Alleged DC Charter School Scam: Who Says There's No Money in Education?

The mantra about how "there's no money in education" keeps encountering inconvenient details which question the chant's veracity. Elements of the for-profit world, which has eyed the taxpayer funded education funding as so many chickens to be plucked, has entered the K-12 school arena. Its alliances with politicians, "committed" millionaires, and dim media reporting (The Today Show, come on down) offer formidable clout, especially against a fragmented collection of interested parties, such as local interest groups like the characteristic school district PTO.

According to a report in The Washington Post, attorneys for the District of Columbia Office of the Attorney General have filed new allegations against a local charter school enterprise. The filing claims corporate officers of Options Charter Public School (OCPS) "diverted more than $3 million from the Northeast Washington school for at-risk teens to companies they founded." The brief noted a parade of self-dealing including a school bus "ridership bonus" of $100,000.

J.C. Hayward
(Image: wusa9.com)

The accused apparently owned a firm called Exceptional Education Services (EES), which effectively served as a shell company designed as a collection device for skimmed funds. One key player in the OCPS/EES scheme was J.C. Hayward, a very visible DC television personality who happened to be board chair and part-owner of EES. The TV talking head's attorney has claimed his client had no knowledge of any illegal activity. That's a curious claim for someone deeply connected to DC's power structure and is presumably worldly wise.

LAUSD students using iPads
(Image: ktla.com)

The larger issue in this story goes beyond a cautionary tale of local corruption. The K-12 education "reformers" have made a case that strong CEO-style business management and teacher "accountability" would lead to improved K-12 education. All of this would be accomplished through increased online content, data-driven teaching and supervision, and relentless testing. The goal of redirecting the flow of public funds to private gain goes unstated. Meanwhile, the imperative to make technology and its products a key educational tool has gone forward without any serious vetting.The stampede into gadget purchases has led to some troubling situations, such as the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) purchasing hundreds of thousands of iPads at consumer market rates. At the same time, LAUSD did not buy keyboards for the devices. Oops...that would be "an extra expense," which the school district had to add on after the fact. Software? Well, various programs were sold as a three-year lease, after which LAUSD would have nothing to show for its rental costs.


Where was the strong CEO management in the LA and DC episodes? How did these initiatives advance the cause of K-12 education "reform"? Where was the senior management accountability? Where was the "community input" reformers are so keen to advance as one of their positive developments?

Image: mainepressherald.com

Bottom line: who says there is no money in K-12 education? The record suggests there's plenty of gold in the K-12 hills, and it's being mined now. The fact that the gold is taxpayer money, largely committed without genuine transparency or community participation is kept largely quiet. (Cory Booker and Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg's money to the Newark, New Jersey schools comes to mind as Exhibit A. It took a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain any useful information about this situation.) The understanding of the profit motive in the K-12 world could illuminate inconvenient details, the knowledge of which would interfere with profitable revenue streams that could continue for a generation. Now, who would want that situation brought to light?

Former Members of Congress Speculate That Aliens Have Visited Earth

Was this discussed at the hearings?
(Photo: dvdbeaver.com)

We've often wondered what was in Washington, D.C.'s water supply, when we learn about the foolish Earthlings known as the United States Congress. A story in today's New York Daily News makes me want to bring bottled water on my next trip to the District.

The article recounts sponsored hearings in which former Congresspeople speculate on UFOs and alien visits to our planet. It's as if these former representatives of the people watched X Files reruns and let their imaginations accept the scripts as proven fact.

I'll say this for the Daily News article: you can't make this stuff up.

DC Gets Younger Still

A very interesting story in the Washington Post noted that the District's population is currently skewing to the younger adult ages. In fact, "people in their 20s and early 30s make up almost a third of the District's population," according to the article. Given Washington's focus on political power, which generally is found among middle-aged adults, the District's swelling, young demographic is a fascinating phenomenon. It has certainly come a long way from the days when foreign diplomats were given incentive pay to agree to be stationed there.

Other youthful cities in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave include university oases, such as Ann Arbor, hybrid cities such as Austin, and cool coastal zones such as Boston. Curiously, empty nesters enjoy living in the very same metro areas as the twenty somethings. They just don't go to the same bars.

The photograph shows DC's popular Dupont Circle.

DC Police Provide Motorcade Escort for Charlie Sheen

The Charlie Sheen Show doesn't slow down, does it? The most recent episode for Hollywood's reigning Bad Boy champion took place in the District of Columbia, according to today's Washington Post. Sheen, apparently late for a performance at DAR Constitution Hall, received a DC police escort from Dulles into the heart of the District. This was not a slow, deliberate procession: the two squad cars and Sheen's vehicle were allegedly going 80 mph.

The DC police have essentially dummied up when questioned about the motorcade's approval. Sheen and his publicity coterie aren't exactly shy, but they've certainly been light with details about the trip. No one seems to know anything, except that the incident occurred.

At least Sheen's plane, unlike the aircraft carrying Michelle Obama and Joe Biden's wife to Andrews Air Force Base earlier this week, landed without having to abort its landing.