In Connecticut, Charter Lobby Gives New Meaning to the Word Chutzpah
Journalist Sarah Darer Littman is still aghast from the weeks of scandal that have rocked Connecticut and its
charter sector.
“Dr.” Michael Sharpe stepped down as CEO of
Connecticut’s Jumoke Charter Schools and its parent organization FUSE.
Sharpe
had a criminal record long ago, and his doctorate was a phony.
Littman
remembers how she was fingerprinted every time she took a new job.
“Yet the members of the state Board of
Education, all appointed or re-appointed by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, required no
such due diligence before forking over $53 million of our taxpayer dollars to “Doctor”
Sharpe’s organization. Just to make things even cozier, Gov. Malloy appointed
FUSE’s chief operating officer, Andrea Comer, to the state Board of Education.
Comer resigned earlier this week, in order to avoid being a “distraction.” I’m
afraid it’s a little too late for that.
“Rep. Andy Fleischmann, D-West Hartford, the
co-chair of the legislature’s Education Committee, told the Connecticut
Mirror’s Mark Pazniokas: “This is a pretty unique situation. Michael Sharpe had
been tremendously successful at Jumoke Academy since about the year 2000 . . .
So I think it’s fair to say it came as a big surprise to many of us that
someone who had achieved so much would be claiming to have degrees that he
lacks and have a past.”
“Unique situation? One has to ask oneself if
Rep. Fleischmann has been living under a rock. Maybe he missed the
comprehensive report by the Detroit Free Press on charter improprieties in
Michigan. Or the scandals in Florida. . Or New Jersey. Or California. Or
Louisiana. The list goes on.”
“But the surefire winner of the Connecticut
Chutzpah Crown has got to be Jennifer Alexander, CEO of ConnCan,” who said,
“I think it is an important moment that
signals a need to revisit and update Connecticut’s charter law so that it keeps
pace with best practices nationally, including clarity around areas of
accountability and transparency — but, I think, also flexibility and funding,”
she said.
Translation: “Oops, one of our guys was
caught lying, so we should make a show of ‘best practices’”
Don’t you just love
the reformy lingo for what the rest of us call “good government?” Orwell would
have a field day with Ms. Alexander. “But in the meantime, give us more money
and less regulation.”
Yes folks, I think Ms. Alexander just gave
us a new definition of chutzpah.