LAPCS Responds to Treasurer Fleming’s Misleading Press Release On Charter School Spending
- Lauren Griffin
- May 16
- 2 min read
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Harmony Hobbs
(205) 901-4900
LAPCS Responds to Treasurer Fleming’s Misleading Press Release
On Charter School Spending
Why is the State Treasurer turning a tool meant for financial transparency
into a political weapon against charter schools?
BATON ROUGE, LA—On May 9, 2025, State Treasurer John Fleming issued a press release
about charter school expenses that is both misleading and factually incorrect.
ACT 370, authored by Sen. Rick Edmonds and passed in 2023, was designed to increase
financial transparency across Louisiana's K-12 public and charter school systems. The law
requires schools to report financial data to the Louisiana Department of the Treasury, now
accessible through the School Transparency Project Portal. This website—launched in March
2025 with over 2.4 million data lines—was developed with input from the Louisiana
Department of Education, LAPCS, and traditional school leaders.
“It’s disappointing that the Treasurer’s first use of this important tool is to attack schools rather than collaborate with the working group to review the data and improve the platform,” said Caroline Roemer, Executive Director of the Louisiana Public Charter Schools Association (LAPCS). “Even more troubling is the inclusion of factually incorrect information, such as naming schools that are not closed. That’s not transparency—it’s misinformation.”
LAPCS strongly supports accountability and transparency in public spending. But due diligence is essential to ensure reported data is accurate and properly contextualized. Charter schools often use private or philanthropic dollars for teacher appreciation or staff development events. The site, however, lacks basic context—such as whether expenses were public or private, or the specific purpose of each expenditure.
The Treasurer’s press release highlights questionable expenses using vague top-level codes
while ignoring the detailed object codes that clarify spending. It presents aggregated expenses in a sensational way without reflecting the smaller, legitimate line items that make up the total. In many cases, schools have submitted source documentation that aligns with correct coding, yet the portal reflects inaccuracies, raising questions about data integrity during upload or consolidation.
Roemer added, “We don’t defend waste or misconduct, but jumping to public accusations
based on incomplete or incorrect data is irresponsible. Charter schools undergo rigorous audits, follow public budgeting rules, and must meet high standards—or risk closure.”
LAPCS urges Treasurer Fleming to correct the false claims about school closures and
reconvene the financial transparency working group. We remain committed to strengthening
the tool, but its success depends on accuracy, context, and fairness.
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The Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools (LAPCS) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit
organization whose mission is to improve education in Louisiana by supporting, promoting, and advocating for excellent public charter schools. Learn more about LAPCS at