An emblematic charter-school scam

I usually keep the log of charter school scams on a somewhat inconsistently updated page on www.pasasf.org . This story is such a clear demonstration of what can happen when schools are joyously freed from burdensome bureaucratic regulations that I'm posting it here, though. And it was our kids from whom the $12 million was looted, of course. (Yes, I know, this stuff can and does happen in regular schools and districts. But when we free schools from burdensome bureaucratic regulations, oversight, accountability and supervision, we invite much more of it to happen.)

Audit faults charter director

The man who ran Albor school in Santa Ana funneled away $12 million, report says.
By Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 10, 2007
The executive director of a Santa Ana charter school that left students scrambling when it closed last year funneled more than $12 million in state funds to several businesses owned by him, his supposed wife and their friends, according to an audit unveiled Tuesday night.

Financial irregularities were among several questionable acts at the Albor Charter School, which primarily served Latino immigrants and received $25 million in state funds from 2002 until 2006.

... In 2005, allegations of questionable spending, fiscal mismanagement and conflicts of interest led the district to revoke Albor's charter. A legal battle allowed the school to stay open the next school year. But founder and executive director Emilio Vazquez abruptly closed Albor in March 2006 -- without giving notice to students or staff -- after its state funding was severely reduced by a change in state law that no longer provided funding for students older than 22.

When charter schools close, they are supposed to perform financial accounting that lists their liabilities and assets. Because Albor failed to do so, and because of concern about potential fraud and misappropriations of funds, the county Department of Education called in a state team to perform an "extraordinary audit."

The 118-page report found that Vazquez had delegated administrative operations of Albor and funneled more than $12 million in state funds to MI-Vocational School, a business he also controlled. Some of this money was then given to Vagabond Entertainment, EMPE Inc., A&E Financing Inc. and other companies controlled by Vazquez, his supposed wife, Astrid Reibe, and their associates Pedro Sole, Martin Ramirez and Edgar Villagomez.

... The audit also found that although Albor was purportedly a high school, it appeared in reality to be a vocational school for adults. Brochures mentioned certified nursing assistant, medical assistant and computer technology programs, with little, if any, description of high school classes.

... Additionally, students may have been charged fees to attend, which is illegal at a public school, the report says.

When Albor closed, no transcripts were available to ease student transfers to another high school because no one was around to provide them. Additionally, full credit was not given for some courses taken, since the school was never accredited and the curriculum could not be verified.

"Many students who thought they were at the junior or senior grade level were placed back in ninth grade and given no credit for the classes that were taken at Albor or that were in progress at the midterm closure of the school," the audit says.

... Board member Audrey Yamagata-Noji expressed frustration that, even though the district grew suspicious of Albor's operations, it was largely hamstrung by existing state law from pursuing its concerns.

"It shows the handicap public school districts are in [when dealing] with charter schools," she said.