re: A $17m charter school built on Plank Road in NBR is officially closing after just 3 years

I’m shocked BR can build a school for only $17m

Texas Places IDEA Public Schools under Conservatorship

IDEA Public Schools and Britney Spears have something in common.

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Texas’ largest charter school network has been placed under conservatorship by the Texas Education Agency after a years-long investigation into improper spending within the system of 143 schools.

The arrangement, announced Wednesday, is part of a settlement agreement between IDEA Public Schools and the TEA. IDEA had been under investigation since 2021 following numerous allegations of financial and operational misconduct.

It was revealed that IDEA officials used public dollars to purchase luxury driver services as well as $15 million to lease a private jet, just two weeks after promising TEA it would be “strictly enforcing” new fiscal responsibility policies put in place in response to ongoing investigations, as reported by San Antonio Express-News.

The revelations led the district to conduct an internal investigation, resulting in the firing of JoAnn Gama, former superintendent and co-founder of IDEA. Gama later filed a lawsuit against IDEA claiming wrongful termination. IDEA came to a $475,000 settlement with Gama in January. This followed co-founder and CEO Tom Torkelson’s departure in 2020; he was given a $900,000 severance package.

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The charter school district serves about 80,000 students in K-12. The schools are independently run but publicly funded with state dollars, having received about $821 million in state funding in 2023-2024 school year.

Under conservatorship, the conservators will have the authority to oversee and direct any action of the district, facilitate a needs assessment, conduct onsite inspections and support the creation of a plan to address corrective action concerns. They will also report back to the agency regarding the district's progress in completing necessary corrective activities.

The conservators will not fully take over the governance of the district. But if the district doesn’t make the necessary corrective measures that the conservators outline for them, a takeover could be possible in the future.

In a statement, IDEA said that it’s “pleased to have reached a settlement agreement … to resolve compliance issues our organization self-reported to regulators after an internal investigation in 2021.”

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I didn't know Ikea did schools too.

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The schools are independently run but publicly funded with state dollars

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If there’s cash and women involved there’s stealin and frickin going on

There are 24 charter schools in Baton Rouge. They get more money per student than the public schools do thanks to Bobby Jindal.

There is one named Inspire. One named Idea.

There are some that is linked to a company in Florida that owns charter schools all over.

After being curious about how the charter schools work (because there was one built close to where I live and the parking lot is filled with cars, seems like a lot of kids go there and I don't know anyone who sends their kid there or who works there, etc) I did some research. They are not allowed in every parish, but I forgot how many there are in the state, but I estimated that maybe 10% of them are legit (when I say legit I mean they were started truly for educational purposes, etc).

I'm shocked to learn that the black community in under privileged areas don't give a single frick about education and also education in a fancy new building with new computers and facilities and stuff

location. location. location

My kid played elementary volleyball/basketball against IDEA a few years ago, and last week she said she learned how to spell curse words by reading the bathroom wall at IDEA.