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Diane Ravitch's Blog: Which is the Most Corrupt State? This Reader Says Arizona

A comment from a reader in Arizona who read the earlier report about the private schools for children with disabilities that fleece New Jersey taxpayers.

The reader writes:

“AZ has just as much, if not more, corruption. The administrators for BASIS schools (a charter school, most likely invading your area) make six figures and created a for profit corporation to run their schools, so now no one knows how much they make. The bookkeeper for the school is related and lives in the Czech republic. Similar to other charters, they cherry pick their students.

http://cloakinginequity.com/2013/04/19/what-basis-nepotism-and-aggrandizement-in-charters/

We also have a state legislator, Steve Yarbrough, who runs a Student Tuition organization. An STO receives money for scholarships to private schools and sends the money to the school. Yarbrough regularly votes on legislation that benefits him, so he is able to legally pocket 10% of the funds funneled through his STO, receive rent from a space owned by him, and (surprise) act as the STOs legal counsel.

http://arizona.typepad.com/blog/2009/05/steve-yarbrough-landlord.html

http://www.pfaw.org/media-center/publications/model-to-avoid-arizonas-tuition-tax-credit-law

When they call AZ the wild west, they’re not kidding.”

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Diane Ravitch

Diane Ravitch is Research Professor of Education at New York University and a historian of education. She is the Co-Founder and President of the Network for Publi...