#ANOTHERDAYANOTHERCHARTERSCHOOLSCANDAL is a regularly updated blog documenting a range of crimes and scandals plaguing the crisis-ridden charter school sector. The blog was created by the Network for Public Education and offers hundreds of mainstream news stories spanning many years and chronicling more than one can fathom.
In addition to this blog, there also exists a small army of writers, critics, researchers, and bloggers out there exposing crimes and scandals in charter schools. Yet it is clear that more blogs and more full-time workers are needed to keep up with the pace, frequency, and scope of crimes and scandals emanating from the charter school sector. Disturbing news is the norm in this privatized sector that has undermined education for 35 years. There is no letup.
Indeed, when it comes to fraud, corruption, nepotism, and many other wrong-doings charter schools are very innovative.
One such recent scandal comes from a charter school in York County, South Carolina called Ascent Classical Academy (ACA) of Fort Mill. In an April 9, 2026, article titled “Parents, lawmakers call for investigation after York County charter school’s funds removed,” WSOCTV informs us that, “Parents and state lawmakers are calling on South Carolina’s governor to launch an investigation into a York County charter school after a board member was accused of removing all of the school’s money from its bank account.”
A letter from the company overseeing the school’s finances explained that, “a member of the governing board… removed all funds from the school’s bank accounts without board approval. This [covert] action eliminated the school’s operating capital and made it impossible for ACA to meet essential obligations” such as payroll. In addition, “all but one of the school’s governing board members resigned.”
The suspicious move “left [parents] wondering whether the school would even reopen after spring break.” Many parents were already aware that teachers and staff at the school were overworked and not supported. They also knew that the school was experiencing financial problems—something common to many charter schools across the country.
This prompted several state lawmakers to call for accountability, transparency, and an investigation into what happened at the school. One parent said, “I hope that they see it through, and I hope the people who have done wrong and hurt all these families and all these kids are held accountable for their actions.”
As always, the main issue here is not that fraud, theft, and corruption occurred at this or that charter school. Such crimes have long been entrenched in the charter school sector. They take place all the time. The real issue is why are such crimes allowed to persist decade after decade?
In a capital-centered society maximizing profits is the end-all and be-all. This is especially true when private interests and investors are trying to combat the inescapable falling rate of profit.
It is this relentless drive to maximize profits in the context of a continually failing economy that compels major owners of capital to hatch new pay-the-rich schemes. This is why, since the late 1970s when the neoliberal era began at home and abroad, we see the rapid spread of privatization in its different forms.
No sphere or sector has escaped privatization. In the sphere of education, for example, charter schools are the main form of privatization. Vouchers are another form.
Charter schools have allowed major owners of capital to seize billions of dollars in public funds over the past 35 years, leaving underfunded public schools in bad shape. Privatization, wherever it appears, is also notorious for increasing corruption and misconduct, which is why so many crimes and scandals have plagued the charter school sector for decades. It is why charter school laws have been written in a way that minimize transparency and accountability. Such weak laws reflect the class requirements of neoliberalism and are not merely “bad decisions” made by “ill-intentioned,” “misinformed,” or “naïve” legislators.
In such an antisocial set-up the drive to maximize profit trumps everything else. It does not matter how many crimes are committed or how many people are arrested and incarcerated. Greed becomes more intense with each passing year when investors are desperate for new sources of profit in a failing economy. They are willing to take extreme risks.
In this decaying context more and more state agencies, mechanisms, and levers are continually being restructured to funnel public funds to private interests in education, feeding a vicious cycle that lowers the overall level of education in society while undermining democracy and harming the broader public interest. In other words, charter schools are not simply schools, they are part of a larger neoliberal agenda to drag society backward under the banner of high ideals.