Abuse Found At Peck School In Hoyoke

The Disability Law Center (DLC) recently released its investigation report on the treatment of children in the Therapeutic Intervention Program (TIP) at the Peck School in Holyoke, Massachusetts. The report shows disturbing findings of “abuse and neglect, improper practices, and unsafe conditions” and that “[t]he District must take immediate corrective measures to prevent further harm to these children.”

The DLC, led by Executive Director Christine Griffin (who also serves as Chair to AAPD’s Board of Directors), is an organization “authorized to investigate incidents of alleged abuse, neglect, and civil rights violations of persons with disabilities within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.” 

Charter Schools – Havens For Waste, Fraud And Abuse?

Ken O’Brien

May 4th through the 10th is National Teacher Appreciation Week. It is also National Charter School Week.

In what may be regarded as a poke in the eye to that latter occasion, a new study has been issued that focuses on what it maintains is a culture of criminal behavior that infects charter schools around the country.  Titled “Charter School Vulnerabilities to Waste, Fraud and Abuse,” the report focused on 15 states representing large charter markets, out of the 42 states that have charter schools.

The report, co-authored by the Center for Popular Democracy and Integrity in Education, makes the point that the problem of charter school waste, fraud and abuse, which it focuses on, is just one symptom of the underlying problem: inadequate regulation of charter schools.