Celeb-Opened And Run Schools That Have Suffered Scandals

Will and Jada Pinkett Smith's New Village Leadership Academy had scandal written all over it even before it opened in 2008. Although these self-professed potentates of education claimed that the school would use study and education methods pioneered by several schools, such as Montessori Schools and the Bruner method, one particular methodology stood out: Study Technology.

In case you haven't heard of it, Study Technology is a teaching method that addresses three barriers that cause students to feel bored and frustrated, which in turn interfere with student learning. This methodology was also pioneered by L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Hollywood's religion of choice: Scientology. Despite the fact that the Smiths incorporated this methodology into their teaching philosophy, and that one of their students was Suri Cruise, daughter of Scientology poster-boy Tom Cruise, they adamantly denied that New Village Leadership Academy was a Scientology school. It probably didn't help that their Director of Learning, Director of Qualifications, Artistic Director and several other teachers were Scientologists too. According to Newsone.com, the school officially closed its doors in June 2013 for "undisclosed" reasons. But even without the Scientology ties, people had to know that this was a bad idea from the get-go. As nice as Will and Jada Pinkett seem to be, they also spawned Jaden and Willow Smith. Would you really want the people who birthed these two weirdos in charge of your child's education? Neither would we.

When you hear the name of a football player, do you think academic excellence? We thought not. This is probably why none of us should be surprised by the failure of Deion Sanders' Prime Prep Academy. We want to believe that the charter school was probably founded with good intentions. Sanders was a star athlete in two sports who probably wanted to give something back in return for all the fortune he received during his athletic career. So in 2012, he began a school that purported to provide every student with a free laptop, according to an article in the Dallas Observer. But all did not go well for the academy, which at its height had three campuses.

There were some problems with Sanders himself, who acted as football coach for the school. He was fired as coach more than once, and there are allegations that he choked fellow employees. Then there were the problems with the school itself. At one point, hundreds of the free laptops disappeared, students left during the middle of classes, and it was ranked the worst of 1,000 schools in all of North Texas. Prime Prep also had its share of financial problems, like not paying health insurance premiums, not paying into the retirement system, not paying underemployment insurance, and not paying the IRS, and we all know how they feel about not getting paid. There were even suspicions of behind-the-scenes criminal activity, according to the Dallas Morning News.

By January 2015, the school reportedly had $60,000 in funds, but $710,000 worth of debt, some of which was money the school owed to its employees. As you can imagine, the school closed shortly thereafter. It's a shame for the 1,100 or so students who went there. But when a school bears the name of an athlete's on-field nickname, it can't really bode well for the school. Just think: would you want to attend William Perry's "The Fridge" University? But for the time it existed, Prime Prep probably did wonders for Sanders' ego—which was probably part of the plan all along.

It would be nice to think that Madonna's plan to build schools in Malawi was the one thing she did that had nothing controversial connected to it. But unfortunately, that's not the case. Begun in 2006, Madonna hoped this project of hers would help the country's one million-plus orphans, but plans were scrapped in 2010 following the resignation of the headmistress and an audit by the Global Philanthropy Group. According to an article in The New York Times, at that time, about $3.8 million of the projects funds had been spent, yet ground had not been broken for a single school. Later, the project managed to regroup and partnered with buildOn, and by 2010, they managed to complete ten schools six months ahead of the projected 18-month schedule.

However, this success met with criticism as well, as in 2013, Malawi Education Minister Eunice Kazembe said that Madonna did not build schools, but, "classrooms at existing schools." Kazembe went on to say that Madonna "promised an academy and we agreed on standards but she just changed her mind on the project without consulting us." And according to the Daily Maverick, Madonna found the Malawian government's criticism annoying and seemed to think that they should just accept whatever charity she deigns to send their way. But we're pretty sure that Madonna brought some of the misfortune on herself. She announced her plans to build these schools around the same time she adopted her Malawian son, David. And by adopt, we mean she just took him and filled out a the forms later. It's possible this was all meant to distract from that move in the first place—which it did.

Of all the celebrity school scandals out there, this one probably rocked the average person the hardest because so many people became financially and emotionally invested in it. Humanitarian and author Greg Mortenson became a hero when he claimed to have built, via his Central Asia Institute, over one hundred schools with the hopes of educating girls in remote, Taliban-controlled areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan. People primarily learned of his exploits from his memoir, Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time, which remained on the New York Times bestseller list for nonfiction from 2007 to 2011, spending three of those years in the number one position. Selling more than 4 million copies and becoming required reading for service men and woman sent to Afghanistan, the book rocketed Mortenson to fame and celebrity status, and it probably put a nice chunk of change in his pocket too.

But around the peak of his book's popularity, people began to question Mortenson's credibility, particularly 60 Minutes and author Jon Krakauer, a Central Asia Institute supporter. On an April 2011 episode of 60 Minutes, Krakauer revealed that Mortenson's memoir contains pieces of information that are either exaggerated or fabricated, such as his stumbling into a village where he was nursed back to health and promising to build a school there in gratitude. Oddly enough, some of Krakauer's claims are supported by an article written by Mortenson for The American Himalayan Foundation. Also, 60 Minutes found that his tale of abduction by the Taliban is completely false, and a significant number of the schools his charity claims to have built have either been abandoned or do not exist at all. His charity's financial records have been deemed a bit shady too.

Of course, Mortenson denies all of this, but these claims and his dodging reporters about the issues seem to suggest otherwise. And while his actions have done some good in raising awareness for lack of education for children in this area, the three cups of bull that came with it could easily undo all of it.