Gerald) Norde, 60, was hired last fall to teach high school Spanish to the students at Young America Works Public Charter School, one of Washington’s newest charter schools. Day after day, he noticed the attendance sheets in his classes listed students he’d never seen — or who had long since dropped out…. “I’ve asked my students, ‘Who are these people?’ No one knows… I talked to other teachers and they said they have the same problem.”… Earlier this month, Norde asked Young America’s registrar what was happening. Two weeks later, he was fired….

Like all other charter schools in the District of Columbia, Young America is paid per pupil. Norde’s discovery raises questions about the integrity of a system that sends $300 million in public dollars to the 55 charter schools in the city…. Every school in the District has its attendance audited every year, but Norde’s case raises the possibility that some operators have found a way around the audits…. Young America officials did not respond to requests for comment....

Young America takes attendance in its classes in the morning, Norde said. If any student skips homeroom but attends classes later in the day, it shows up in the next day’s homeroom reports. Six of the students in his homeroom have either dropped out or have never shown up and have never appeared on the next day’s homeroom reports …. Yet some of them are given passing grades in other classes ….

In the most recent review of Young America, auditors found that Young America overreported its roster by 12 students last fall (233 v. 221), according to documents kept by the State Education Office.

Bill Meyers, The Washington Examiner, March 30.