#AnotherDayAnotherCharterScandal
Pretending To Be A Public School Employee
Has LAUSD Candidate Marilyn Koziatek realized that an endless parade of scandals has made the “Charter” label toxic with the general public?
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“I work at Granada Hills High School”
- Marilyn Koziatek
As the charter school industry and their supporters have poured millions of dollars into Los Angeles Unified School District elections, they have wielded significant influence over the school board. As a result, the Charter School Division, which is supposed to provide oversight over the operations of charter schools, is headed by Jose Cole-Gutiérrez, a former staff member of the California Charter School Association. These schools have even been allowed to write their own rules regarding their oversight.
Predictably, scam artists have used this lack of oversight to divert education funding from children to their own pockets. These are just some of the financial scandals that have occurred in Los Angeles charter schools during the last few years:
- El Camino Real Charter High School’s former Executive Director, David Fehte, was forced to resign after charging personal expenses on his school credit card. A more recent Notice to Cure suggests that the school has still not taken the necessary steps to prevent the additional theft of public funds.
- Janis Bucknor, the Executive Director of Community Preparatory Academy, pleaded guilty to embezzling $3.1 million in school funds that she spent on her personal use”.
- Vielka McFarlane, the founder of the Celerity Educational Group pleaded guilty to misspending about $2.5 million in public funds.
Charter schools in Los Angeles have also been accused of disregarding their obligation to protect the health and safety of their students:
- Granada Hills Charter High School received a Notice of Violation that detailed the way construction projects on their campus endangered “the Health and Safety of Students, Staff and Other Individuals.” A lawsuit by a former employee also alleged that the school had performed repair work…
