Charter operators don’t get rich on tuition, although many have a business model that relies on cost-cutting, low-wage teachers, TFA, and replacing human teachers with technology. Those wonderful computers don’t expect health or pensions. When they break, you can repair them or discard them.
The big bucks are in real estate!
ESJ properties
https://therealdeal.com/miami/2018/08/04/aventura-firm-makes-45m-addition-to-its-portfolio-of-school-properties/
It is traded as EPR properties (Entertainment properties in the graph you show
https://www.eprkc.com
And they also own the BASIS schools.
https://insightcenter.eprkc.com/basis-schools/
In Arizona, if the school goes under, they get to keep the property, even though the taxpayers have paid for it.
And look at this
https://insightcenter.eprkc.com/education/
This is what is known as “legal graft.”
It is a theft of public assets.
In plain sight.
The bond industry issued warnings against charter schools, because they endanger the financial ratings of school districts and cities.
https://dianeravitch.net/2017/03/31/municipal-analysts-ask-whether-charter-schools-make-the-grade/
https://dianeravitch.net/2013/11/04/moodys-charters-pose-serious-risk-to-struggling-cities/
Diane Ravitch's blog 
None of this would be possible without the power of bribery over our supposed representatives in government.
Developers and charter operators get very tight with politicians by making campaign donations. It is a “quid pro quo” relationship, and it is legalized graft.
Also read Bill Black: “the best way to rob a bank is to own one.” The same MO. Legal graft.
For those who don’t know who Bill Black is. . . He coined the phrase “control fraud” wherein those at the top set up the business fraud but the people doing the work don’t know it’s a fraud. He was involved with exposing the Keating Five and in prosecuting hundreds of fraudulent bankers in the savings and loan scandels of the 80s.
Give a man a gun and he can rob a bank. Give a man a bank and he can rob the world.
Or
Some men rob you with a six-gun
and some with a fountain pen
Woody Guthrie “Pretty Boy Floyd”
The full last two verses:
Yes, as through this world I’ve wandered
I’ve seen lots of funny men;
Some will rob you with a six-gun,
And some with a fountain pen.
And as through your life you travel,
Yes, as through your life you roam,
You won’t never see an outlaw
Drive a family from their home.
Guthrie’s song is from 1940. The more things change the more they stay the same, eh.
And this which Diane posted earlier about Franklin Towne Charter in Philadelphia: https://dianeravitch.net/2018/04/28/philadelphia-school-reform-commission-approves-expansion-of-majority-white-charter-with-real-estate-self-dealing-issues/
From the get-go it’s been all about streams of revenue from real estate. That’s why the DFER guys got involved in the first place: Hedge funds have always made tons of money from REITs. Trace the revenue streams from the real estate deals done by charter operators and it all leads to REITs in which hedge funds have a large stake.
REIT? Spell out, please!
Real-estate investment trust
yet more explanation why the “concerned” rich in our city pretend to care so much about the future of our schools
https://www.alternet.org/kentucky-gov-matt-bevin-may-destroy-states-public-education-system-charter-schools-scheme
In 2017, the Education segment of eprkc included investments in 65 public charter schools, 67 early education centers and 14 private schools. The Company’s portfolio of owned education properties consisted of 4.7 million square feet and was 98% leased.
The annual report notes that the company would be in deep trouble with taxes in the event the SEC ruled that it was not a REIT. A chart shows that it almost went under in 2007, 2008. I found this interesting–fear of the internet.
“Throughout our history we have remained focused on highly enduring and differentiated assets that have a strong experiential orientation. This focus provides investors the opportunity to get exposure to durable assets which have less correlation to more traditional REIT’s, offering a measure of defense against migration to the internet.”
http://investors.eprkc.com/file/Index?KeyFile=394419717
An area’s reputation for school quality has always been a major factor in real estate pricing. As with any commodity, actual quality is hard to achieve. So the current American business model is to replace actual quality with the illusion of quality as achieved through aggressive advertising and market manipulation. It was only a matter of time that these tactics would infect public education.
And only a matter of time until this becomes abundantly clear to almost everyone.
The Real Estate companies like Zillo include the school ratings in their marketing brochures. Here’s one from a non-profit group called Great Schools.org https://www.greatschools.org/gk/supporters/
Supporters are the usual suspects:
Walton Foundation, Bloomberg, Carnegie, Helmsley Charitable Trust, Laura & John Arnold, Gates, Bradely, and a list of other foundations that have distorted science.
“Historically, GreatSchools ratings have been based solely on a comparison of standardized test results for all schools in a given state. As of September 2017, the GreatSchools ratings also incorporate additional information, when available, such as college readiness, academic progress, advanced courses, equity, discipline and attendance data. GreatSchools ratings are designed to be a starting point to help parents compare schools, and should not be the only factor used in selecting the right school for your family. Learn More.
GreatSchools is the leading national nonprofit empowering parents to unlock educational opportunities for their children. We provide school information and parenting resources to help millions of American families choose the right school, support learning at home, and guide their children to great futures.”
Finally, they present their garbage data as objective sources of information:
“When parents are choosing a school, what sources of information do they seek out and rely on? What’s the value of information like GreatSchools and school-level report cards compared to social networks? What are ways to increase parent utilization of objective sources of information? How does this vary for students??”
If you look at the fine print at the bottom of the web page, you will see the marketing plans. You can purchase packages to PUSH your school, your products, your services and the cost for these. The data from users of the website is also available for purchase. Most of the metrics are gathered from state databases and “massaged” to create a scoring system from zero to one hundred, then restated as ratings. Most people do not understand that this is non-profit in name only.
The owner of Zillow supports Reform
One of the charter operators here in Florida used to tell potential investors at investors’ meetings, “I’m not really in the school business. I’m in the real estate business.”