A new study of the federal CARES act funding found that private and charter schools received SIX TIMES the amount of funding as public schools from the federal coronavirus program. This may actually, as the report states, be an underestimate.
Mellissa Chang wrote:
A new analysis of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans by Good Jobs First points to an imbalance in CARES Act funding between public schools on the one hand and private and charter schools on the other.
GJF’s Covid Stimulus Watch has identified at least 6,600 charter and private schools that received an estimated $5.7 billion in PPP loans, which have been made available to private companies and non-profit organizations but not public entities. This data is now available on Covid Stimulus Watch through the facility ownership search category.
PPP loan disclosures from the Small Business Administration (SBA) were reported in dollar ranges, not exact values. Covid Stimulus Watch uses the midpoint of each range to estimate loan amounts. Data released by the SBA includes NAICS industry codes for each entity; however, early childhood, charter, and private schools all share the same NAICS code. To identify charter and private schools, we compared PPP loan data to school directories from the National Center on Education Statistics.
Our review revealed that approximately 1,200 charter schools and 5,400 private schools received an estimated $1.3 billion and $4.5 billion in PPP loans, respectively—averaging $855,000 per school. In contrast, other parts of the CARES Act allocate only $13.2 billion for all of the 98,158 public schools in the country, or $134,500 per school. In other words, private and charter schools are getting six times more per facility than public schools.
This gap will likely widen, as charter and private schools are also entitled to a portion of federal funding for public education. Additional analysis will be needed to determine the exact size of this gap, but there is clearly a significant disparity in CARES Act funding for different kinds of schools.
Additional Findings
Of the 5,400 private schools identified, 1,764 are nonsectarian and 3,426 have a religious affiliation. Of schools with religious affiliations, Catholic schools received the most money, with 1,715 schools taking home $1.3 billion—only $400 million less than the $1.7 billion given to nonsectarian schools.
Enrollment data for approximately 5,000 of the 6,600 schools was available from the National Center for Education Statistics. We estimate that a total of 2 million students—417,000 in charter and 1.6 million in private—are enrolled in these schools. The average number of students at each school is 387 and the average award amount per student is $3,520. According to the NCES, the average public school size is 528.
In other words, private and charter schools are getting more per facility even though their schools are smaller on average.
Additionally, the Paycheck Protection Program was not the only loan assistance program available to private and charter schools. The Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program, which provides loans to cover operating expenses and revenue losses to business affected by the pandemic, was open to private and charter schools. So far, we have identified almost 300 charter and private schools which have “double-dipped” and received both PPP and EIDL loans. EIDL loans received by these schools amount to $46 million.
The $13.2 billion pot of money for public schools mentioned above comes from the Elementary and Secondary Schools Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER).
So far, 36 states have disclosed their ESSER allocations. At this time, we are still processing this data and are unable to determine how much funding charter and private schools received through this ESSER program.
Whatever the final amount, it will further exacerbate funding inequities in the education system.
Also, in many of the communities where charter schools exploited small business emergency funds, black-owned small businesses were largely overlooked.
https://edpolitics.org/charter-schools-find-gold-in-federal-government-aid-to-small-businesses-while-black-owned-firms-get-the-shaft/
Thanks for sharing this, Jeff. It really adds to the post above. This is so infuriating, and I feel like I’m the only one in my community paying attention to this. Except, perhaps, for the private and Catholic schools in my area, one of the latter is a block from my house and I watch the wealthy parents line up every day to drop off and pick up their kids.
Hi, Jeff:
Thanks for sharing this article.
Shira
We all work in public schools so we support keeping our livelihoods however school choice seems to be the wave of the future. Really it makes sense even though i work in public schools but public schools need to run better..there is just too much crap going on mismanaged funds and resources…geez i just dont know
And you think privately managed schools are more efficient?
Diane, would you agree that privately managed organizations no matter what they do are better run and more efficient than any government institutions so it applies to schools as well, do you agree?
If you have followed this blog for more than a day or a week,you know my view. Private organizations are not better run than public institutions. Private organizations choose whom they serve and they seek to maximize “results,” either profits or test scores. Public institutions must serve everyone: the public. I have posted hundreds of times about corruption, conflicts of interest, embezzlement, self-dealing, and other violations by private companies running charter schools and/or religious schools. They lobby for more money and they oppose accountability and transparency. The free market is good at providing products, though the best of them (Mercedes, BMW) are out of reach of the average family. Privatization destroys and monetizes public services.
“….privately managed organizations no matter what they do are better run and more efficient than any government institutions…” Total blarney libertarian propaganda. What about ENRON, Arthur Anderson, CIT Group, WorldCom, Washington Mutual, Lehman Brothers, Conseco, MF Global, Thornburg Mortgage, Bernard L Madoff Investment Securities LLC, AIG, Bear Stearns, Refco, Bayou Hedge Fund Group, Adelphia Communications, etc., there are many more.
Please spare me the garbage that privately run corporations are more efficient than government.
“….privately managed organizations no matter what they do are better run and more efficient than any government institutions…”
Oh, I forgot Lincoln Savings and Loan Association a privately run corporation that went bust due to fraud and corruption. How the hell is that more efficient and better than government.
This thread cracks me up. Anyone who comes here not having read at least one of your books–whether they agree or not with the evidence you present and your conclusions–really has no business being here. I’m sure there was a collective guffaw out there followed by: do you know who you’re questioning? But the “geez i just dont know” was spot on.
diblasio just announced that nyc public schools for high school delayed again now opening up oct 1,,,,,,,,,why diblasio did not just go with remote learning already we are behind as kids who were slated to come into the buildings are doing nothing now
Thank you to NPE for being among the first groups drawing attention to this huge disparity. You kept on the story until other groups decided to take a look at it too. That is why I continue to share this blog on social media. It is a way for the “pen” to still be powerful.
YES.
Thank you for sharing this information, Diane: scheduling for reBlogging later…
Shira
The neglect of public schools and public school students in this pandemic shocks me.
No other country abandoned public education in a crisis like the United States did- it’s shameful.
Our government has spent more time and energy promoting private school vouchers than they have spent on the 90% of students who today, right now, attend public schools. They simply didn’t show up. It’s been 7 months and they still haven’t done anything, other than holding political events to bash public schools.
It’s not just that they’re of no practical use to 90% of the students and families in the country- they’re now actively harming public schools and public school students.
We pay them all for this!
This is what happens when your country devolves into a plutocracy, and you vote in a bunch of right wing libertarians. The government refuses to serve regular people and the public institutions.
No offense or disrespect intended 😊, but certain Chicago Public Schools are selective in a way:
Brainiac Schools:
Whitney Young
Northside College Prep
Walter Payton
Lane
Jock Schools
Simeon
Marshall
Vocational
Simeon
Chicago Vocational
😮
Amusing that the Trump Administration has finally turned their attention to public schools and public school students.
They now want to direct history instruction in our schools. The schools they don’t support, don’t attend, and don’t do any work on behalf of.
Why don’t they direct history instruction in private schools? Just please leave public school students OUT of Donald Trump’s reelection campaign.
Charter schools ARE public schools. I think you mean traditional or non-charter public schools.
No, charters are run by private, self-selected boards. They are not under the supervision of democratic, elected boards. Taking public money does not make them public schools. Lots of private corporations take public money.
No, charters are run by private, self-selected boards. They are not under the supervision of democratic, elected boards. Taking public money does not make them public schools. Lots of private corporations take public money. Charters are not public schools.