There is no sector of American education less in need of federal funding than charter schools. They have the support of the nation’s largest philanthropies—think Bill Gates, the Walton family, Eli Broad, Michael Bloomberg, Reed Hastings, etc.—as well as abundant gifts from the financial industry and individual billionaires.
Among the federal grants was $2.4 million to the California Charter Schools Association, the richest lobby in the state, which fights any legislative efforts to establish accountability and prohibit conflicts of interest and self-dealing.
Betsy DeVos has put the Trump administration strongly behind charter schools. The Trump administration puts no money into establishing ethical standards or financial oversight for charters. They pretend to want a “free market,” but free markets are not subsidized by the federal government. In a free market, businesses make it or fail on their own, without public subsidies.
When you see new charters opening, thank DeVos and Trump, as well as the billionaires who have created this new business opportunity.
Politico reports:
EDUCATION DOLES OUT CHARTER SCHOOL GRANTS: DeVos has awarded $399 million in federal grants to expand and support charter schools across the country.
— Eight states received $313.4 million over five years to “support approximately 300 new, replicating, and expanding public charter schools.” The grants were made to state education agencies in Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Michigan, New York and North Carolina. Bluum, Inc., a nonprofit that provides financial advising to charter schools, received a grant on behalf of Idaho. Charter schools in those areas may apply for a piece of their state’s funding.
— The department also awarded $29.5 million to 32 charter school developers, none high-profile charter operators. Nine recipients plan to use the funding to launch new charter schools in Hawaii, Missouri, Alabama, North Carolina, Michigan and Maine. The rest of the grantees plan to expand existing charter schools.
— Four groups received grants totaling $39.9 million to help charter schools enhance their credit and tap into private-sector capital to pay for the cost of new school buildings or renovations. Charter schools often lack access to public funding for infrastructure projects, which the grant program was created to address. The grants were awarded to the Center for Community Self-Help, the Charter Schools Development Corporation, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation and the Nonprofit Finance Fund.
— The last bucket of funding, totaling $16.2 million, was directed to eight recipients tasked with supporting the charter school sector. The list includes some of the most prominent charter school advocacy groups, like the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools and the National Association of Charter School Authorizers. As we reported earlier this week, the alliance plans to use its funding to create a national center that will help charter schools acquire and renovate their facilities.
— The grants were made through the Charter Schools Program under the department’s Office of Innovation and Improvement. The program has seen a funding boost under the Trump administration, which has made school choice expansion a priority. The fiscal 2019 spending bill H.R. 6157 (115), included a $40 million boost for the program, bringing the overall level to $440 million. The Charter Schools Program has awarded roughly $4 billion since 1995.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“Bluum, Inc., a nonprofit that provides financial advising to charter schools, received a grant on behalf of Idaho. Charter schools in those areas may apply for a piece of their state’s funding.”
I love all the spin-off businesses around charter schools. When these same people were aggressively selling charter schools in Ohio the public were told “more money would go to classrooms” because we would clear out all the layers of managers and consultants and contractors.
They created a whole new private sector management layer. One of the portfolio cities they cheerlead has SEVENTEEN school districts inside it.
Charter management and consulting and bookkeeping and legal services are an entire industry in Columbus Ohio and most of the employees went directly from the public sector to the private sector. They lobby for charters in their publicly-paid role and then change hats to manage or advise charters in the private sector.
It’s hysterical. It’s like a group of people got together and said “let’s give ourselves publicly-funded jobs, but first we have to invent some”. 100% of the revenue comes from public funding for public schools.
It is a myth that privatization is cheaper. It simply provides less for the workers and a top heavy administration with several layers of bureaucracy including inflated fees for authorizers and the like. It often winds up costing more!
They spend less on education;…more on themselves. See? Education does cost less! (snark alert)
No one will ever study it because all of the studies must be funded by ed reform billionaires, therefore we only study issues 7 people want to study, but I would bet Ohio’s privatization isn’t even a 1:1 replacement of managers and consultants. I would bet there are more private sector employees getting paid out of public education funds than there were public sector employees getting paid out of public sector funds before they privatized. They’re just replicating managers and services in each charter chain. If Cleveland used to have X number of managers and support staff to run a public school system, now they have fewer of those, but we equaled or exceeded total numbers by creating a bunch of contract employees.
Kasich used to brag that he shrunk public sector employment. What he didn’t tell people is he grew publicly-funded contractor employment and counted that as “private sector”
It’s the same pot of money! It’s ALL public funding! He can call it whatever he wants but it’s all publicly funded employment!
A lot of these privateers are libertarians. Erik Prince keeps trying to convince the feds that they should privatize the war in Afghanistan. They want to create more corporate welfare while they cut free and reduced lunch for poor children.
Erik Prince wants the multi-Billion dollar contract to fight in Afghanistan using his mercenaries.
Call it his “charter army.”
I just did an analysis of these USDE grants, announced by Politico, in tandem with the Walton Foundation 2020 plan for charter school grants. Of course charters have many big funders. For example the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has propped up the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools and the National Association of Charter School Authorizers with grants to date of $35,954,074.
The 2020 plan from the Walton Family Foundation (prepared in 2015) begins with the prideful claim that the Walton Family Foundation (Walmart wealth) has supported 1 in 4 charter schools.
The 2020 plan provides for a five year investment totaling $1 billion for charter schools and supporters.
Between the Walton Family Foundation and USDE grants, thirty states will see inflows of funds for charters and with only a few exceptions (five), these states will have funds from both sources (in addition to many other funders).
The Walton Foundation is supporting charter-friendly STATE policies in Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin.
For 2018-2019, the Walton wealth is supporting charterizing in: Arkansas (any district); California (Los Angeles specific boundaries, two grants]; California (Oakland, two grants), Colorado (Denver, two grants), Georgia (Atlanta, two grants), Indiana (Indianapolis, two grants), Louisiana (New Orleans, two grants), Massachusetts (Boston); New Jersey (Camden), New York (New York City, two grants), Oklahoma (any district), Tennessee (Memphis, Shelby County), Texas (Houston ISD; San Antonio, two grants), Washington, DC (two grants). “Any district” means there are no constraints on location. Most of the two-for grants are for facilities support in addition to operational support.
All of the Walton and USDE grants are for charter school “startups,” expansions, “replications” (as in a franchise), or charter school facilities financing. It is not surprising that most of the USDE grants are complementing those of the Walton Foundation.
It is easy to forget that NCLB provided for various schemes to finance charter schools (in addition to federal funds). Now there are specialty companies in the business of building out the charter sector. Here are some of the services advertised by one of these.
Begin quote: “Charter School Capital provides flexible funding solutions so charter schools can gain ground and achieve success. Our charter school working capital financing enables school leaders the flexibility and stability to support everyday expenses and — importantly — fuel their growth.
We help charter schools access working capital so they can:
Expand or grow programs, Open a new charter school, Provide new technology in the classroom, Hire and/or develop staff, Address budget shortfalls and delays (deferrals, holdbacks, etc.) gracefully, Improve transportation options, Enrich educational programs, Buy new equipment,
Facilities Financing
Our facilities financing product is a long-term lease that allows schools to access funding through all stages of growth – from start-up to expansion through maturity. As a long-term partner, our team works closely with you as we explore budgetary and financial options to support your facilities needs.
Why long-term lease financing? You can finance 100% of project costs, You can retain control of your facility, You can plan on long-term affordability, You can enhance your existing building or finance new construction, Your lease can be customized to your school’s model – whether blended learning, traditional, etc., Tenant improvements can be financed in your lease, Can be used as take-out financing for an existing bond or potential bridge to bond financing.
We currently own 42 school properties in 11 states, more than $350 million in assets. Schools range in attendance from 135 to 1,200 students with educational programs that include college preparatory, art-focused, STEM schools, and others. Our goal is to aid charter leaders so they have accessible, flexible financing options to meet their schools needs today and the needs they have in the future.
Loan Details
The Charter School Capital loan product is a flexible financing solution that can help schools reach their enrollment and educational goals.Available to schools of all ages, Refinance options available throughout the school year to accommodate growth, Payment plans can be customized to suit school needs, Access to funding in as few as 30 days from date of initial request, Loan amounts based on annual state aid revenue and student count, allowing for increasing scale with growth, NO RESTRICTIONS PLACED UPON UTILIZATION OF FUNDS. (caps are mine, End Quote.) https://charterschoolcapital.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/csc-product-1pager_WC_Facilities_Loans_FINAL.pdf
Here is the Walton 2020 plan: https://8ce82b94a8c4fdc3ea6d-b1d233e3bc3cb10858bea65ff05e18f2.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/04/ab/555b3ee54d3792eebaf27a803400/k12-strategic-plan-overview-updated.pdf
Just what education needs $400 million given to ‘for profit’ schools! DeVos is as big of criminal as her boss and equally as ignorant. Herein lies her intent for the children of America, leave them as stupid as she is. She will preside over the death of public education laughing all the way to her bank, which is more than likely located in Cyprus. These members of the Moron Administration must be voted out as soon as possible.
Bill and Melinda Gates are responsible for the destruction of the common good.
Their spokesperson, the founder of their $22 mil. New Schools Venture Fund, said the goal was different brands on a large scale. Zuckerberg and Gates are investors in the largest for-profit seller of schools-in-a-box.
I am reading the book, Sully. Sully was the instrument. He is the who used his knowledge and years of experience to land that plane on the Hudson. I want teachers like him, not some yahoo from far away who has no clue about what is going … on “real time” using some workbook on screen despite the disconnect between screen and student. Putting kids in front of screens using those ridiculous programmed materials NOT learning and cannot be the entire and most of a students’ leaning experience.
That screen will never replace a real-live, classroom teacher. Tell this to those greedy deformers filled with hubris.