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Jan
9
All I have to say is, this better not be a case of selective prosecution:
According to Cincinnati.com, Willard Wilson, “…overstated enrollment at [W.E.B.] Dubois [charter school in Over-the-Rhine] and misused state money for the school, spending some on home improvements.”
Haven’t the ghost student stories demonstrated that many of Ohio’s charters overstate their enrollment?
Thousands of students are enrolled but rarely show up for class. Even if your child doesn’t attend a charter school, you’re paying for it with your tax dollars.
Last year, that amounted to $29.9 million in state funds for students who rarely show up. Charter school students attending 17 Life Skills Centers [operated by David Brennan's for-profit White Hat Management] across Ohio are absent most often. Department of Education records show students at all 17 schools were collectively absent nearly 46 percent of the time from 2006 through 2007. Less than half graduated.
More specifically:
And enrollment is what pays off. In Ohio, every student is worth $6,000 on average. That’s what you pay for every student enrolled regardless of whether they show up, according to state education records.
Another former Life Skills teacher, who asked to remain anonymous, described what disturbed him most.
“It started really to make me believe that this was not about education, this was about someone or some business making a profit from this,” the teacher explained.
And it’s a big business. The Akron business White Hat Management is the for-profit company that operates 37 Life Skills Centers around the country.
White Hat Management declined to explain on camera why its schools have such low attendance. Instead, the company sent us this statement.
“We comply with all applicable sections of the Ohio Revised Code … we find offensive any implication that White Hat Management…has not complied with reporting and legal requirements.”
Even so, White Hat Management was paid $17 million for 2,641 students who, according to state education records, were absent in 2006-2007.
That’s because Ohio reimburses solely on enrollment, not attendance.
Why aren’t the operators of those charters getting prosecuted? What makes their overstatement of enrollment different from Dubois? Is it just a fudging of defining absent v. enrolled in favor of David Brennan and against Willard Wilson?
I’m here, just waiting for an answer.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 2:57 pm January 9th, 2009 in Business, Education, Ethics, Government, Law, Ohio, Politics, Taxes, Youth
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2 Responses to “Ohio charter school operator gets prison for overstating enrollment, but White Hat Management gets $17 mil for kids who don’t show”
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Shalom Jill,
For what it’s worth, I get paid for tutoring regardless of the attendance of the student. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t accept the student.
I deal with a number of students who are at risk and their attendance can be flaky at best, but I set aside the time, I show up and I’m prepared to work, so I get paid.
B’shalom,
Jeff
I am in Dayton, and our Charter schools are not the dismal failure others sound like…
they are still serving the most difficult to teach students, and struggling to improve test scores, but overall they are operated more effectively than the public school district,
However, they must consent to census tracking just as the public schools, and they try to maintain attendence in order to afford the improved facilities and amenities that were purchased with private capital before the schools begin operating…
some failed because they should have failed, and others due to abysmal management, but those that survive are still much more palatable than the Dayton Public Schools, the 2nd worst district in state, if not the nation (in terms of performance standards)