When the Texas Education Agency (TEA) acknowledges that it is investigating Great Hearts Texas, a subsidiary of the Arizona-based charter school network that operates eight schools in Bexar County, it’s big news.
The TEA and the agency’s Commissioner Mike Morath, appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott in 2015, have made no public statements about the investigation beyond confirming it is underway. They presumably are looking into alleged financial irregularities and governance issues that first came to light one month ago when trustees at Great Hearts Texas filed a lawsuit against their parent organization, Arizona-based Great Hearts Academies. The lawsuit alleged that Arizona charter officials illegally siphoned off millions of dollars in “fees” from its Texas affiliate, and when local trustees moved to end the practice, the Arizona organization sought to unseat trustees here, a hostile takeover blocked by a state district court judge.
Then, as suddenly as the lawsuit surfaced, it was quietly settled, with both parties in Texas and Arizona saying they were back in sync. Families of Great Hearts students and the media and public were left to speculate about the millions of dollars supposedly misappropriated and whether those funds would be repaid to Great Hearts Texas.
Then, as the TEA investigation was brought to light by the San Antonio Express-News, the newspaper also disclosed that Brendan Miniter, the Great Hearts Texas superintendent, had resigned his position, presumably under pressure from the board. Board Chair Shannon Sedgwick Davis made no mention of the TEA investigation or lawsuit while thanking Miniter for his service, according to the Express-News. Neither she nor Miniter has provided the public with any explanation, but latest developments indicate internal turmoil at the charter network did not end with the dismissed lawsuit.
When a Bexar County school board jettisons a district superintendent, an occurrence that happens far too frequently, taxpayers typically see the tensions among trustees and district leaders play out at school board meetings. Even the six-figure severance packages paid to resolve the employment contracts of terminated superintendents are public record.
My objection to the state’s definition of charter schools as “public charters” is that the categorization is contradicted by the lack of transparency in how those charters operate, allocate their finances, and obscure internal disputes so taxpayers and even families who enroll their children in charters do not gain access to the charter’s inner workings.
The media and public have never learned all the details that led to the abrupt departure of Tom Torkelson, a founder and leader of IDEA Public Schools. Both sides claimed it was Torkelson’s idea, but all the evidence suggests a termination amid scandal. There were confirmed reports of $400,000 spent on premium season tickets to San Antonio Spurs games. There were reports of chartering private aircraft and a proposal for Torkelson and his administration to use donor funds to lease a private jet.
In the end, Torkelson left with a $900,000 severance check, and months later in 2020, was hired as the new CEO of the nonprofit Choose to Succeed (CTS), the very organization that was formed here in 2012 to attract charter schools to San Antonio and enable pro-charter philanthropists and family foundations and others to funnel charitable dollars to select charter schools. Presumably, some of the funds Torkelson and his administration were criticized for wasteful and extravagant spending on non-education pursuits came through Choose to Succeed.
Interestingly, Torkelson’s time at Choose to Succeed appears to have ended in October 2022 when Dan Fishman was named as CEO. LinkedIn profiles for both Torkelson and Fishman, however, list their current job status as CEO at CTS.
The state has no oversight of how privately raised funds at charter schools are spent, just as it has no oversight of charitable foundations that exist at many of the local school districts, although those tend to attract far fewer dollars than charters networks. There were fewer than 1,000 students who left area public schools to enroll in local charters in 2012. Today, according to the CTS website, more than 47,000 students are enrolled at 20 area charter school networks.
It’s hard to argue with the concept of “school choice” for families who live in socio-economically disadvantaged communities and otherwise would have no alternative to enrolling children in a low-performing district school. What is arguable is the way the TEA under Republican-appointed leadership allows charter school operators and their benefactors to operate relatively free of public scrutiny.
Perhaps the TEA investigation into Great Hearts Texas will prove to be a first step in the state exacting greater transparency and accountability.
Charter schools are publicly funded, but their trustees, campus leaders and their financial supporters do not answer to taxpayers. To merit the word “public,” charter schools supported by taxpayers must operate transparently and in the public interest.
