They now own the facilities, the schools, that were paid for with taxpayer money. Publicly owned property is being turned over to for-profit educational management companies.
10 charter schools sue White Hat over assetsThe governing boards of 10 Ohio charter schools are challenging the legality of the state law regulating the for-profit corporation that operates their schools, Akron-based White Hat Management.
In a suit filed Monday in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, the school boards argue the law is unconstitutional because it gives too much power to White Hat, one of the largest charter school operators in the nation. The company was founded by David Brennan, a prominent Akron businessman and Republican donor.
The suit charges that White Hat lobbied the state legislature for changes to the charter school law in 2006 that made it possible for White Hat to fire any school board that tries to sever ties with the management company.
Nor is it financially feasible for a charter school to switch operators because White Hat's contracts state that it owns the school's property, furniture and equipment — even though they were all paid for with tax dollars, according to the complaint.
''Essentially, White Hat created an educational model where tax dollars flow to the private corporation with little room for oversight or control by the schools' governing bodies,'' said a news release accompanying the filing of the lawsuit. ''Further, the law makes White Hat's receipt of tax dollars hard to stop.''
I would say that Ohio taxpayers should be a little bit angry about now.
White Hat schools have been closed down in several areas of Florida.
Here is one example.Inquiry shows the state paid $101,000 for full-time students the facility didn't have.
LAKELAND | A defunct Lakeland charter school charged the state $101,000 for students it didn't have, according to an investigation by the Polk County School District. The Life Skills Center on Memorial Boulevard inflated its attendance numbers by 37 students who did not qualify during the 2007-08 and 2008-09 school years, the audit said.
"There were a number of students that were counted and may not have been there in attendance for education," said School Board Attorney Wes Bridges.
A lawyer for White Hat Management, the Ohio-based management company that oversaw Life Skills, said that the audit conducted by the district was out of line.
The management apparently got together groups of parents and students, bought them all matching shirts, and held protest rallies in support of the school.
Last I heard it was given another year by the school board. Maybe another "out of line" audit needs to be done next year.
More on the Florida closure at Schools Matter.
The shenanigans of the Life Skills Center East are truly shockingDavid Brennan's White Hat. Picture courtesy Schools MatterDavid Brennan and his White Hat charter management company recently had a charter oversight board decide not to renew one of their schools in Florida, and the shenanigans of the Life Skills Center East are truly shocking. You can check off a laundry list of violations the school has racked up, including, but not limited to, accusations of financial mismanagement, failing to education English language learners (only 1 in 72 received a diploma), and the governing board's lack of due diligence in selecting Brennan's management company. This isn't the first closure for one of White Hat's Life Skills Centers - White Hat had their Life Skills Lakeland (just miles from the Center East location) charter pulled, and they billed the oversight board for $500,000 as they exited from the school. It's not about profits, it's all about the kids, right?
Oh - and 97% of all school funding at both schools went to White Hat, and we're not entirely sure how that money was spent.