Read the scam and the theft at a time when public schools need the money! Wendy Lecker is a civil rights attorney who writes here about the disgraceful double dipping of charter schools in Connecticut, taking funds designated for public schools, then seeking and getting federal funds intended for small businesses. Lecker writes that the charters got their share of money intended for public schools: Are charter schools to be defined as public schools or private businesses? When it’s time to get public money, they insist they are public schools, even though they are controlled by private boards. But when the money is for private businesses only, they line up to get the money. They are shape-shifters."