it.
”Last year, a group of teachers sent the district a whistleblower’s report detailing an array of concerns at the school, including students with disabilities and English-learning students not receiving the specialized classroom time required by federal law.
“The teachers also criticized the school for financial issues, complaining they sometimes were denied requests to buy books and other classroom supplies.
We have no idea how many charter teachers are fired for whistleblowing. They are “at will” employees so can be fired for any reason or no reason at all.
In one of the Gulen charter scandals in Ohio the employees would not reveal their names- they knew they would be fired for speaking out.
If charter cheeleaders are really interested in “transparency” they’ll put some protections in for employees. That they DON’T indicates to me that they don’t really want to know what’s going on in these schools.
What’s worse is charter cheeleaders DON’T KNOW any of this- these are private companies- they have no way of finding out why employees leave or are fired.
Someone should look into the voucher schools in Florida. They’re completely unregulated. Anyone can start a “school” and anyone can get paid for the state for starting one.
There is going to be a tragedy. It’s just a matter of time.
Parents probably believe these private schools are regulated to the same extent that public schools are, as far as safety, and that’s not true.
Florida officials are operating these schools on a wing and a prayer. It is inevitable that there will be a tragic accident, due to the lack of regulation. It’s a matter of time.
When I first saw on TV the big “deal” over those community “lotteries” to get into a charter school, I thought, “OMG! Another scam.” Those halls were like a casinos. I really felt badly and those images are still with me today.
DeVos supports privatization because it rations opportunities for the strivers sort of like Scamway. As for everyone else, “let them eat cake.”
Nothing new here. Just another vulture charter school where the overpaid CEOs and crooks think there are NO laws that apply to them.
And if there is a fire and all those children burn, the owner-operators of this vulture charter will declare bankruptcy just like Trump does every time one of his incorporated businesses ventures fails. Trump doesn’t file the bankruptcy. His imported business does that. Isn’t this what he brags about in his ghostwritten books and failed and fraudulent university?
The only regrets these Vultures will have is those children are gone — consumed — and won’t be bringing in any more public money.
Ed reformers are passing around this article about Indianapolis charter schools:
https://www.the74million.org/article/brown-2-new-studies-of-indianapolis-schools-by-credo-and-indiana-purdue-universities-show-the-promise-of-locally-driven-reforms/
It’s written by the CEO of the MindTrust. The Mindtrust is the privatization lobbying group in Indianapolis.
No one who represents Indianapolis public schools was contacted. They deliberately exclude any public school voices. They simply aren’t contacted or given an opportunity to respond.
I mean- I get it. They promote charter schools. That’s ALL that’s permitted inside the echo chamber. But please stop pretending that this is about “public education” when it’s nothing more than a sophisticated, well-funded marketing campaign for charter schools.
Here’s the US Department of Education spending yet another workweek promoting private schools:
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/devos-scholarship-plan-is-modeled-on-a-proven-success
Do any of our tens of thousands of public employees work for public schools? Anyone?
Is there some reason the 90% of people who attend public schools should be paying these people? What value do they return to our schools? Can they point to something specific they have accomplished this calendar year that benefits or improves any PUBLIC school, anywhere in the country?
I have no idea why the public is paying 10,000 private school lobbyists.
One example of a privately operated school in Alabama is not a “study” of success. Most private schools are operated by amateurs that believe they are teaching God’s word. Many of these religious schools are unaccredited.