The Auditor General of the state of Pennsylvania once declared that Pennsylvania has”the worst charter school law in the nation.”
Mark Miller shows how hard it is to fix that law. Operators of charter schools and cyber charters are reaping huge profits. One cyber charter founder was found guilty of tax evasion on his huge profits. A charter owner built a massive mansion in Palm Beach.
Yet the legislature can’t rein them in. Every dollar they collect means a dollar less for public schools.
http://www.markbmiller.com/2017/04/20/charter-deform-made-its-way-to-pa-house-floor-today/
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Yes, I see this point. So how, instead of building charters, do we reap real school reform in entrenched over-bureaucratic systems? Kids need schools NOW.
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“. . . in entrenched over-bureaucratic systems?”
Those supposed “over-bureaucratic systems” are almost always found in large urban/metropolitan areas and even then not all those systems qualify for “over-bureaucratic” label. And that label certainly doesn’t apply by any means to the average district that one finds in suburban and rural areas and therefore to declare in such a fashion as you have is misleading at best. I seem to remember you arguing against such sweeping statements when those statements apply to the charter sector. Wendy, what makes your your over the top comment okay as a statement of how things are?
So, anyway a little refutation/rebuttal to it.
Now, an interesting study that was conducted in the 90s in Texas showed that in comparison to the private sector, the public education sector is very efficient and economical. How may that be? Well, in terms of span of control, the private sector had (in the study and I don’t think that much has changed in those parameters that were studied) one supervisor for every five employees. The public education sector there is one supervisor for every 20 or so employees. Which is more efficient/cost effective?
Now taking into account similar high level administration positions for the same reponsibilites the private sector pays anywhere from 3-5 times as much, even higher in some cases, (see Eva Moskowitz’s salary in comparison to the commissioner of education in NYC.) So the public is getting a bargain in terms of paying for administrative costs compared to the private sector
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Many assume as a matter of course that US’s big poor cities’ pubsch systems are entrenched in over-bureaucracy– & that charter alternatives ‘do more with less’. I follow data on Newark PS & its charter movement, because it’s the big-poor-city closest to me, & a large proportion of the RE taxes for my comparatively wealthy district is redirected to support theirs. Jersey Jazzman’s blog is a good source for hard data on the district, which counters such assumptions often made in the press & even in books. In this post from last summer, he illustrates (among other things) that NPS spends more per-pupil on classroom instruction that most Newark charters, & has lower per-pupil admin costs than any of them.
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http://jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com/2016/01/once-again-facts-on-newark-charters-and.html
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Can’t or Won’t because a majority of the state’s legsilature is bought and paid for by allegedly ALEX, the new shadow government of the United States?
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Bingo. WON’T.
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Pennsylvania like Florida has so many representatives getting paid by the charter industry it is impossible to get an unbiased bill out of them. It is unfortunate voters can’t call for a vote of no confidence and recall them. It is unfortunate that so many voters go to the polls like the zombies in the “Walking Dead,” and they vote along party lines instead of understanding the issues. The only way to transform the legislature is to campaign hard for pro-public education candidates. Unless we change the composition of state legislatures, politicians will continue to line their pockets, and try to use leverage to gain access to public money. It is a disgusting and appalling, but this is what happens when unlimited amounts of cash are allowed in politics.
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Pennsylvania at least has a governor who supports public schools. That puts them in a minority of states these days.
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True, but the crooks in the legislature won’t release funds unless unless Wolf surrenders more schools to charters on a silver platter. They love to call unions “thugs.” These legislators are thugs with behavior no better than organized crime.
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Put the original article up at Oped
https://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/Charter-Deform-Made-its-Wa-in-Best_Web_OpEds-Charter-School-Failure_Charter-Schools_Fraud_Guilty-170425-87.html#comment655969
with a plethora of links to posts here about charters and privatization, with embedded links at Oped.
Carol Burris: Charters are in the Forefront of the Privatization Movement Burris explains that charters are the leading edge of the privatization movement. Corporate education reformers are scrambling to make a distinction between charters and vouchers, but the reality is that charters clear a path for vouchers. Once you sell the public on the idea of school choice, it is increasingly difficult to say that parents may choose a corporate charter chain but can’t choose a religious school. Once you erode the principle of public education as a public good, open to all, responsible for all who enroll, you turn citizens into consumers. Whether they choose a charter or a voucher, their choice diverts public money away from public schools. Jeb Bush argued in his 2012 speech at the Republican National Convention that parents should be able to choose their child’s school the same way they choose a carton of milk at the supermarket: whole milk? 2%? 1? Fat-free? Chocolate? Buttermilk? That is actually a ridiculous argument, because a parent doesn’t reach into a case and select a school. Choices are constrained by geography and transportation. A parent may choose the best private school in town, but the school is unlikely to accept voucher students, and the state voucher won’t cover the tuition. A voucher will in fact cover the tuition only for a religious school that is unlikely to have certified teachers or any of the educational riches of the school that costs $50,000 a year.
Scholars Ask: Are Charter Schools the New Enron?
The system is gamed:The Dirty Tricks of California’s Charter Industry
and state after state is under attack
Kentucky is one of the few states that did not have any charter schools until the Republicans swept into power. Republicans have longed for school choice, because choice and competition are baked into free-market ideology. Besides, their neighboring state Tennessee has charter schools. They didn’t care that Kentucky’s students perform better than those of Tennessee on the National Assessment of Educational Performance. The Republicans in Kentucky want the same failed ideas as everyone else.Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Opposes Charter Schools for All the Right Reasons0
States are looted:
Mark Miller: How Pennsylvania Charters Cash in
The Auditor General of the state of Pennsylvania once declared that Pennsylvania has”the worst charter school law in the nation.”
Mark Miller shows how hard it is to fix that law. Operators of charter schools and cyber charters are reaping huge profits. One cyber charter founder was found guilty of tax evasion on his huge profits. A charter owner built a massive mansion in Palm Beach.Yet the legislature can’t rein them in. Every dollar they collect means a dollar less for public schools.
Ohio: New Voucher Bill Could Cost Taxpayers from $70 Million to $1.2 Billion
Los Angeles: Charter School, Raided by FBI, Has Money for Parties, Not for Basic Supplies
Research Report on Charters in New Orleans: Spending Up for Administration, Down for Instruction
and actual THEFT:
A former employee of a charter school in Lakeland, Florida, has been accused of stealing more than $100,000 from the school. Don’t expect this to dim the enthusiasm of Jeb Bush or Betsy DeVos for unregulated charters.
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