BILLIONS AT STAKE AND THE WOLF IS WATCHING THE HEN HOUSE By Dr. John Metallo, Slingerlands, NY (The author is a retired teacher and administrator. Among the positions he has held are principal of Albany High School and adjunct instructor at the University at Albany and SUNY Plattsburgh.) (518) 577-7530 New York State Supreme Court Justice, Thomas Breslin, recently issued a finding that should strike at the hearts and pocketbooks of every taxpayer in New York. Breslin ruled that the state Comptroller lacks the authority to audit charter schools in New York State. On can only hope that the NY State Government will appeal this ludicrous decision. However, given Governor Cuomo’s unbridled support for charter schools and the companies who run them, there is little change of that happening. Charter schools are public schools that are operated by for profit private companies. They also receive billions of dollars of tax payer money each year in state aid that is denied to the public school districts in which the charter schools do business. Thus, while public districts are shutting down schools, dropping academic programs, eliminating extracurricular activities and laying off teachers, the charter schools thrive, at least financially. Their test scores are another story. Bill Phillips, president of the Northeast Charter School Network, said the authorizers of charters schools, among them, the New York State Board of Regents, already have auditing authority. In light of the job that the Board of Regents has done with the Common Core Standards and New York State teacher evaluation of late, one must question their ability to audit a 5 year old’s piggy bank. In his ruling, Breslin noted, “The comptroller can audit entities such as the Thruway Authority or Roswell Park research center, which are public corporations. But charter schools were created as educational corporations, and are not ‘units of the state.’ That means the state constitution doesnt give the comptroller the ability to audit them.” The good judge got this one wrong if you ask me. When billions of dollars are being poured into private corporations, the public has a vested interest in how the money is being spent. All other public schools have to file independent audits with the State Education Department each year, and they are all subject to audits by the NY State Comptroller at any time for fiscal as well as other business practices. The case in question was brought by Eva Moskowitz, a New York City charter proponent who runs 22 of the nonprofit schools. Ms. Moskowitz obviously has a reason to keep the state out of her 22 money-makers. If she is going to accept public money, she should welcome a public review of how that money is spent. By the way, Ms. Moskowitz was paid a salary of approximately $ 450,000 to run her schools last year. That far outdistances all New York State school superintendents and even the Governor of the State of New York, who by the way, is a big supporter of Ms. Moskowitz and charter schools in general. So, it looks like we can just expect more of the same from him. It is time for New Yorker’s to say no to the charter movement and the politicians who support it.
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 18:26:56 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015