"Then They Came for Me"

   In Dr. Oliver's ethics manual LEADING WITH INTEGRITY, he says "There is a need (for school administrators) to stand tall and do the right thing simply because it is right. Oliver then implies that doing the right thing, even though one is not affected personally and often at personal risk, involves speaking out in behalf of others - and provides the poem by Martin Niemoller:
      "First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out -
          Because I was not a Socialist.
      "Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out -
         Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
      "Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out -
         Because I was not a Jew.
      "Then they came for me -
        And there was no one left to speak for me."

   Niemoller was a Protestant minister who watched as his fellow German citizens were taken away by the Nazis to concentration camps or worse. He lamented, as he sat in a Nazi prison for seven years, that he should have spoken out as his countrymen were hauled off, because they were soon to come for him.
   It's what I keep in mind as I reveal the facts about virtual charter school millionaires, as many reporters and traditional public school supporters are beginning to be targeted by those millionaire chiefs. Just as the Niemoller revelation that speaking out against "paid for" power and authority sometimes involves personal risk, speaking out and revealing the truth about virtual charter school profiteering also involves personal risk at some level, and so it is with this article:
   In Three needed reforms to rein in charter school profiteering, reporter Julie Erfle writes "We've been reading about it for months. Charter school CEOs, including a powerful Arizona legislator are making millions off publicly funded charter schools." The article appearing in the Arizona Mirror on December 5, 2018, could have been about virtual charter schools in Oklahoma with the following revised opening statement: We've been reading about it for months. Charter school CEOs, with the help of a powerful Oklahoma legislator, are making millions off publicly funded charter schools. Julie Erfle goes on - "Oh, well, we shrug. They took a risk, invested money, and made a profit. That's what businesses do. Except Arizona charter schools aren't supposed to function like private sector businesses. Rather, they are classified as public schools, receiving almost all of their funding from Arizona taxpayers."... just like in Oklahoma. Erfle writes "The contract is simple: We supply the cash to operate the schools with an understanding our dollars are neither squandered nor stockpiled. We expect school administrators, whether the title be district superintendent or charter CEO, to take reasonable compensation for the schools they oversee, not treat them like their personal ATM. But the Legislature has broken that trust with taxpayers, crafting loopholes to benefit their charter school friends and turning a blind eye to negligence and fraud." The powerful state legislator that Julie Erfle identifies was Arizona Representative Eddie Farnsworth. He was term-limited as a state rep. in 2018, so is now Senator Farnsworth in 2019. The powerful Oklahoma State Legislator counterpart to Senator Farnsworth is Senator Gary Stanislawski of Tulsa.
   Julie Erfle continues "... the legislature has broken that trust with taxpayers, crafting loopholes to benefit their charter school friends (campaign donations) and turning a blind eye to negligence and fraud.... Last year a report authored by the bipartisan Grand Canyon Institute found an astounding 77% of charter operators used taxpayer monies for "questionable financial transactions."
Seventy-seven percent.
Surely that 77% couldn't have included the Oklahoma based Epic Virtual Charter? Maybe it is in the 23% group? I don't think so, with all the corruption already documented with Epic...
   Erfle summarizes by writing "... we should look for reforms backed by whistleblowers and watchdogs (as opposed to bought and paid for lawmakers like Farnsworth and Stanislawski) and the charter owners who have been operating under good faith..."
   "If we want real 'virtual charter school'  reforms, then they should have, at a minimum, three important criteria:

1. Required annual audits by the state auditor and inspector...

2. End the Epic epidemic of self-dealing. Forbid charter owners and their relatives from profiting off      curriculum, management fees and a host of other items that are illegal for traditional public                schools.

3. Put restrictions in place to prevent inflated administrative overhead and compensation packages that turn some charter CEOs into millionaires while their traditional school counterparts continue to maintain low overhead costs.

Oklahomans deserve an accounting of our public-school dollars. We need a system designed to serve students, not legislators and their politically connected friends.