The agencies in Texas that finance municipal debt are choosing sides against charter schools. This is good news, but it should not be surprising because charter schools are risky, while traditional schools are not.
”Some Texas public finance firms are choosing sides in the escalating battle between traditional public school districts and charter schools.
“Earlier this year, Hilltop Securities, the state’s perennial leader among municipal advisers, dropped nine charter school clients to demonstrate its support for traditional districts.
”’Initially, we saw assisting charter schools as the firm enhancing our long history of support [for] primary/secondary education,” Hilltop chairman Hill Feinberg wrote in a Jan. 24 letter to Keller Independent School District Chief Financial Officer Mark Youngs. “Hilltop Securities will continue to honor our commitment to those relationships with Texas Independent School Districts by no longer representing charter schools in Texas as advisor, underwriter, placement agent or investment advisor.’”
Some bankers are starting their own firms specifically to finance charter schools.
Very interesting and significant… It’s not enough that people are informed, organized and mobilized to defend the public schools, as integral as that is; there has to be division within the Overclass, as well. Perhaps this of evidence of it…
“Some bankers are starting their own firms specifically to finance charter schools.”
‘Some bankers’ … linked to Hedge Funds, members of ALEC or the Wal-Mart Walton family.
“The BOK booklet says that “charter schools increase the cost of public education in Texas by over $600 million per year.”
With charters continuously expanding and a goal of at least a million enrolled in charters by 2025, that $600 million number will soar to over three times this amount. Taxpayers, in the major cities in Texas are already paying high property taxes. Quality public schools enhance the values of homes in the communities they serve, The same cannot be said for open enrollment charter schools. It is good that people with a background in finance are looking at the financial impact of charters which are less efficiently operated than public schools. We cannot operate parallel “choice” systems along with quality public schools and not expect to pay more. Charters perform no better and in many cases worse than public schools. Texas property owners should be asking if they are getting their money’s worth for charter expansion.
Yes. Also look at the corporate welfare locally, tax breaks and promises about return on the dollar to the community by new jobs, more commercial activity and so on. Local property owners and crying “no more taxes”, but not looking at who is benefiting most from the tax incentive packages that subtract dollars from public schools, public libraries and the like.
Ah, corporate welfare … the greed of the Trumpish type psychos knows no bounds.
Think by Numbers
Government Spends More on Corporate Welfare Subsidies than Social Welfare Programs.
“So now let’s look at the big picture. The final totals are $59 billion, 3 percent of the total federal budget, for regular welfare and $92 billion, 5 percent of the total federal budget, for corporations. So, the government spends roughly 50% more on corporate welfare than it does on these particular public assistance programs.”
https://thinkbynumbers.org/government-spending/corporate-welfare/corporate-vs-social-welfare/
And who are the loudest voices against Social Welfare Programs for the working class … that want to take from the people and give to the rich?
I’m willing to bet that those voices are the CEOs and the largest stockholders of the corporations that get the most corporate welfare.
Trump, by himself, has collected almost $1 billion in government subsidies.
“A Trump Empire Built on Inside Connections and $885 Million in Tax Breaks”
Ever expanding privatization is a cesspool of corporate welfare, particularly when no better results are certain as in the case of charters. The taxpayers are underwriting all the low interest loans, tax breaks and incentives afforded to corporations. Then, when the government digs a deep enough hole, the conservatives will put the social safety nets on the chopping block.
Some encouraging news.