Washington, D.C.:
Charter School Fat Cats

Aug 16, 2021

Bosses at the more than 60 companies running over 120 public charter schools in Washington, D.C. pay themselves top dollar. And they are being paid by the public-school budget.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Friendship Public Charter School Inc., running three schools, was compensated over $308,000 in 2017, $356,000 in 2018, and $390,000 in 2019. And the formally non-profit company compensated its Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operations Officer, Chief Accounting Officer, Chief of Staff, Chief of School Operations, General Counsel, Senior Director of Information Services, and three principals between $160,000 and $200,000 each.

Carlos Rosario International Public Charter School, Inc., also formally a non-profit, compensated its CEO over $308,000 in 2017 and $320,000 in 2019, with a CFO, Chief Human Resources Officer, and two principals also receiving between $160,000 and $200,000. KIPP D.C. Public Charter Schools compensated its CEO over $343,000 in 2019 as well as compensating three other executives and two principals over $200,000 each.

Some of these charter schools have no library or gym, and they all keep lower-level staff benefits cut to the bone. Don’t even ask about the level of education made available.

But the city gives these bosses liberty to dig deep into school budgets to pay themselves.