OAKLAND -- It boasts some of the highest test scores in the state, but Oakland's American Indian Model Schools organization has failed to safeguard its schools from corrupt fiscal practices and should be shut down, Oakland school district administration has concluded.
If on Wednesday night the Oakland school board agrees, the award-winning American Indian charter schools will be one step closer to closure. A public hearing would be held next month, and a final decision would follow, no later than March 24. If Oakland Unified School District does vote to yank the charter, the organization would have the chance to appeal to the Alameda County Board of Education and, later, to the state board.
Last year, in
The Oakland school district administration wants to revoke the organization s charter after a fraud investigation involving AIM Schools founder Ben Chavis. (D. Ross Cameron/Staff Archives)
response to a whistle-blower complaint of fraud, Sheila Jordan, Alameda County superintendent of schools, requested an investigation. State auditors spent months examining the charter organization's records. A report issued in June cited evidence that the founder of AIM Schools, Ben Chavis, and his wife, Marsha Amador, used public funds for the schools to enrich themselves.