Kevin Walsh of MyMediaDiary.com hosts David Wells, Ph.D, co-founder of the non-partisan research group The Grand Canyon Institute who co-authored with Curtis Cardine Following the Money: Twenty Years of Charter School Finances in Arizona the first of three reports which reveals that up to 77 percent of Arizona's charter school holders use their state taxpayer funds for potentially questionable financial transactions.
Specifically, many charter schools conduct business with a related party, in other words a for-profit business owned by the charter holder, a member of the school's corporate board or a relative of either. In 2013-14, related-party financial commitments were worth half a billion dollars of state taxpayer funds, representing 48 percent of charter school expenditures for contracts, leases and rents.
Examples of these related-party transactions include:
- Purchasing curriculum from the charter school holder's for-profit company.
- Hiring teachers from an employment services firm owned by the charter holder's relative.
- Contracting consulting services from a member of the charter school's corporate board.
- Leasing property from the charter holder's parents.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com