Failed Charter School Founder Heads South

  • Posted by Joseph
  • January 10, 2008

Remember the Harte Crossroads charter school that used to occupy the top floor of the City Center Mall? The school closed abrubtly last May leaving behind millions in debt and hundreds of students without a school?

Well the dispatch is reporting today that the situation is even worse that originally thought:

  • $2.66 million could be owed to 188 creditors. Former teachers want to be paid, as do the schools’ vendors and the State Teachers Retirement System. The schools also were behind on rent and apparently hadn’t paid for school lunches.
  • More than $1 million is owed in taxes and to federal and state education departments for grants.
  • An auction of school furniture and supplies raised $7,826.50 to help pay those debts. But missing computers — maybe dozens — are presumed stolen.

But it gets worse.

It turns out that the founder of Harte Crossroads, Anita Nelam, has moved to South Carolina and is working for the Obama campaign as a director of operations!

Does this make any sense? In Ohio- she contributed to Husted and ran a charter school into the ground- and now, suddenly, she’s changed sides and is working for Eric’s favorite democratic presidential candidate?

I’d like to offer some insight here- but the whole situation just confuses the hell out of me. Is it sabotage? Did she lie on her application? Is she just a long-time friend of the Obama family?

I have no clue.

I just hope the Obama people don’t let her handle any money.

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January 10th, 2008
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Comment Number:
1
Written by:
Eric
Posted on:
January 10, 2008 at 10:29 am

WTF indeed!

Comment Number:
2
Written by:
bonobo
Posted on:
January 10, 2008 at 11:29 am

America is tired of people pointing fingers at irresponsible administrators who fail children. We need to move toward a post-competence politics.

Comment Number:
3
Written by:
Joseph
Posted on:
January 10, 2008 at 11:38 am

America needs to get tired of wingnuts trying to sell off basic government functions like EDUCATING OUR CHILDREN to the lowest bidder.

Comment Number:
4
Written by:
Joseph
Posted on:
January 10, 2008 at 11:52 am

We also need to be a lot more careful about who we allow to open/run schools.

Someone like Anita Nelam who supposedly never graduated college and has a history of bankruptcy is hardly the kind of person you want to trust with the education of our children or with millions in tax payer dollars.

Harte Crossroads is the perfect example of what NOT to do.

However, there are at least a few positive examples out there. For example, KIPP schools- who will be opening a middle school in columbus this year- chose a former Math teach from Euclid to be the school’s principal- and then sent her to Stanford University for a year to prepare for the job.