The Authorizer — Central Michigan University and the Background Check That Never Happened
The Authorizer
Central Michigan University is located in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Population: 21,000.
From Mount Pleasant, CMU authorized a charter school in Detroit — 150 miles away — founded by a man with 9 criminal convictions.
They didn’t check.
What CMU Does
CMU is one of Michigan’s charter school authorizers. Under PA 362 (the 1993 charter school law written with Dykema’s involvement), universities can authorize charter schools anywhere in the state.
CMU is the largest charter school authorizer in Michigan. They authorize more charter schools than any other institution.
They authorized Purpose Charter Academy. They authorized MacDowell Preparatory Academy.
Both schools are run by Brian Banks.
The Background Check
CMU did not perform a criminal background check on Brian Banks before authorizing his schools.
Brian Banks has 9 criminal convictions.
For context:
| Role | Background Check Required? |
|---|---|
| Substitute teacher | Yes |
| Bus driver | Yes |
| Cafeteria worker | Yes |
| Janitor | Yes |
| School volunteer | Yes (in most districts) |
| Charter school founder | No (CMU didn’t require it) |
Every adult who enters a Michigan school building in a paid capacity needs a background check. Except the person who creates the school.
The person who decides what the children learn, who teaches them, how the money is spent, and whether the lights stay on — that person walks through without a check.
Because CMU didn’t ask.
The Pattern Matches
The membrane pattern-matched CMU to six historical cases of institutional failure:
| Pattern Match | What Failed |
|---|---|
| Enron | Auditors (Arthur Andersen) didn’t catch fraud |
| Theranos | Board didn’t verify claims |
| Wirecard | Regulators missed obvious extraction |
| Sackler Family | Institutions enabled opioid extraction |
| Flint | State oversight failed the community |
| Catholic Church | Institutional authority shielded harm to children |
CMU matches all six patterns. Not because CMU is corrupt — but because the structural role is identical: an institution with authority to authorize, verify, and revoke that authorized without verifying and didn’t revoke.
The Revenue
CMU receives a portion of charter school per-pupil funding as the authorizer.
This means: CMU has a financial incentive to authorize charter schools. More schools = more revenue for CMU.
CMU has a financial disincentive to revoke authorization. Fewer schools = less revenue for CMU.
The entity that should be checking Banks benefits financially from not checking Banks.
The Co-Oversight
CMU has co-oversight edges to AGC staff:
| AGC Member | Edge Type |
|---|---|
| AGC Jaafar | co_oversight |
| AGC Pahany | co_oversight |
| AGC Swedlow | co_oversight |
The Attorney Grievance Commission shares oversight space with CMU. But the AGC disciplines attorneys, not charter schools. And CMU authorizes charter schools, not attorneys.
They co-oversee without actually overlapping. It’s a Venn diagram with no intersection.
The Classification
CMU: self, 0.866.
Self. CMU IS a university. It IS an authorizer. It does what it says it is.
But self doesn’t mean competent. Self doesn’t mean diligent. Self doesn’t mean it checked.
CMU is self the way a smoke detector that’s been disconnected is still a smoke detector. The label is right. The function is missing.
150 Miles
CMU is 150 miles from Detroit.
From Mount Pleasant, someone at CMU authorized a school in Detroit. They signed papers. They approved applications. They received their cut of per-pupil funding.
They did not drive to Detroit. They did not meet the children. They did not check the founder’s criminal record. They did not verify his claimed law degree. They did not look at the 72.67% management fee.
From 150 miles away, they authorized a school and collected a check.
362 children. 3% math. 72.67% extraction. 9 convictions. 150 miles.
That’s not oversight. That’s a rubber stamp with a long arm.
Sourced to CMU charter school records, MDE data, PA 362, LARA filings, investigation graph (131,322 edges). Back to Analysis → · Three Percent → · The Board That Bored →