As Florida has learned, charters open and charters close, and the state is left holding the bill. The AP and Miami Herald reports that the state of Florida lost some $70 million on charters that later closed.
One of them was the charter opened by Jeb Bush in Liberty City when he was planning to run for governor. It closed after eight years, having received $1.1 million in state funding.
The story is repeated across the state: Charter schools, which are public schools run by private groups, have received more than $760 million from state taxpayers since 2000 according to an Associated Press analysis of state Department of Education records. Schools can use the money for construction costs, rent payments, buses and even property insurance.
More capital money has gone to charter schools in Miami-Dade than any other county: about $179 million.
Yet charter schools in 30 districts have wound up closing after receiving as much as $70 million combined in such funding, the AP’s analysis showed. In all, more than $7.5 million went to almost 20 Miami-Dade charter schools that eventually shut their doors.
Taxpayers usually can’t recover the capital money invested in those schools because most of it has been spent on rent or leasing costs. The Department of Education reported it has taken back just $133,000 in the last three years from schools that closed.
“That’s definitely a concern as a taxpayer,” said Jaime Torrens, chief facilities officer for Miami-Dade schools. “If a school closes, whatever property was built with these public dollars, it doesn’t come back to the public. It remains with the owner of property.”
There have been cases where the district recuperated equipment left behind after a charter school closed. When the School for Integrated Academics and Technology abruptly closed its doors last year — after receiving $1.9 in state capital funding — Miami-Dade recovered computers, smart boards and furniture. When that happens, the district usually redistributes the equipment to other charter schools.
Charter schools open, charter schools close. And taxpayer money disappears.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/education/article49565370.html#storylink=cpy
Diane Ravitch's blog 
When it comes to the apologists for self-proclaimed “education reform” that $70 million is just the cost of doing business.
Their business. On us. They roll around in $tudent $ucce$$. We foot the bill.
From their POV, it’s win-win-win for them.
Rheeally!
For us, not really.
😎
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It’s amazing how the ed reform “movement” have completely forgotten WHY charters weren’t funded locally. They weren’t funded locally because they don’t have local elected representatives. That was the deal they made- they didn’t have to have local governance but then they didn’t get local funding either.
School districts are (local) taxing authorities, but that’s not a free ride. IN RETURN for that, we get to elect boards. That;s the deal. It goes back to “no taxation without representation”, really. They really have to choose. They can be state-authorized schools with private boards and private sector management companies, but then they can’t levy or share in local taxes.
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I wonder what state has lost the most money to this neo-liberal and/or neo-conservative con-game and fraud—Ohio, Florida or another state?
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Indiana.
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They should send the bill to Governor Scott and ask him why he doesn’t do a better job as a steward of our tax dollars. Wasting money should be offensive to so called conservatives.
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I would rather have spent $70 million expanding Medicaid so Florida’s poorest could get access to healthcare instead of ignoring their plight and letting them die from treatable conditions.
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I remember one of my basic ed classes at FIU in 1989. The professor was talking about charter schools and how you could come to school one day, and the lights are turned off. I had no idea what a charter school was. What a prophetic statement.
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The money is not MIA, it is PIA (Payoff In Advance).
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I do not understand (after reading three days of blogs) why the teacher unions do not file a collective lawsuit with the Justice Department concerning some of the issues presented in this blog. Most (if not all) of them are not legal in any sense of the word. Even if you do not win, it will tie these organizations (mostly charter) up in court for a long time. For someone who has worked for them, they do not like the thought of the word-lawsuit.
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Smartboards and computers a junk; this is really a disgrace. Who is collecting the rent? We need a charter school movie like “The Big Short.”
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And the state Commissioner of Education forges ahead with the ideology-driven agenda that she is paid to promote.
We got a memo last weekend from her that contained her proposed school grades for last year. Large numbers of schools will be declared failing or in need of takeover intervention from the state, especially Title I schools.
With the ALEC laws on the books that means that many, many teachers will receive Needs Improvement and Unsatisfactory ratings and the clock will begin ticking on losing their licenses to teach permanently; all it takes is 2 consecutive poor ratings. We already have a teaching shortage that is growing exponentially every year.
It won’t be long until the rabid rightwing Tea Party Republicans that control this state will achieve their goal of ending public education as we have known it. I attended a workshop on VAM updates for the year and it was freely admitted that only teachers in tested grades/classes receive actual VAM scores.
Everyone else is getting a variety of cobbled together nonsense that is still tied to students they have never taught.
And principals and asst. principals get their own VAM scores this year too so they will be disappearing rapidly, especially in Title I schools and high-performing white middle class schools. There are not enough TFA grads and rappers and self-proclaimed ministers to replace them all so more charters will start sprouting like mushrooms after a good rain here.
It was also freely admitted today that the state’s VAM system is set up to always produce a curve so even if your students show the expected growth you may receive a low rating because you fall on the down side of the curve because many or most students at your school showed growth as well.
We are already starved of resources and money. Textbook adoption has been delayed by 2 years to pay more for charter schools. Repairs and new buildings are all locally paid for now that all that state tax money goes to charters only. The state funded teacher Professional Development program is only free for charters now; public schools must pay for taxpayer-funded PD.
There is little reason to begin a teaching career in FL. There is even less reason to continue a teaching career; the legislature has made it clear that they are gunning for our pensions and benefits next year. After the presidential election next year they will go crazy with anti-public school legislation.
Florida. Third world living in the good ole US of A!
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Rookies. Indiana, thanks to legislators happy to suck public education dry, already helped failed charters lose more than $90 million (in forgiven loans) years ago.
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