Questionable use of tax dollars by Houston charter school raises eyebrows

In the era of school choice, parents strive to find the best education for their children. While the ability to choose your child’s school can be a boon for some, not all schools are as they seem.

Videos by Rare

Charter schools often have a reputation for providing better instruction and a safer learning environment, but those expectations are not always met.

A recent scandal at KIPP Explorer Academy in Houston revealed that the charter school’s counselor was allegedly molesting young female students, and now a second charter school in the city has come under fire for questionable use of funds.

RELATED: Texas high school students lead “The Virgin Movement” to combat stigma

Accelerated Intermediate Academy opened 16 years ago in a small windowless building that some have described as a portable building.

Currently serving about 275 students, the school pays its teachers less than the average salary for an educator in Houston. With its meager facilities and underpaid staff, the small charter appears to be focused on paying for just the bare essentials needed to provide its students with an enriched education.

Appearances can be deceiving.

During his tenure at the school, Accelerated Intermediate Academy superintendent Kevin Hicks has raked in a salary averaging $250,000 a year. In total, the district includes three small charter schools – a Houston elementary school, a Houston middle school, and an elementary in Lancaster.

However, both Houston schools are housed in the tiny portable school building.

Hicks co-founded the school in 2001, along with Dr. David C. Fuller. The school’s website promises parents the “benefits of a private school free of charge.”

The school brags about awards for its website design, but student achievement data is not readily accessible.

Additionally, the Houston Chronicle recently broke that Accelerated Intermediate Academy purchased a condo in Houston’s Uptown valued at $450,000. The school purchased the 9th floor condo in 2011.

When asked, the school told the TEA that the condo was “for charter school purposes.”

The TEA did not investigate.

Coupled with the $12.5 million in cash reserves held by the school, the revelation casts suspicion on the fledgling charter.

“Wow. He definitely could have put more into the school,” former teacher Kennessa Johnson told the Houston Chronicle. “It was extremely basic in the school. There weren’t even any windows.”

RELATED: Alleged victims of former KIPP counselor provide details of abuse

Funded by taxpayers, charter schools are not held to the same accountability standards as public schools. Since 2001 when Accelerated Intermediate Academy opened, the school has collected more than $55 million in tax dollars, but now people are questioning where that money has gone.

With the school’s infrastructure and educators underfunded, how are students benefiting from the dollars spent to educate them?

Since charter schools are not held to the same accountability requirements as public schools, taxpayers may never know.

What do you think?

Arrested UCLA basketball players address President Trump as they learn their punishment

A heated issue in Houston, city officials are cleaning up the homeless camps downtown