NYT's investigative article about Imagine Charter Schools and Dennis Bakke. [View All]

[madfloridian]

It is unusual to see this much scrutiny given to the charter school industry. This covers just Imagine Charter Schools run by Fellowship member, Dennis Bakke and his wife, Eileen. Maybe others will get attention as well.

I have a strong belief that when the federal and state governments are giving so much public taxpayer money to private corporations to run schools without much regulation.....that we are going to be in a whole heap of trouble one day.

Just look what happened to the economy when it had little oversight.

From the New York Times today.

For Charter School Company, Issues of Money and Control


Amanda Lucidon for The New York Times
Dennis and Eileen Bakke, the founders of Imagine Schools. Imagine is now the largest commercial manager of charter schools in the country.

When the energy executive Dennis Bakke retired with a fortune from the AES Corporation, the company he co-founded, he and his wife, Eileen, decided to direct their attention and money to education.

..."The Bakkes became part of the nation’s new crop of education entrepreneurs, founding a commercial charter school company called Imagine Schools. Beginning with one failed charter school company they acquired in 2004, they have built an organization that has contracts with 71 schools in 11 states and the District of Columbia. Imagine is now the largest commercial manager of charter schools in the country.

But as Imagine continues to expand, it is coming under growing scrutiny from school boards and state regulators questioning how public money is spent and whether the company exerts too much control over the schools.

..."Because public money is used, most states grant charters to run such schools only to nonprofit groups with the expectation that they will exercise the same independent oversight that public school boards do. Some are run locally. Some bring in nonprofit management chains. And a number use commercial management companies like Imagine. But regulators in some states have found that Imagine has elbowed the charter holders out of virtually all school decision making — hiring and firing principals and staff members, controlling and profiting from school real estate, and retaining fees under contracts that often guarantee Imagine’s management in perpetuity.

Trouble is they are already getting big money from the DOE.

Imagine Charters get 11 million from Duncan.

"WASHINGTON – Imagine charter schools in seven states and the District of Columbia have received more than $11 million from the federal stimulus program this year.

Including $971,950 sent to Imagine schools in Fort Wayne and $493,689 given to Imagine schools in Indianapolis, facilities throughout the country received a share of the stimulus money that was funneled through state education departments.

In all, Imagine schools in Indiana, Ohio, Arizona, Missouri, Nevada, Michigan, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia received $11.3 million, according to reporting filed on the government’s Web site that tracks stimulus money. Several states where Imagine charter schools are in operation – Colorado, Georgia, Florida, New York and Maryland – did not report that they provided grants to the charter schools."

The article mentions the way real estate transactions are becoming a part of the problem. Imagine has some very big deals going in real estate.

Imagine Charter Schools sells 5 schools for 44 million...will have them leased back to them.

The company (NYSE: EPR) purchased five new charter schools from Imagine Schools Inc. of Arlington, Va., at a cost of $44 million and agreed to finance expansion of two others at a cost of $4 million. Entertainment Properties Trust, which is based in Kansas City, will lease the five new schools back to Imagine Schools, a leading operator of public charter schools.

Entertainment Properties Trust’s portfolio now includes 27 charter schools that Imagine Schools operates in nine states and the District of Columbia.

Trouble is that it is not only Imagine schools that are spending public taxpayer money in a careless way.

Charter schools spending public money like it belonged to them...Philly, NYC

City Controller Alan Butkovitz yesterday blasted the Philadelphia School District's Charter School Office for failing "to monitor charter schools," which spend millions in taxpayers' dollars.

Butkovitz released a scathing report citing financial mismanagement, excessive executive salaries and "opportunities for possible fraud" at 13 charter schools his office investigated over the last 14 months.

"Many charter schools, through leasing agreements and associated nonprofits, are transferring taxpayer-funded assets to nonprofits that are not accountable to the school district," the report said in one of its key findings.

And some New York charters are coming under scrutiny.

Three city charter schools are on the hook for thousands of dollars in interest payments to a for-profit management company.

Victory Schools Inc. charges charter schools between $2,000 and $2,700 a student for back office support and help with curriculum planning and hiring. But if the schools can't pay up, they get socked. The company charged more than $100,000 in interest payments to three of its schools last year alone, using rates ranging from 6% to about 15% if a school pays late.

I hope the NYT looks into the practices of more charter schools. If they do they will find big money making inroads into public education.