Orlando-area Summit Charter School must fix problems or close -...

A Maitland charter school paid four administrators more than $520,000 last year and, even though the school was deeply in debt, allowed lavish and uncontrolled spending by two of those administrators, according ...

[Deno]

Well - the students have learned their greatest lesson; graft and corruption pays - and pays well.

[a senior citizen]

put the administators in jail

[Speedhater]

Criminals!!!! Yes, jail... No not jail... How 'bout forcing them to work and garnishing their wages for repayment!!!

[Dark Avenger]

Is anyone really surprised? over Half a million in salaries, for doing what? running a school for kids with learning disabilities, sounds like the school board should enroll in this school!

I guarantee there is more IQ in one of those students there than the whole Orange County School Board! Get a rope!

[rrlarry]

Sounds like a good paying day job to me, if your conscience can handle it,which these people seem to not have one. Guess they never listened to the song Teach Your Children Well.

[Orlando Homegrown]

These administrators are nothing more or less than any other thief on the streets! Just because they have degrees and are affiliated with mentally deficient children does not give them a license to steal from the hard working taxpayers of Orange County! Personally, I'd make them reimburse the county every dime they stole or go to jail for a very long time!

[Bud]

The time for "suspended with pay" or "suspended without pay" is long past and situations like this are what the States Attorney get paid for so fire the thiefs and make the phone call to the States Attorney!!!

[SpankyD]

I've known Palmer for years and knew he wasn't to be trusted from the first time I met him.

[Orlando Homegrown]

As for the "System" that allowed this to transpire, where are the watchdogs that should have picked up on this long before it got to this place? Are there no "Checks and balances" that should have flagged a warning to the Orange County School Board that these crooks were bilking the system? Seems to me that the investigation should cover how the School board missed this and look into every other charter school immediately as well as those listed in this particular theft of our tax monies!

[jmd]

"WITH PAY"? What the f ? They should be fired and/or arrested.

[bodiddlie]

Thief, liar, & pig. The superintendant of schools makes less than the "principal". He deserves to be run out of town on a rail. Oh and you know he had the children's interests in mind when he got new cars and went on vacation with school funds.

[Senior Citizen]

Great job Florida GOP! Let's get rid of all the public schools and let "the market" fix everything. That's the American Way, right?

[NOT SURPRISED]

These administrators should be fired and brought up on charges of embezzelment. That is esentially what they did and they should be accountable for their actions. Plus, they are giving charter schools a bad name. My step children attend a charter school where the children wear uniforms are highly focused on high achievment in education.

[whistler]

I made the mistake of teaching at that school for a time. It was corrupt from top to bottom staff drinking on the job sexual misconduct by the administration. It was all reported the board known better.

[wide-eyed]

It is obvious that an on-going audit presence is necessary wherever public money is used. Volunteer boards of directors cannot be expected to have the necessary expertise. Good intentions are not enough to ensure that public money is well spent, especially when oversight of expenditures is entirely absent. Fox, meet henhouse!

[TigerTchr]

I don't know how Mr. Palmer, a supposed "educator," can look himself in the eye every morning. He is stealing from the children he is supposed to be leading. What could that $200 large have paid for instead? More teachers? More training for teachers who wanted to improve their skills? More resources for the students?

I'm very good at my job--ask my students--but as good as I am, even I know that more than $200 grand is exorbitant wages. And I haven't even started on the $15,000 of travel and the $47K for a truck.

Prosecute these criminals! While you're at it, demand real oversight for charters. Summit's board is negligent and should be entrusted with no further state funds. Texas charters have stripped more than $26 MILLION from Texas taxpayers because of faulty accounting, padded rolls with ghost students, luxury cars for principals paid for with school dollars, etc. Can we please smarten up in Florida and realize that Texas isn't the model we need to be following??

[NotSuprised]

All I can say is I'm glad my name is no longer tied to that school. While working there, there was "never any money" to help pay for anything we really needed for the kids, classroom or to fix the school's building. The school was falling apart (literally). Not even class sets of books were provided for a set curriculum for the teachers to follow. Sad thing is, there are many wonderful teachers there that really do care and were no part of this. My heart goes out to the students whose education was stolen from them. Put these administrators and their lying, cheating and stealing counterparts in their place! I am beyond disgusted.

[A concerned teacher]

There was never any money for books or tools but Palmer, Smolowe and Wilkey were living lavish lifestyles and complaining that they had no money to pay us. I also witnessed drinking before school functions and one time at them! They put their students at risk and had no remorse for it. Also, where is the charge for embezzeling the retirement "ING" funds? Did they find that too? LIARS!! CROOKS! Put them in jail! Shame!!!

[Parent]

Hey! Orange County is just as guilty! put them in shackles too!

[libby]

I told you people charter schools are just ripoffs to enrich the few greedy idiots who want taxpayer money to finance their lavish lifestyles.

Public schools are better than the "get rich quick" charter schools that only use taxpayer money for personal enrichment.