Two Celerity Charter Schools Shut Down by State Board
The latest chapter in the Celerity novella sees two of its schools shut down by the State Board of Education.
If you haven’t been following the Celerity Educational Group and their troubles, let’s recap.
The group has had issues dating back to 2015. Fiscal mismanagement led to an investigation by The Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and the inspector general for the U.S. Department of Education, which then led to the FBI raiding their offices in January of this year. An exposé of CEO Vielka McFarlane by the LA Times, highlighted even further her misuse of funds as she traveled luxuriously.
So it should come as no surprise, that the charter group is facing some consequences. One of those consequences it seems, is the closure of two of its schools. Or maybe it is surprising, given the fact that the same just approved opening two more charters for the group late last year.
One of the items that seemed to sway the board out of favor with the charter group, is McFarlane’s outstanding salary of $471,842. That’s 35 percent more than Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Michelle King. Keep in mind that LAUSD currently enrolls 600,000 students, about 10 percent of the state’s total students, while Celerity enrolls only 4,000 students.
Read more about the closures at The LA Times.
