Charter schools or else

Posted by Josh Rosenau on September 28, 2006
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Apparently Bob Corkins gave away $32,000 to whoever asked for it. The money came from federal funds for charter schools. Commissioner of Education Corkins solicited proposals from people who would help create charter schools. “I have not been able to find any connection between these people and a school district,” said Board of Ed member Sue Gamble.

Two of the grant recipients are at the same address in Georgia. According to Gamble “These are just apparently individuals who walked off the street and said, ‘We like charter schools, can you give us some money?’”

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Comments

  1. #1 les
    September 28, 2006

    I wish, oh how I wish, I could say I was shocked.

  2. #2 CSA
    September 28, 2006

    Where can we find out exactly *who* received these funds?

  3. #3 CSA
    September 28, 2006

    Never mind, found it at http://media.ljworld.com/pdf/2006/09/list.pdf courtesy of the Lawrence Journal-World.

    Note that two grant recipients from Topeka share the same last name and street address. Likewise for two recipients from Alpharetta, GA.

    From the grant application: “Vendors must be able to demonstrate knowledge and experience in the area of charter school administration.”

    After a bit of Googling of the 16 applicants, on their “firstname lastname” “city” state “school”, here’s what was found:

    No hits at all for:
    Dr. Raymond J. Horton, Topeka, KS
    Vince Omni, Topeka, KS
    Debbie Welton, Olathe, KS
    Alice Wyatt, Alpharetta GA
    Hal Wyatt, Alpharetta GA

    No relevant hits for:
    Charity Brooks, Kansas City, MO
    Karen Talley, Topeka, KS
    Phyllis Esposito, Kansas City, MO
    Edward Wilson, Kansas City, MO

    Hits showing some sort of school connection:
    Betty T. Horton, Topeka, KS – as noted in the article, USD 501 turned down her charter school proposal
    Lottie Lawrence, Grandview MO – “MUSTARD SEEDS UNLIMITED INC (c/o LOTTIE LAWRENCE) Charitable Organization (Scholarships, Student Financial Aid Services, Awards)”
    Verneta White, Kansas City KS – Mt. Pleasant Freedom School, KCMO
    Johan Freeland, Topeka KS – Hope Street Academy, Topeka; Executive Director, Community First Inc., Abbott Community Center

    Other applicants:
    ESSDACK – service center, Hutchinson, KS
    Smoky Hill Central KS ED Service Center – Salina, KS
    Diana Wieland, Colby, KS, Colby USD

    Maybe y’all have time to dig deeper, but it looks like the supposed requirement that “Vendors must be able to demonstrate knowledge and experience in the area of charter school administration” wasn’t even given lip service.