A new report by the Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools (AROS) and the Center for Popular Democracy (CPD) has found that financial fraud, waste, and mismanagement by charter schools has already cost taxpayers more than $200 million. The report, which focused on only 15 states!, shows a complete lack of transparency within the charter school universe and a complete lack of oversight on the federal level.
“Charter schools act like they have a ‘get out of accountability free’ card…$200 million dollars that was supposed to go to schools and classrooms is just gone. And that’s likely to be the tip of the iceberg, given the lack of transparency or standards applied to charter schools: said Jonathan Stith, director of the Alliance for Educational Justice and a spokesperson for AROS.
The pattern is familiar, whether it’s the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan or charter schools and for-profit universities here at home, these mostly right-wing concoctions inevitably result in billions of our hard-earned tax dollars being siphoned away to line the pockets of crooks.
It’s got to stop.
The report calls for a set of core reforms to end the hemorrhaging of public funds to fraudulent charter schools and also calls on state and federal lawmakers to act now to put systems in place to prevent fraud, waste, abuse and mismanagement.
Now to the college level where the largest shutdown in the history of U.S. education just took place.
Corinthian Colleges has abruptly closed all 28 of its for-profit schools leaving 16,000 students in the cold. The closure is a direct result of a $30 million fine levied by the U.S. Department of Education on Corinthian for altering grades and attendance records and misrepresented job placement data.
Here’s another red flag: Only 10% of all college students attend these for-profit colleges yet 25% of all federal student loans go to these schools.
House Education and the Workforce Committee Ranking Member Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA) says “The pursuit of a post-secondary education should not be a gambling proposition for students and families. Students should have assurances that the providers of their education are committed to their success, not to an inflated and fraudulently built bottom line.”
And the winner of today’s Education Roundup is this video from In The Now which features a page of homework that was given to a kindergartner somewhere in our great land.
[youtube]https://youtu.be/wrDSTI4JIVE[/youtube]
We can do better.
Press Release: New Report Finds Over $200 Million in Fraud and Abuse at Charter Schools | Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools