I'm confident that the number of nonprofit Charter Schools in Pennsylvania that have experienced fuzzy financial math or outright theft from the accounts or diversion of accounts for other purposes, both private and nonprofit, is few. Unfortunately, one might not believe this if they review the number of incidents of financial malfeasance that has indeed occurred in Pennsylvania's charter schools.
One solution, as suggested in the Philadelphia Inquirer's story on this matter is to "close the loopholes that have enabled some charter operators to enrich themselves, and create a state office to oversee charter schools and investigate complaints of fraud and mismanagement". And, this may be a correct step.
I would propose however that what is going on is just plain bad governance. Governance of course is where the real oversight is "supposed" to occur. In once instance where the board chair is the offender in cooperation with the school administration, the remainder of the board might have stepped in asking the right questions and stopping the problem. However, where board members are more friends than "owners", stepping-in to correct one member's action can be challenging.
Then of course there's the simple matter of training in terms of what exactly good oversight looks like and how it's accomplished. This is where I think "reform" might begin in Pennsylvania. Good governance training can go a long way to ensure that nonprofit boards are accountable and smart about their service. And, while I'm on the topic, all governance training should begin with the Board Chair. Board Chairs can, it is my opinion, make or break a nonprofit.