Angie Sullivan teaches first-grade students in a Title I school in Las Vegas. She writes regularly to every member of the legislature and to journalists to tell them what it is like from a teacher’s perspective.
She wrote this missive:
Shannon Bilbray-Axelrod should recuse herself from charter school legislation. It is unethical for her to line her lobbying pocket and then work on charter legislation. Scott Hammond and Carrie Buck should also recuse themselves from working on charter language having made millions in the business. Unethical.
While you are in AB420, you should amend the Charter Authority requirements.
To sit on the 9 member board, you should have not earned money from a for-profit school.
The number of recusals from Charter Authority board members while trying to do business is ridiculous.
Oftentimes decisions are made with a questionable quorum because too many folks on the dais are making money from the business and have to recuse.
If you are a charter lawyer, charter consultant, charter owner – not the time to sit on the decisions making board. It is unethical.
You should have to wait 3 years after profiting from charters before being allowed to sit on the board.
The chair of the Charter Authority should not run a charter.
This leads to awkward business.
The Chair leaves the dais to go to the table to have the board give her permission and/or money. I have seen Chair Melissa Mackedon who runs a charter in Fallon do this several times.
It is like insider trading – benefitting their business and themselves. Then popping back up into positions to hand out money and favors to other charters. Charter Board Members should not be on both sides (giving and receiving) routinely in meetings. Unethical.
Former or current legislators should not sit on the Charter Authority Board. It appears that they legislated to make millions. Pat Hickey and Randy Kirner are examples of folks who recently left their positions and then became part of the Charter Authority Board.
Lawyers like Jason Guinasso who have chaired the board should not be able to come back a few years later to manipulate charter language or the board. He addressed them as friends trying to take advantage of his connections. Recently Guinasso approached the board from the table on behalf of a charter he most likely set-up for failure while he was chair. The theft and lawsuits cost Nevadans.
New EMOs/For-Profit Service Providers should not be allowed in the state. No more new for-profit campuses under their umbrellas either. They have made a huge mess. Academica basically has a weird monopoly with different branches. They are posed for rapid expansion. Folks outside the state watching Academica in Nevada are very concerned.
For-profit corporations like Academica take advantage of states like Nevada. Language should be included to prevent rapid expansion and the ability to siphon money into side businesses. This robs students and gives millions to side businesses. Folks like Gulenist Soner Tarim should not be able to come into Nevada and apply for a charter – with language in the contract that gives them 12% off the top and ability to rapidly expand by being a EMO/Service Provider. These should be two different things – EMO/Service Provider and Charter Applicant. These administrators and side businesses are making a ridiculous amount of money and do not have to bid out their services. The public should be able to see these contracts since the taxpayer is paying. Folks should not be handing contracts out to their friends and family.
EMOS/Service Providers should not be allowed to break the charter diversity laws like Academica did intentionally when opening the Northern Pinecrest. Academica should be closed for that.
PPP loans were given to both the charter campuses and the management corporations and all the side businesses. How much money did a for-profit charter really get during the pandemic? They got money for the EMO/Service Providers/Campus/Friends/Family etc? Then held an informational meetings to warn everyone “not to say anything”.
125 Florida charter schools already funded by taxpayers received $50 million in PPP loans https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/local-news/i-team-investigates/125-florida-charter-schools-already-funded-by-taxpayers-received-50-million-in-ppp-loans
I hope the FBI comes and arrests everyone involved in this mess and lining their pockets.
https://www.nevadacurrent.com/2020/12/24/nevada-charter-schools-got-millions-in-ppp-loans/
$350+ Million in education money annually and not one person knows what it is spent on.
And seems like legislators are just fine with that?
The Teacher,
Angie Sullivan
https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/8052/Text
Diane Ravitch's blog 
When will the Biden administration & his DoEd step in and end education privatization & profiteering? For years Democrats assailed Betsy DeVos for expanding corruption in education, but now that Dems are in charge where is ,at the very least, a nominal timetable for ending edu- reform hoax? How much longer can our education system sustain the widespread graft & fraud in the testing, charter & voucher industries?
The media portrayed DeVos as this cartoon villain without actually examining the fine print of her policies. The fine print matters. Now that the headlines about DeVos have disappeared, it’s back thin pretexts for continuing corporate reform. People in both parties love their kids public schools and thus, want to see the DeVos/Duncan corporate ed-forms end.
Despite popular opinion, politicians on both sides don’t actually want to see corporate reform end. How else can we account for Biden campaign rhetoric like “I’m against for-profit charters” as if EMOs are not for profit. Cardona’s excuse that funding equity is the rational for continuing testing is just plain wrong.
The Biden administration & Cardona are both responsible for their decisions to dismantle or continue 20 years of DeVos/Duncan graft so rampant in the reform industry. They cannot be given a pass.
Cordona’s excuse is not only just plain wrong but will likely be devastating to poorest schools and kids as “reform” opportunists hop on board to suck up the money and blame the communities.
Florida’s charter industry is a cesspool of special interests with legislators routinely making lots of money from charter schools and CMOs. https://chartered.wlrn.org/legislators-financial-ties-charters/