So, I know a lot of great teachers and students at Latin Academy Charter School. Opened for less than 5 years, LACS has recently announced to its community that without fundraising it will have to close. This is mostly because of alleged theft of the scool's once founder and finacnial advisor's embezzlement of $600,000. Simply put it, this is a tragedy for the students, their families, the staff, and local community. Where are the students suppose to go? What about the promise to greater education? What about the loss of over half a million education dollars? What to do, what to do...
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local-education/atlanta-charter-school-could-close-after-alleged-t/nqRjx/
The biggest question that I have is - does money truly fix this problem? Will giving an additional $600,000 correct the wrong that has been done to this community, or will it only ameliorate it? I am fully aware the the persons charged are no longer at the school, but how did this happen in the first place? What was the system of checks and balances for why these abuses were not discovered earlier? And, this is just one school under one leader, what happens when educational funding is stolen? How is it replaced?
My major point is that damaged has been done and money may not fix all of those damages - the lack of resources available to students, the greater strain on the community to raise money for their school, how is it fixed or corrected. Where does the path to correction begin?
What to do, what to do...
I'm guessing their was a failure on many fronts here. I would think that this case would cause them to over react...in a positive way, and put many safe guards in place.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately this is the fate of many charter schools. There is little financial accountability and no checks and balances. By the time the misuse of funding is discovered, it is often too late to correct. There simply has to be more accountability for charter schools from the LEAs. In states where charters serve as their own LEA the board must hold the school leaders responsible for the financial well being of the school. I am a huge charter school proponent and think that they need financial freedom but for the sake of our children someone should be monitoring spending.
ReplyDeleteI often wonder why it takes so long to find out about stolen or missing money. There should be consistent checks and balances as well as more than one person responsible for handling money and transactions.
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