Dive Brief:
- A new state audit in Missouri found that Hope Academy charter school was overpaid $4.3 million over a period of two years before it closed.
- According to local news outlet WGEM, administrators inflated the attendance rate in reports from around 32% to 97%.
- Inflated student numbers weren't the only wrongdoing uncovered, as students also reportedly got credit for classes they didn't take, in addition to "unapproved activities outside of the classroom."
Dive Insight:
Investigations into charter attendance and enrollment have occurred in other states, like Ohio, where a virtual academy was also accused of padding its student attendance. A recent study showed that the majority of charters are heavily reliant on state funding, taking just a small fraction of their budgets from private sources.
Aside from oversight issues, questions about funding have also hovered over charters as they continue to expand nationwide. In Arizona, the state Supreme Court recently ruled earlier this year that "the state's education funding formula is constitutional despite the fact that charter schools do not get the same amount of funding as traditional school districts."
