PHOENIX – Arizona charter schools are skating by with too little supervision – according to a recent report by the nonprofit advocacy group the Center for Media and Democracy.
Arizona has 170,000 students attending 556 charter schools – schools the report says have received $69 million in federal grants since 2009.
The report criticizes the Arizona Department of Education for inadequately monitoring both the Arizona State Board for Charter Schools and the schools themselves.
Jim Hall, founder of the nonprofit watchdog group Arizonans for Charter School Accountability, says charter schools need to undergo the same audits as public schools, detailing exactly how they spend their money.
He adds they shouldn’t be able to opt out of procurement laws.
"We have very little regulation of how charter schools spend their money,” he states. “If your brother-in-law builds your $8 million dollar without bids, in Arizona that’s perfectly OK.
“The Arizona auditor general has no responsibility over charter schools in Arizona. It’s the only state in the nation where that’s the case." In particular is the concern over Gulen operated Sonoran Science Academy, which their superintendant Osgur Yildiz DENIES any association with the Turkish Gulen Movement.
The report also found that more than 100 charter schools closed in Arizona from mid-2010 to mid-2014 and said some of the cases involved, “mismanagement, fiscal concerns, inflated enrollment figures, terrible academic results, and/or failure to comply with the charters.”
But Whitney Chapa, executive director of the Arizona State Board for Charter Schools, says there is adequate oversight – because the board submits annual reports to the auditor general. And the schools submit financial data to the board.
"The board has adopted a financial performance framework to ensure that charter holders are viable organizations with strong fiscal management practices," she says. "Also our charter holders are all required to submit annual financial audits to the board, which we review annually."
Hall is pushing for a law to force the state to start collecting more data about charter schools.
Meanwhile U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio in July introduced a bill on the federal level that would increase transparency and accountability in charter schools across the nation.
Arizona has 170,000 students attending 556 charter schools – schools the report says have received $69 million in federal grants since 2009.
The report criticizes the Arizona Department of Education for inadequately monitoring both the Arizona State Board for Charter Schools and the schools themselves.
Jim Hall, founder of the nonprofit watchdog group Arizonans for Charter School Accountability, says charter schools need to undergo the same audits as public schools, detailing exactly how they spend their money.
He adds they shouldn’t be able to opt out of procurement laws.
"We have very little regulation of how charter schools spend their money,” he states. “If your brother-in-law builds your $8 million dollar without bids, in Arizona that’s perfectly OK.
“The Arizona auditor general has no responsibility over charter schools in Arizona. It’s the only state in the nation where that’s the case." In particular is the concern over Gulen operated Sonoran Science Academy, which their superintendant Osgur Yildiz DENIES any association with the Turkish Gulen Movement.
The report also found that more than 100 charter schools closed in Arizona from mid-2010 to mid-2014 and said some of the cases involved, “mismanagement, fiscal concerns, inflated enrollment figures, terrible academic results, and/or failure to comply with the charters.”
But Whitney Chapa, executive director of the Arizona State Board for Charter Schools, says there is adequate oversight – because the board submits annual reports to the auditor general. And the schools submit financial data to the board.
"The board has adopted a financial performance framework to ensure that charter holders are viable organizations with strong fiscal management practices," she says. "Also our charter holders are all required to submit annual financial audits to the board, which we review annually."
Hall is pushing for a law to force the state to start collecting more data about charter schools.
Meanwhile U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio in July introduced a bill on the federal level that would increase transparency and accountability in charter schools across the nation.
Suzanne Potter, Public News Service - AZ
LISTEN TO RADIO CLIP AT- See more at: http://www.publicnewsservice.org/2015-10-23/education/arizona-charter-schools-criticized-in-new-report/a48632-1#sthash.zlvxy475.dpuf
lets refresh Oskur Yildiz relationships with the Gulen Movement shall we?
Here is Osgur when he flew to California to the Gulen Lobbying offices disguised as a Turkish Cultural Center - to give a lecture to the CALIFORNIA Gulen charter schools (Magnolia) a lesson on Turkish Culture.
Here is when Ozgur Yildiz flew to Hawaii to try and bribe Hawaiian Senators to open a school at the Mokapu Military Base.
http://www.hawaiifreepress.com/main/ArticlesMain/tabid/56/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/3925/Did-Sen-Mike-Gabbard-get-hoaxed-by-fake-Turkic-President.aspx
Ozgur Yildiz in Hawaii
so many examples of Ozgur Yildiz involvement with the Gulen Movement lobbying. Come clean Ozgur and stop lying.
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| with a group of American politicians in Turkey with Faruk Taban and other members of Gulen's now defunct and raided business man association TUSKON |
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| Photo Bombing Hillary Clinton, Ozkur Yildiz is on the far L, with the other Gulen photo bombers and Hillary Clinton. |
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