Members of the General Assembly asked AG Denn if the Executive Director of the Delaware Charter Schools Network should be Registered as a Lobbyist?

Last July, the News Journal reported that Delaware Charter Schools Network was one of the top five lobbyists in Delaware. Yet, when the Public Integrity Commission was contacted and when the January 2016 lobbyist report was reviewed, Delaware Charter Schools Network, Executive Director Kendall Massett and Board President Chuck Taylor were not registered lobbyists. They both are members of the Department of Education Charter School Accountability Committee which makes recommendations as to whether a charter school will open, expand, close, go on formal review or be modified. They both are seen regularly in Dover speaking with Senators, Representatives, members of the Department of Education, and the State Board of Education. They are soliciting support for certain educational bills and then lobbying hard against other educational bills. They wrote Senate Bill 171 (Sen. Sokola’s replacement bill for my Audit Bill) and they were in Dover on June 30th to campaign against House Bill 186 – Charter Audit Bill.

Yesterday, I was reviewing the current lobbyist report and Kendall Massett is now listed on the report. I am hoping DOJ will respond to our letter soon.

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Providence Creek Academy Charter School Investigated…Once Again Shows School Leaders Misused Thousand of Dollars in Tax Dollars!

Yesterday, the Auditor of Accounts released another report showing that school leaders at Providence Creek Academy Charter School in Clayton misused thousands of dollars in school funds. You can view the entire report below.

House Bill 186 would require all charter schools to go through the Auditor of Accounts for their audits, currently all public schools except for charter schools goes through the Auditor of Accounts. Sen. Sokola’s bill, Senate Bill 171, will still allow charter schools to select their own auditors. The issue is allowing charter schools to select their own auditors. Academy of Dover’s auditors audited Academy of Dover for three years. The reason why Academy of Dover was audited by the state someone phoned in an anonymous tip to the Auditor of Accounts hotline–the Auditor of Accounts opened an investigation. Because of the fraud and mismanagement of tax dollars now we are using additional tax dollars to investigate these schools not only through the Auditor of Accounts but also through the Attorney General’s Office.

I was in a meeting yesterday discussing both bills with Sen. Sokola and the Delaware Charter Schools Network. The Charter Schools Network reasoning for not supporting House Bill 186 is the original charter law allowed charters to have flexibility and to have extra freedom from state bureaucracy in exchange for tougher consequences for poor academic performance. Apparently, the current system is not working and we the taxpayers have seen over and over the cases of mismanagement to outright fraud involving our tax dollars. Charter Schools should have their audits performed under the Auditor of Accounts just like our public schools—charter schools are public schools funded by local school and state taxes.

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DE Online article: Audit finds Providence Creek school leaders misused funds

 

Send a letter to our Delaware Senators

Our tax dollars are being mismanaged or stolen and no one is being held accountable, we need this to stop. Please remember, this is not about charter schools vs public schools, this is about accountability and transparency, it is about making sure our local and state tax dollars stay in the charter schools and not in someone’s wallet. Currently, charter schools are  funded by our local tax dollars through property taxes and state taxes. The charter schools are not audited through the State of Delaware Auditor of Accounts as public school districts. House Bill 186 gives the Auditor of Accounts the necessary power to audit charter schools as they do public school districts.

Please sign the letter asking the Senate to support House Bill 186 and not to support Senate Bill 171, Sen. Sokola’s bill. Sen. Sokola’s bill does not give the Auditor of Accounts the authority to audit the charter schools. We cannot continue to allow individuals to continue to mismanage or steal our tax dollars.

It takes 30 seconds to read and sign the letter to the Senate.

Click here to send a letter to our Delaware Senators.

Your School Property Taxes Help Fund Charter Schools, See the Reports Showing How the Taxes Have Been Misspent and Stolen -Auditor of Accounts Investigative Reports

Charter schools are funded through our property taxes and the state. The Auditor of Accounts reports that are shown below, shows how our tax dollars were mismanaged or stolen for personal purchases. Go to the 2nd page in each document and you can read what the Auditor of Accounts found with each investigation. Please sign a letter to all Delaware Senators asking them to support House Bill 186, Charter Audit bill instead of Sen. Sokola’s bill which does nothing to protect your tax dollars. There are charter schools that do a great job managing our tax dollars, my bill will just have all charter schools audits done through the Auditor of Accounts Office like all our public schools districts do.

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Please Send a Letter to Our DE Senators Asking them to Put a Stop to the Mismanagement of Taxpayer Dollars

PLEASE help me get this bill passed. I need the public to help. Please take the time to click on the link below to send a letter to all Delaware Senators about the misuse of your tax dollars. The Auditor of Accounts has released investigative reports showing that our tax dollars are being mismanaged by some charter school leaders. The state has no financial oversight over charter schools, they do with our public schools but not charters. This letter is already completed you just need to fill in a few lines. It will take 30 seconds. PLEASE GET YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS TO SEND AS WELL.

This is not about charters vs public schools. This is about stopping the stealing and mismanagement of the charter school funds, making sure the money stays at the school helping teachers and students and not in ending up in someone’s wallet.

Click here to send a letter to the Senate.

I need your immediate help!!!!

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE help me get this bill passed. I need the public to help. Please take the time to click on the link below to send a letter to all Delaware Senators about the misuse of your tax dollars. The Auditor of Accounts has released investigative reports showing that our tax dollars are being mismanaged by some charter school leaders. The state has no financial oversight over charter schools, they do with our public schools but not charters. This letter is already completed you just need to fill in a few lines. PLEASE SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY AS WELL.

Click here to send a letter to the Senate.