"Another amazing but true stor y from LA about the loose rules under which charters operate. In 2006 Kendra Okonkwo opened Wisdom Academy for Young Scientists, bought a building and leased it to the charter for $19,000 a mo., then paid herself a salary of $223,615. She renovated the building, charged it to the STATE, and may have funneled millions of dollars to her own accounts from public funds. She used school funds to pay a $566,803 settlement to a former teacher who sued the organization for wrongful termination after she was directed by Okonkwo to travel with her to Nigeria to marry Okonkwo's brother-in-law for the purpose of making him a United States citizen. Ordinarily, this degree of theft of public funds would merit a criminal prosecution. The California Charter Schools Assoc. supported this charter's appeals to the county board and the state board. She was fined $16,000.
At www.latimes.com
