D.C. Alleges Charter Operator Funneled Millions to His Firm

Washington, D.C., officials have filed a legal complaint against the leader of one of city’s oldest and biggest charter-school groups, claiming that he improperly diverted taxpayer funds to a for-profit company he owns, The Washington Post reports.

The suit filed Monday in D.C. Superior Court by District Attorney General Irvin B. Nathan concerns a management firm established by Kent Amos, founder of the Dorothy I. Height Community Academy Public Charter School, and two colleagues. The business has received $13-million in contracts from the charter network since 2004.

Charters in the District are allowed to contract with management firms that have financial ties to school leaders, but the complaint alleges that Mr. Amos violated the law by creating a shell company and paying it for work that “could have been performed, and in many cases was actually performed, by direct employees of the school.”

The Community Academy network includes four campuses and an online school serving 1,600 elementary school students. A lawyer for Mr. Amos said the complaint is “without merit” and that city regulators have long known of the contracts between the charter group and the management firm.