Its principal, Ben Chavis (Lumbee), a Native American educator, believed that minority students were best served by high expectations for strong attendance and discipline, as well as regular homework and summer school.

[3] The American Indian Model Schools charter system developed from the AIPCS in order to expand the offerings to students.

In March 2017 former principal Ben Chavis was indicted by the federal government on six felony counts for money laundering and mail fraud based on his financial activities with the AIMS schools.

[4][5] AIPCS was chartered by the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) in 1996 with the mission of improving the performance of Native American students in the city.

[6][7] Martin Waukazoo, one of the founders of the AIPCS, said that he withdrew from the school board because it did not sufficiently emphasize basic educational skills.

[6][7] That year, educator Ben Chavis (Lumbee from North Carolina) and a former faculty member at San Francisco State University, became the school principal and initiated numerous changes.

[12] As of 2005 AIPCS paid each first-year teacher an annual salary of $42,000 and allowed for a $1,500 bonus at the end of the school year.

In 2007, the AIPCS board expanded its operation, and founded the American Indian Model Schools system (see related article.)

In the same year, Chavis resigned as head of school after several controversies, but he was retained by the board in an executive role until January 2012.

[13] On July 15, 2013, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Evelio Grillo granted the school system a preliminary injunction, allowing all three campuses to remain open.

[17] The school day at AIPCS begins with three hours of Language Arts and Mathematics, followed by a short lunch period (twenty minutes).

[18] Physical education at AIPCS was offered for forty minutes each school day, and consists of primarily calisthenics and running.

Students who are disruptive, submit incomplete work, or misbehave in other ways are assigned an hour of detention after school.

For example, Chavis, with parental permission, shaved the head of a student who was accused of stealing, in front of the entire school.

In other cases, he punished a girl by making her clean the boys' bathroom, and forced some students to wear embarrassing signs.

[20] Charles Murray, a scholar who has studied IQ testing[18] and the author of The Bell Curve, praised AIPCS in a blog of the American Enterprise Institute.

He predicted that the apparent test score improvements at AIPCS under Chavis would prove much less impressive once such questions had been answered.

The LA Times noted that half of the 6th-grade students performing poorly in 2007 had left the school before graduation at grade 8.

[30][31][32] In 2007 the American Indian Model Schools system opened AIPCS II, located in Oakland's Chinatown neighborhood; 67% of its students were Asian.

But the LA Times reported in 2009 that the school's Asian, African-American, and Latino students performed similarly on standardized tests.

[37] By June 2009, when public schools had a 4.5 percent funding cut, AIPCS had received additional grants of more than $100,000 from the Koret Foundation.

As reported by the LA Times in 2009, Chavis tended to call all non-Caucasian students, including African Americans, "darkies.

"[21] He saw no reason to hold his guests to a different standard than AIPCS students, who receive an hour detention if they arrive one second late to school.

"[21] The evening of the incident with the Mills College team, Chavis told the AIPCS board his intention to step down from his position.

The AIMS board was denied a petition to open a new school in the fall of 2008, in part because AIPCS was "unable to describe" their selection process.

[33] In 2006, an African-American parent filed a complaint stating that AIPCS told her there was no room for her son and refused to place him on the school's waiting list, even while it was accepting applications from white students.

If true, AIPCS violated federal and state laws, which prohibit public schools, including charters, from discriminating by race.

In July 2011, the AIPCS governing board voted Dr. Chavis into an executive position to help with the expansion of the charter model school system.

The audit focused on management of a federal ASES grant for an after-school program, facilities lease and rent expenditures, and the Political Reform Act of 1974, regarding conflict-of-interest laws.

[43] "The allegations against American Indian charter schools officials include $3.7 million in payments [over 4 years] to businesses owned by founder Ben Chavis and his wife, including money for rent, storage fees, construction projects and the administration of summer school programs.”[43] That year Chavis returned to his home state of North Carolina.