Tag: Mastery Charter Schools

Board Moves to Renew More Substandard Charter Schools

by Lisa Haver, Deborah Grill, Lynda Rubin, Barbara Dowdall, Ilene Poses

At some time in the future, the Board of Education will cast their final votes on the eighteen charter schools in the 2024-25 renewal cohort. Actually, the board has already made its decision on all of the schools. The future of the schools now lies in the hands of the charter operators.

The board convened a “Special Action Meeting” June 12, 2025 for the sole purpose of reviewing the charter schools in the current cohort. The agenda included a presentation from 

Charter Schools Office Chief Peng Chao summarizing their 18 renewal evaluation reports, along with public testimony.  It was actually a public hearing as there were no official action items on the agenda to be voted on. By the end of the meeting, they had separated the cohort into two categories: 12 that needed no further review and 6 that did because of failure to meet academic standards. That meant that 12 would proceed to renewal, with CSO Chief Chao drawing up renewal agreements with the schools’ administrators. For all intents and purposes, the board had voted to renew 12 charter schools. 

Continue reading here.

Charter CEOs Collecting High Salaries, Benefits and Bonuses

by Lisa Haver, Deborah Grill, and Lynda Rubin

Three of the six most highly paid administrators identified in String Theory’s most recent tax information are members of the Corosanite family:  Chief Executive Officer Angela Corosanite, Chief Information Officer Jason Corosanite, and Director of Facilities Thomas Corosanite. Their total salary and compensation, as listed in the charter management organization’s  2021 IRS 990, comes to almost $900,000. String Theory manages only two schools in the city, but the company has six administrators making over $100,000 in salary and compensation. In addition, each school has its own CEO. Why does a network of only two schools need so many highly-paid administrators? 

There are no guidelines for charter compensation, that is, no schedule of salary steps as there is for district principals and administrators.   Ad Prima charter, a small charter school with 600 students, has a CEO, a principal and a “site director” on staff, all paid over $100,000.00 in salary and compensation. Community Academy charter has a CEO, deputy CEO, a Chief Academic Officer and deputy CAO. Pan American, an elementary school with 750 students, lists eight administrators. Folk Arts Cultural Treasures (FACTS), on the other hand, has one administrator making over $100,000. Global Leadership Academy is a two-school network. Each school has its own CEO–one making more than the district’s superintendent, the other making slightly less. GLA’s principal  made over $11,000 more than a district principal with seven years or more of principal experience.  

Click here to continue reading and to find out what the CEO and administrators of each charter make in salary and compensation.