Owning a charter chain is very lucrative, especially when it is one of Betsy DeVos’s favorites. Just this year, she gave the Texas-based IDEA chain $116 million from the federal Charter Schools Program to expand in Texas and Louisiana.*
Feeling flush, the IDEA board of directors approved a plan to lease a private jet and pilot at a cost of $160,000 a month for eight years, nearly $2 million a year, for a total of $15.3 million.
The pushback from Texas AFT, the attention from Texas newspapers, and the heavy ridicule on Twitter led to a quick reversal of the decision. IDEA’s well-compensates executives will have to fly commercial, to their great disappointment!
The Houston Chronicle reported:
Texas’ largest charter school network abruptly grounded its plan to spend millions of dollars leasing and operating a private jet Monday, hours after the Houston Chronicle and a state teachers union raised questions about the arrangement.
IDEA Public Schools officials reversed course Monday evening, saying the organization will not sign an eight-year lease on an eight-passenger aircraft, an agreement unanimously approved earlier this month by the charter’s governing board. District leaders said they planned to use the jet to fuel the organization’s rapid expansion across the southern United States, with private donors footing a bill expected to approach $15 million over the life of the lease.
Tom Torkelson, CEO of IDEA, called the lease plan “a prudent decision,” although it does prove that IDEA is a private chain, not an operator of public schools. Have you ever heard of a public school or even a state superintendent with a private jet?
Life is unfair! If your corporation is taking in millions, why shouldn’t its top brass have a private jet? You know, like other private corporations?
*The federal CSP was launched by President Clinton in 1994 to grow start-ups but it has morphed into a slush fund for corporate charter chains, which DeVos uses as her personal slush fund. This is the program where nearly 40% of the schools funded either never open or close soon after opening.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“District leaders said they planned to use the jet to fuel the organization’s rapid expansion across the southern United States, ”
It’s interesting that this wholly organic, locally based “movement” has such ambitious expansion plans and is so confident they’ll be expanding they felt the need to lease a jet. Have they already chosen the public schools they’re replacing? Is there a master plan somewhere? Perhaps they could let the public in on it sometime prior to targeting and then taking over their schools.
It reminds me of when Arne Duncan confidently announced “10%” of public schools would be privatized. Weren’t we told this was based on something other than just an ideological and political preference for charter schools over public schools? Duncan went in knowing that “10%” would be charters? Is that a sales goal?
They likely see the South where there are many right wing libertarians as fertile charter ground for charter expansion. As far as Duncan’s 10% goal, I believe if they get 10%, they will continue to expand as long as they can make money. There’s a saying in business, “Expand or die.” We have already seen charters going after the middle class as well.
Correction:
“CORPORATE leaders said they planned to use the jet to fuel the organization’s rapid expansion across the southern United States, ”
As usual, no explanation or apology. Just the rote “opponents of reform are attacking us!”
It is impossible to criticize a charter school in good faith. All of the schools are perfect and all ed reformers are pure of heart and make 100% excellent management decisions. Much, much better than those icky public school folks, who obviously operate solely out of “self interest”.
Among its other problems, this “movement” is insufferably convinced of their own moral superiority. That they were able to get away with painting public school teachers who make 40k a year as greedy and self interested while handsomely compensating their own executives is a testament to the political pros who run their sales and marketing campaigns.
IDEA is one of those “non-profit” charter chains that Democratic presidential hopefuls keep talking about because they want to alienate NEITHER public school teachers NOR the big-money oligarchs who support charters in their siphoning of funds away from public schools.
Equivocation. n. Janus-talking out of both sides of one’s mouth. The primary rhetorical technique used in political campaign speech.
Just as a comparison, when the public schools in Columbus falsified attendance numbers to meet some ridiculous “benchmark” the charter cheerleading state auditor in Ohio sent armed agents in there to seize records.
Just wondering why we have two standards operating for two sets of (allegedly) public schools. One is treated as presumptively criminal and the other doesn’t have to report or explain anything.
Charter leaders must just be intrinsically better human beings- immune to the ethical pitfalls of mere mortals.
Our principal drives 9 miles on his own gas bill when he has to go to meetings. How is it that the party that has spent so much ink whining about studying the sex habits of butterflies will blindly accept this behavior? Could it be that the tick will never question the behavior of it mammalian host?
If your principal had a private jet, he could travel that 9 miles very quickly.
And why is it that these geniuses need a private jet?
Let them take a Greyhound!
Well, see, they are planning to operate charter schools in cities across Texas and Louisiana, and they can’t be bothered to take a commercial flight like the rest of us.
Their business is urgent, and they might want to fly from El Paso to Austin on a moment’s notice.
Without their private jet, they will have to book a flight like other people.
Yes Diane! As you have implicitly observed, any attempt to rationalize this ridiculous expenditure will dish up a serving of very thin gruel….
that billion dollar question
You might want to watch the Democratic candidates debate at Loyola Marymount University, tonight, begins at 8 p.m. Eastern Time, 5 p.m. Pacific. The 74 says that charter school advocates will be out in force.
Oh, and Tom Torkelson, CEO of IDEA has a compensation package worth $513,970 according to the latest IRS 990 form.
Poor Tom. He couldn’t get his private jet. Life is unfair.
It would great if a lot of public school parents were there holding signs saying:
“Let Charters have Private Jets”
“How Dare Democrats not let Charter CEOs have their private jets”
“Charters DEMAND private jets to help kids”
“Private Jets and Charters — Give them their jets!!”
“Vote for Politicians who Give Charters the Private Jets Charters Demand”
“Charters DEMAND Private Jets NOW”
If public schools had money to pay for demonstrations, there would be thousands of kids and parents outside the HQ of IDEA with those placards.
Add this one: “Charter executives need a private jet: We do it for the kids!”
Your actions expose who you really are. Much like televangelists that prey upon the less fortunate, IDEA aggressively targets and recruits the economically-disadvantaged with promises of college and a better life. Despite the promotions and hype, IDEA graduates that enroll in college are less likely to earn certification/degree.
For the Class of 2011, the following is the percentage of “economically disadvantaged” students that enrolled in college, BUT DID NOT earn a degree/certification according to TEA reports:
IDEA: 48.3%
State Average: 42.8%
Rio Grande Valley: 43.7%
Dallas ISD: 40.7%
Houston ISD: 41.8%
Maybe IDEA should use the $15.3 million to pay off the student loans of students they lead to enroll in college – But failed to prepare.