Salt Lake City station KUTV noticed that the charter industry has a good friend in the Legislature. He has made millions from charter schools.
Journalists Chris Jones and Nadia Phlaum report:
State Sen. Lincoln Fillmore (Dist. 10) is one of the foremost experts on charter schools in the state legislature. That makes sense given that he runs Charter Solutions, a company that from 2015 to 2018 has collected $5.7 million in fees from charter schools.
That is taxpayer money given to those charter schools. As many as 23 different charter schools have hired Fillmore’s company to help them administer their curriculum and take care of back office activities like payroll and human resources.
Fillmore says although he does field questions from lawmakers regarding charter schools, he never sponsors legislation that affects them.
Fillmore says he has no conflict of interest. Just business as usual.
The report includes a long list of state legislators who are directly involved in the charter industry and vote to enrich their enterprise.
This charter industry is not about education. It is about profits and self-enrichment.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
What a riff…. Here’s your “non-profit” charter school (sounds harmless right?) that subsequently contracts out every conceivable service to their “for-profit” consultant buddies and businesses. How are such arrangements not considered illegal conflicts of interest? I’ll bet ALEC is involved somehow in legislatively whitewashing these blatant acts of raiding the public weal.
if only the larger set of political candidates would admit to this: those NON-profit charters they seem to absolve are playing such transparent games
Same as it ever was in Utah.
In the competition for most corrupt state, Utah is second only to Arizona.
And the competition is very stiff, with Florida, Massachusetts,
Ohio, Michigan, Mississippi, Tennessee, New Jersey and California jockeying for third.
And of course there is DC, but they are not a state and are in a class by themselves.
Except a state of emergency
Oh, and Texas.
How ever did I leave them out?
Let’s not forget Pennsylvania where the whole economy is on shaky ground due to the laws that give the charter industry preferential treatment. Some of the legislators are also making millions from this corrupt scheme.
Yes, and of course, New York, too.
sorry if I left anyone out who is a rightful contender in the Corruption Derby.
Surely, Kentucky must be in there somewhere too.
I’m sure retiredbutmissthekids would chime in for Ill Annoy to be in the running. 🙂 (smiley face for you, rbmtk!)
I second your comment, SomeDAM. I would just add that much of the UEA is complicit. They just sit back and watch, and then tell members that, “It could be worse.”
The charter industry’s cozy relationship with legislators is corrupt. Elected officials should be banned from making money this way. The charter lobby positions itself in offices of elected officials and aids in the destruction of democratic public education. This is highly unethical, and it should be illegal. Government representatives should not be working for the monetization of our schools.
It should be illegal, but then again, it is being done by the people making the laws, so it’s not likely to ever be, especially not in Utah.
Yeah, corruption in Utah is endemic, which is particularly ironic, given how important honesty is to the dominant faith group.
I am really pleased that KUTV is doing this series, particularly since it’s the local Sinclair station
Maybe NPE needs a “Wall of Shame” for federal and state legislators that line their pockets with public money that should be going to nation’s public school students.
That would be more than half of the state legislature in Utah alone…
Interesting! I am hoping this is a further sign that the love affair with charters is coming to an end.
Oddly enough, I am in Utah right now for a conference I’ll have to ask around and see if I can get some info from any local teachers about this
Alice. I am a Utah teacher who just finished my 18th year teaching, primarily in at risk schools.
Ask me anything.