LA Charter School Organization Founder Fired

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The founder of a Los Angeles charter school organization that was ensnared in a cheating scandal has been fired.

The Los Angeles Times reports Saturday that officials with Crescendo charter schools fired founder John Allen during a Friday night meeting attended by more than 300 people.

Allen allegedly ordered principals and teachers at the six charter schools it operates south of downtown Los Angeles to break the seal on state standardized tests last spring and use actual test questions to prepare students. That is a violation of state law.

Some teachers reported the alleged cheating to the school district, which led the state to invalidate the schools' 2010 test scores.

Earlier this week, the LA school district revoked Crescendo's operating charter.

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