South Carolina authorized charter schools assuming that they were the solution to low test scores.
Not surpisingly it hasn’t happened.
“A public feud between the state’s publicly funded charter-school district and four of its low-performing schools is drawing pointed criticisms from lawmakers, asking whether charter schools, granted more freedoms in exchange for better results, are working.
“It appears to me like the charter school program is in a state of chaos,” state Sen. Vincent Sheheen, D-Kershaw, told S.C. Public Charter School District superintendent Elliot Smalley during a state budget hearing Thursday.
“Frankly, anyone connected with it at this point has not a lot of credibility and that includes your agency,” Sheheen said. “The picture out there in the public is that there are disputes, lawsuits, legal matters going on, chaos.”
“At the heart of the “chaos” is the effort by four charter schools, deemed failing by the statewide charter school district, to leave the state district for a new boss: a newly formed charter-school authorizer at Erskine College, a private Christian college in the Upstate.”
A private Christian college sponsoring charter schools with public funds. We know what happens next.
Prayer is not enough.
Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/news/local/education/article202891014.html#storylink=cpy
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“At the heart of the “chaos” is the effort by four charter schools, deemed failing by the statewide charter school district, to leave the state district for a new boss: a newly formed charter-school authorizer at Erskine College, a private Christian college in the Upstate.”
It’s funny because the charter mess in Ohio only came to light when charters started suing charter management companies.
That really kicked newspapers into gear and they stopped mindlessly cheerleading and started investigating.
Public school supporters had been saying for years that the charter governance structure was a chaotic mess, but they were ignored. It was only when it became ed reformer v ed reformer did it come to light. It was almost as if they needed permission to investigate this sacred cow that had been promoted by both political parties.
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Some enterprising (and independent) researcher should look into the role colleges and universities have played in K-12 privatization. They get a cut of each charter school dollar when they authorize. They have an incentive to privatize and promote privatization.
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YEP!
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When is the government going to admit that the decision to profitize public education is one of the worst decisions ever? It is a decision that has become exponentially stupid, wasteful and harmful. Charters hatched vouchers which hatched ESAs, a chain of waste, fraud, money laundering, embezzling, pay to play, cronyism and nepotism. The unregulated landscape of “choice” is rife with abuse and theft of public dollars. Charter authorizing is another legal scam to skim tax dollars with some institutions of higher education and Christians groups getting in on the action. The whole rotten, opportunitstic network is designed to destroy public education, one of our greatest public assets, and turn our young people into commodities. It is time to stop the hucksters and fraudsters.
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It’s MADNESS — power & greed.
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“Prayer is not enough.”
They prayed enough to their xtian god so that they may enjoy his, it certainly ain’t a her, blessings in the form of public dollars for their religious activities. Ain’t it grand! Or is that “a grand”?
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This stood out: “However, according to an attorney for the state charter school district, S.C. law does not prohibit charter school organizations from holding multiple charters – contracts promising to meet specific goals in exchange for more freedom and autonomy than traditional public schools.”
Very scary and set up for fraud.
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