Carol Burris, a veteran educator and now executive director of the Network for Public Education, has conducted extensive research into the federal Charter Schools Program (CSP), which resulted in a report called Asleep at the Wheel. That report documented the waste of about $1 billion in federal funds spent on charters that either never opened or that opened and then closed in short order. At the time the CSP was created by the Clinton administration, there were fewer than 100 charters; the new program was supposed to help start-up charters. However, since Betsy DeVos became Secretary of Education, she has used the CSP as her personal slush fund, lavishing million on established corporate charter chains–especially IDEA and KIPP.
In this post, which appeared on Valerie Strauss’s Answer Sheet blog at the Washington Post, Burris describes the outraged reaction of the charter advocacy groups to Elizabeth Warren’s plan to end the federal CSP. She details that each of the major charter groups has received many millions of dollars from the federal government, in addition to the support they have received from billionaires, foundations, and Wall Street. They are angry that their federal money might be cut off.
Strauss invited charter advocates to respond, and she includes their responses in the post. They want the money, they all said, because it is all about the kids.
Strauss writes:
Last week, Warren spelled out a detailed plan that would spend hundreds of billions of dollars to improve public schools from prekindergarten through 12th grade, saying she would pay for it by taxing America’s wealthiest people.
She calls for, among other things, quadrupling federal Title I funding for schools in high-poverty neighborhoods, which would add $450 billion over the next 10 years — and change the way that funding is implemented so that the neediest students benefit. The plan would also fund the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act at the level the federal government originally promised — 40 percent of the total cost of educating students with disabilities.
But this is what set off supporters of charter schools, which are publicly funded but privately operated: She said she would end federal investment in charter school expansion, ban for-profit charter schools and ensure existing charter schools are subject to the same transparency and accountability requirements as that of traditional public school districts. Warren also said she wants to ensure that only school districts can authorize the opening of charter schools.
She wasn’t the only Democratic presidential candidate to call for an end to federal funding for new charter schools; Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) did the same thing. But Warren has risen to the top of a number of polls, and she is now a prime target for critics of her proposals.
A day after Warren’s announcement, the pro-charter Center for Education Reform issued a release attacking her, saying in part: “This week is seeing Elizabeth Warren’s education stances go from disastrous to downright awful. Yesterday she released a plan filled with failed policies of the past that puts narrow special interests over parents’ rights and student’s opportunities to succeed.”
Carol Burris writes:
The unveiling of Elizabeth Warren’s education plan resulted in a flurry of emails, tweets and blogs all focused on one small part of the plan — shutting down the U.S. Department of Education’s Charter Schools Program. Most of the biggest objectors were those charter organizations that enjoy a stream of federal funding, with some having received hundreds of millions from a program whose original mission has gone astray.
It is not surprising that the alarm bells went off in the charter school establishment. Warren is now the second of the three leading contenders for the Democratic Party’s nomination for president who have promised to shut down the U.S. Department of Education’s Charter Schools Program. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (I) called for a moratorium on the same program in his education platform, eliciting the same outrage from many of the same players.
Below is a sample of some of the recent emails, followed by a discussion of the benefit that each organization received.
First, a fundraising email for the Charter PAC went out from Nina Rees, the president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools:
From: Nina ReesSent: Monday, October 21, 2019 7:18 PMSubject: Warren Proposes to Stop Federal Funding for Charter SchoolsDear Friends —Today Presidential candidate and Senator Elizabeth Warren called to end federal funding for the expansion ofcharter schools.But we know that 5 million more families would choose a charter school if one could open near them.Senator Warren’s plan to starve charter schools of funding would destroy the dreams of a quality educationfor the families who need it most. The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools responded sharply.However, to protect as well as grow the Charter Schools Program, we must deploy all the tools available to us.Please contribute to the Charter Schools Action PAC today. A strong Charter Schools PAC helps reinforce ourmission to candidates that need to know the impact of Senator Warren’s plan.I’m writing today to ask for your help. Give today and share with 5 of your friends who support charter schools.Thank youNina
The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, which had an income of nearly $13 million in 2017, has a vested interest in the continuance of the Charter Schools Program.
In 2018, the U.S. Department of Education, under Secretary Betsy DeVos, awarded it a $2,385,960 grant. That is because a new funding stream was established that year, the National Dissemination Grants Program. The new grant program does not fund charter schools, but rather organizations such as the national alliance. Given the size of its budget, that award provides a substantial inflow of cash.
Since 2010, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools has spent $2,621,999 lobbying Congress and the White House for funding for charter schools, with much of that lobbying being directed at the expansion of the federal Charter Schools Program, legislative records show.
[Asked to comment, Rees said in an email: “Charter Schools Action PAC, a voluntary organization of charter school supporters, responded to the Warren campaign’s direct assault on charter schools and the contribution they are making to high quality education for all kids. When our schools, students, and families are attacked our supporters have no choice but to respond on behalf of all families who want high quality educational options for their kids.”]
Rees’s email was then shortly followed by another from the CEO of IDEA Charter Schools, Tom Torkelson, who forwarded Rees’s email to the same listserv with this note:
Friends,I hope you saw Nina’s note below. Senator Warren has proposed to cut the entire charter schools federal program. We need your help today [gmail.us4.list-manage.com]; don’t wait to support our efforts.TomTom TorkelsonFormer Classroom Teacher and Charter School Founder
Torkelson, the CEO of the IDEA charter chain has an even greater vested interest in the preservation of the Federal Charter Schools Program. IDEA Charter Schools has received $225,000,000 from the Charter Schools Program since 2010. In 2018, IDEA had nearly $900 million in assets. That year, Torkelson earned over $550,000 from the charter chain and its related organization, public tax records show.
[A spokesman for IDEA said in an email: “As the Founder of IDEA Public Schools, Tom Torkelson has dedicated the last two decades to developing high-quality public schools that serve students from low-income backgrounds. Thanks, in part, to the federal Charter Schools Program, IDEA Public Schools has been able to expand in communities where the need is greatest, in partnership with teachers, students, and families…. We’re glad to see our founder stand up to defend schools that give students from all backgrounds the chance to go to a school that works for them.]
Just to make sure everyone on the listserv got the message and gave to the political action committee, Richard Barth of the KIPP charter chain forwarded the same email again.
Barth wrote:
Friends, We can’t let Senator Warren’s plan of cutting charter school funding become reality. Join us today and help all kids achieve their dreams. Richard.Richard BarthCEOKIPP Foundation
The KIPP charter chain received $218,457,063 in grants from the Charter Schools program since 2010.
[A KIPP spokesman said in an email: Richard Barth is on the board of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools PAC. He sent the email on behalf of that organization, not on behalf of the KIPP Foundation. It is not uncommon for organizations like the PAC to ask for support when they are faced with important threats to their mission. The Charter School Program has been a critical and effective tool in creating opportunities for educationally underserved children. We are proud of our CEO for continuing to fight for black and brown families to have access to a quality education.]
That is nearly a half-billion dollars going to two of the most well-endowed charter chains in the nation — and that does not include the millions more that their individual schools received prior to the establishment of the Charter Management Organization grant program.
No one should be surprised that progressive candidates are taking on the Charter Schools Program. Sanders and Warren have been outspoken critics of billionaires and Wall Street driving public policy, and both of those groups have driven charter policies for years.
The federal Charter Schools Program, which began modestly in 1995, has turned into a massive giveaway with multiple examples of waste and the enabling of fraud. More than $4.1 billion in public funding has gone to start, replicate and expand charter schools with millions more now going to other ancillary programs for dissemination and facilities funding.
In Warren’s home state of Massachusetts, 74 charter schools were awarded CSP grants between 2006-2014. Fifteen never even opened and eight shut down or were shut down — hardly a resounding success. That represents over $4.6 million in federal funds going to charter “experiments” that failed.
Last March, the Network for Public Education issued our report, “Asleep at the Wheel,” that exposed the enormous waste the program has generated by freely given tax dollars to charter school operators who never actually open a proposed school, and to operators whose charter schools open and close.
Next year we will issue a follow-up report that will provide detailed documentation of where wasted funding went, including how funds make their way to charters run by for-profit organizations as well as to operators who would use that money to start charters while engaging in mismanagement and unlawful profiteering.
Under DeVos, the Charter Schools Program is moving in a direction that accelerates school privatization and the flow of public funds into private hands. Since DeVos has been in charge, six of the 20 grants from the State Entities program — totaling $116,571,458 — have gone not to state government agencies, but to private agencies to distribute school start-up grants. In exchange, these agencies get to keep 10 percent of the grants to administer the grants and supply services.
As these private agencies receive grants that have a funding stream for their organization attached, it is likely that the waste associated with the previous grants to state education agencies will get worse.
As mentioned earlier, the new National Dissemination Grants Program, has also been a financial windfall for charter advocacy groups. The National Alliance of Public Charter Schools was not alone in receiving a grant. Grants to private organizations totaled $16 million in 2018, federal records show. Joining the National Alliance were the National Association of Charter School Authorizers and the California Charter Schools Association, which has also received big funding from billionaires of that state.
The CSP program is now moving in a direction aligned with the philosophy of DeVos — the private sector is preferred over the public sector when it comes to the schooling, and the management of schooling, of America’s children.
Some of the teacher strikes around the country that started in early 2018 — including those in West Virginia and California — focused on more than teacher salaries and benefits. West Virginia teachers walked out to stop the encroachment of privatization in the form of vouchers and charters in their state. In both the cities of Los Angeles and Oakland, calls to stop the spread of charters were heard from the picket lines and became part of negotiations.
The “competition” between the charter and public school sector was supposed to be the tide that would lift all boats. Instead, some public school systems are unable to stay afloat as that tide pulls public resources from their schools.
In 1995, New Hampshire enacted legislation permitting charter schools. It received two modest CSP grants in 2003 and 2010, together totaling about $18 million. In the 25 years since charters have been allowed, 33 charters opened, five of which have closed due to lack of enrollment and financial insolvency. The state does not allow for-profit organizations to run schools, and as of now, there are no charter chains in the state.
Although 28 charter schools is a small number, those charters are embedded in a public school system of only 448 public schools. Nevertheless, in 2019, DeVos gave the state a whopping $46 million as a CSP federal grant. In addition to providing support for existing schools, the intent of the grant is to both expand existing schools and create 27 charter schools in the five years of the grant — doubling the number of charters in that tiny state.
Frank Edelblut, the governor-appointed commissioner of education in New Hampshire who applauded receipt of the grant, home-schooled his seven children. He is a strong supporter of charter schools and vouchers (which use public founds for private and religious school education) — and like DeVos, has no experience in public education.
“Asleep at the Wheel” detailed up to $1 billion in federal funds that were wasted on charter schools that never opened, or opened and then closed because of mismanagement and other reasons, and that may be an underestimate. Sanders and Warren have now stood up to the charter industry, questioning a program that they say been used as a lever to sponsor unfettered charter school growth and private profits while undermining democratically governed public schools.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The Center for Education Reform obviously does not get irony
“Yesterday she [Warren] released a plan filled with failed policies of the past that puts narrow special interests over parents’ rights and student’s opportunities to succeed.”
They also don’t understand redundancy. It’s redundant to say “failed policies of the past”. Is there such a thing as a failed policy of the future?
how about “forcing failed policies into the future”
“A report that detailed up to $1 billion in wasted federal funds on bad charter schools may have underestimated the problem.”
Warren is on the right track. How about stopping the waste of money in charter fraud and put money into Medicare for All? I can hear screams of ‘socialism’ and destruction of our democracy if everyone has health insurance.
The GOP is considering another tax cut. The deficit has risen fast enough.
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Elizabeth Warren Releases Plan to Pay for ‘Medicare for All’
Nov. 1, 2019
Ms. Warren would impose huge tax increases on businesses and billionaires to provide free health coverage for all Americans, but she says she would not raise taxes on the middle class.
Under Ms. Warren’s plan, employer-sponsored health insurance — which more than half of Americans now receive — would be eliminated and replaced by free government health coverage for all Americans, a fundamental shift from a market-driven system that has defined health care in the United States for decades but produced vast inequities in quality, service and cost.
Ms. Warren would pay for the $20.5 trillion in new federal spending through a mix of sources, including by requiring employers to pay trillions of dollars to the government, replacing much of what they currently spend to provide health coverage to workers. She would create a tax on financial transactions like stock trades, change how investment gains are taxed for the top 1 percent of households and ramp up her signature wealth tax proposal to be steeper on billionaires. She is also counting on savings from cuts to military spending…
Warren:
…In 2007, my research found that the number one reason families were going broke was health care — and three quarters of those who declared bankruptcy after an illness were people who already had health insurance.
Between 2013 and 2016, the number one reason families went broke was still because of health care — even though 91.2% of Americans had health insurance in 2016.
It’s clear: Families are getting crushed by health costs. But you know who’s doing great? Private health insurance companies — they’re sucking billions of dollars in profits out of the system.
Under Medicare for All, we’ll rein in the corruption, waste, inefficiency, and corporate profiteering in our health care system.
And we can pay for it without any new taxes for middle-class families. Existing federal and state spending on health care stays about the same. Business spending on health care stays about the same — payments just go to Medicare instead of private insurers. And yeah, big corporations, Wall Street, and the top 1% pay their fair share.
Everyone’s covered, it’s fully paid for, and independent economists have verified that it’s doable. This is how we end the stranglehold of health care costs on American families and provide one of the greatest federal expansions of middle-class wealth in history.
This country has been captured by the noxious, toxic and hideous ideology of the far right wing/libertarian/tea party privatizers and public school haters. To them, public schools are socialism and statism. In their twisted view, it’s so much better to run schools based on free market principles in which a few can become filthy rich off of the education of the children. They will not be happy until they have destroyed all public schools which they sneeringly refer to as government schools.
Universal health care? Are you joking, that would be communism/socialism, can’t have that in the USA. In the meantime, all the other wealthy free democratic countries have universal health care at lower cost and with cheaper medications.
The only way out is to vote Democratic in 2020, even Biden is better than Trump (though I hope Bernie or Warren come out on top).
Capitalism has an end game — it applies across the board on all the fronts we are watching today where corporations and their political minions are raiding and eroding the public sphere.
The name of the game is CATBOT —
Corporations Acquiring The Power Of Taxation
The one thing capitalist envy about democratic government is the power to tax. They can’t get that power directly, just yet, so what they do is purchase politicians to give them the power by proxy.
oops, that’s CATPOT
Based on Fed. Reserve data, in 33 years, the rich will have 100% of the nation’s wealth.
The charter school movement has morphed into a gigantic barrel of pork that has little to do with educational improvement. The charter lobby behaves as it is entitled to collect our public funds to feather their own nests. Despite their claims of excellence, there remains not a shred of legitimate evidence that shows that privatization is worth all the disruption. In fact, what is mostly shows is a disregard for the democratic rights particularly for children of color. Targeting and funneling minority students into separate and unequal school is no solution for our divided nation. We should not allow our public funds to be used to enhance segregation. Our public schools are part of the public trust, and they require our support and investment in order to do their best work. Privatization has been a harmful distraction that has undermined our public schools and wasted our resources on a failed experiment.
I think there is something in the drinking water in Kentucky. McConnell and support for Trump has to come from somewhere. Surely people aren’t this stupid.
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A new Washington Post-ABC News poll, out this morning, finds that 49 percent of Americans say the president should be impeached and removed from office, while 47 percent say he should not. The split is starkly partisan: 82 percent of Democrats support impeachment; 82 percent of Republicans oppose it. Independents are about evenly divided: 47 percent favor removal, 49 percent oppose it.
— It’s a very different story in Kentucky. The most recent public poll, conducted by Mason-Dixon, shows that two-thirds of registered voters oppose impeachment. The survey shows Bevin tied with his Democratic challenger, Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear, at 46 percent. Trump’s approval rating is 57 percent. Bevin’s support among Republicans has increased from 67 percent to 77 percent since the previous Mason-Dixon survey. The firm attributes this to the impeachment inquiry, which its pollsters say is having the same rally-around-the-flag effect that Brett Kavanaugh’s contentious confirmation battle last year had before the midterms in other ruby-red states.
McConnell learned tribalism well, in a session at the Neo-liberal Kennedy school of government (harvard)- a session taught by a GOP Kentucky lawyer. Add in the vast wealth paying for Bevin’s run for the state’s governorship which reinforces the GOP messaging on Fox.
No one in ed reform had anything to say about the vast majority of the plan, which applies to PUBLIC schools.
Only the charter piece was analyzed, because all they care about is that part.
Amazing that they get away with insisting they work in “education”. They work for charter schools and vouchers. They provide absolutely no value to any public school or public school student.
We are apparently forbidden to have a debate about public education in this country unless it is limited to how we can best support, promote and market charters and private school vouchers. 90% of students and families have simply disappeared, relegated to being dismissed as “government schools” and therefore not worthy of effort or interest.
It’s complete capture. You can’t pay them to lift a finger on behalf of students in public schools- we know this because we are paying thousands of them in government and they return no value at all to the vast, vast majority of schools that are not charter schools or voucher schools.
“Senator Warren’s plan to starve charter schools of funding would destroy the dreams of a quality education for the families who need it most. ”
Stop the whiny BS.
The charter industry is flush with the wealth of billionaires. It is now threatened with the prospect of not feeding at the public trough?
Charter schools funded by ten-yacht DeVos are not garanteed to be of high quality. Charter schools choose the families and students they want (and find profitable enough to pay CEO’s up to $500,000).
Interesting, Thanks for the post.
The Hill is also putting its forces against Warren. I find that whenever I post a thought, I quite often get attacked by someone on the FAR right. Some of the comments are as dirty as Trump’s brain.
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Democrats give Warren’s ‘Medicare for All’ plan the cold shoulder
Senate Democrats are distancing themselves from Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-Mass.) “Medicare for All” plan, casting doubt on whether it could pass even if she does win the presidency.
Warren rolled out her proposal for Medicare for All last week, instantly fanning the flames of a raging debate among the Democratic presidential contenders over the idea.
But even if Warren wins the presidency and Democrats take back the Senate next year, her proposal would still face long odds of actually being enacted given objections among many senators of her own party.
Read the full story here