An Islamic movement, fraud and improper hires: Even more (and weirder) questions arise about

An Islamic movement, fraud and improper hires: Even more (and weirder) questions arise about Montgomery’s first charter school


When the leadership team behind Montgomery charter school LEAD Academy began putting together an application to start a school, the members knew they lacked experience. None of them had opened a charter or had experience running a school. So, they made the unique decision to turn the management of their school over to a Charter Management Organization.

Acting as a sort of central office, the CMO takes care of the daily details of running a charter school. For this hefty task, LEAD chose Unity School Services, a newly-formed group headed by Soner Tarim, the since-retired founder of Harmony Schools — a massive charter school chain that began in Texas.

But here’s where things get dicey. And where even more questions surface about the approval process that allowed LEAD to open.

Tarim is a divisive figure in the world of charter schools, and his Harmony Schools has been used as both a model of excellence and a cautionary tale for how awry things can go when you start mixing public money and private businesses.

Read more: https://www.alreporter.com/2019/03/27/an-islamic-movement-fraud-and-improper-hires-even-more-and-weirder-questions-arise-about-montgomerys-first-charter-school/