So, it looks like the crony capitalists over at Epic Charter Schools might be going down.  But not all of them.  They nabbed a couple of mob bosses.  So what.  What about their henchmen and apparatchiks in the administration – even today?  Even if they were not directly involved, they all knew what was going on, as did most of the teachers.

Blinded by the promise of huge pay bonuses, they either actively worked in carrying out the corrupt enterprise, or just looked the other way while huge sums of money were being funneled out of the public education budget and into their pockets.

The whole scam wasn’t difficult.  All they had to do was tie the money, first to student numbers (which was easy), then to student performance, which took a bit more accounting manipulation, but proved to be easy as well, as long as no one on the team challenged any of the more questionable tactics.  These simply involved making sure that none of the less-than-top academic students were counted in the denominator for state testing performance metrics, thus ensuring the school as a whole always received high scores on their “report card”.  Any teacher that wasn’t willing to throw his or her students under the bus was hounded mercilessly, or finally dismissed under dubious evidence of some malfeasance.

But what makes this whole episode even worse is how these crooks found sanctuary among so-called conservatives, just because they presented themselves as an alternative to the monopolistic and failing public school bureaucracy.

When will we stop considering crony capitalists, do-nothing politicians (just because they have “Oklahoma values”), and big government promoters (just because they only grow government in the way we are okay with) as being in our camp?  Have we not forgotten that one of the most basic tenets of our movement states that “the end does not justify the means”?

Stop befriending big government apologists.  Stop supporting crony capitalists and corporate welfare programs.  Stop voting for politicians who only talk the talk.  Stop compromising on fundamental moral and ethical values.

Live not by lies.