Former Sen. Ron Sharp took a beating, lost his Senate seat, was publicly drug through the mud, but in the end, he was right. The founders, David Chaney and Benjamin Harris, and Chief Financial Officer Josh Brock of Epic Charter Schools were arrested in late June on multiple charges, including racketeering, embezzlement of state funds, submitting false documents to the State and conspiracy to commit a felony.
Sharp said he would do it all over again. He said he lost his senate seat, but he felt that due to the extreme conditions of the corruption, he felt he had no other choice.
After Sharp began asking the hard questions, Epic filed a defamation lawsuit against him in Dec., 2019. Sharp won the lawsuit and was awarded $35,000 in legal fees and an additional $500,000.
Epic soon filed an appeal, but the appeal was recently dropped. Sharp said Monday that he had received a check for $35,000.
Shortly after the announcement to drop the appeal was released, House District Rep. Jacob Rosecrants shared a post on his Facebook page. He said he and Sharp “had a shared concern of the massive expansion and shady dealings of the folks who ran Epic, which at the time was a relatively unknown virtual charter school. In 2018 and 2019, Sen. Sharp authored a series of bills designed to bring more accountability to Epic and to virtual charter schools. His reward for proposing to do what’s best for the taxpayer. He was booted off the Senate Education Committee, primaried in his 2020 elections, and lost his seat, with the help of hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of dark money.
“He was slandered and attacked and made out to be an enemy of schools and kids when he was one of the true public education warriors at the Capitol,” said Rosecrants. “It was a travesty, not only for me (I lost my loudly pro-public education partner across the aisle and in the Senate), but also for the children, teachers, and parents of our state.”
Sharp began questioning the practices of Epic in 2018. When State Auditor Cyndy Byrd released the findings of the audit of Epic Charter Schools, Sharp said he had tried to bring the misuse of state funds to light and filed numerous bills to improve accountability and transparency to charter schools, but because of the lobbying presence at the state Capitol, most of his bills were never heard. He was also removed from the Senate Education Committee.
In an October 2020 interview with the Countywide & Sun Sharp said his “reputation and legislative career have been destroyed by what has now become Oklahoma’s largest school district because I brought their fraudulent activities to light. Their attempts to stop my inquiries and silence my criticism has not been successful. I’ve been accused of being against charter schools, but I’m not. I dedicated 40 years of my life to the classroom, and I know that not all children learn the same, so having a virtual option is sometimes best for the child.”
Also, in the Facebook post, Rosecrants said, “Flash forward to now…just a few years since Sen. Sharp was ousted, and then even sued by the folks at Epic, and he is finally getting the recognition and financial relief that he fully deserves. As audits and investigations have proven, he was right to be critical of Epic! He is a hero, and he needs to be thanked for his dogged determination to do what was right!”
Epic is now under new leadership. Rosecrants post said, “I do truly hope this begins a new chapter for Epic as they attempt to move forward out of the dark and into the light of transparency.”
It was a long battle for the former Senator. But for the State and especially the children of Oklahoma, we should all thank Sharp for staying the course.
There is a saying that what happens in the dark always comes to light. Due to Sharp’s unwavering commitment and insistence that the numbers did not add up, that the unlawful use of Oklahoma taxpayers’ money was finally brought to light.
Thank you, Mr. Sharp.
Thank you for standing tall and sometimes standing alone against the onslaught of unfavorable words, letters, advertisements and YouTube videos.
Thank you for doing the constitutionally-mandated job you were elected to do. Thank you for ensuring that ALL Oklahoma schools followed the law and efficiently and legally utilized state funds.
Suzie Campbell
