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John Thompson: Can We Save Our Schools from the Corporate Giants?

By dianeravitch
November 26, 2018 //
15

John Thompson of Oklahoma attended the NPE Conference in Indianapolis and learned a lot about how allies in other cities and states are resisting the Corporate Goliaths invading public schools.

He writes:

“Previously, I overestimated how much of Goliath’s failure was due to the arrogance of power. Today’s Silicon Valley Robber Barons’ hubris can match that of their 19th century counterparts, but their control of data makes them uniquely dangerous. As the latest NPE presentations enlightened me on what is working for us Davids as we successfully resist Goliath, I was mostly struck by the evidence that he only continues to exist for the purposes of privatization, profits, and the monetization of data.

“Fortunately, the 2018 NPE conference was extremely positive, so I can move beyond my errors to a post which provides an overview of a) what I learned and b) some ideas on future messaging.”

Thompson attended many workshops and all the keynotes and he weaves together a coherent narrative, answering the question:

“Why do they [the Corporate Goliaths] keep infusing money into charters?

“The answer, it is now clear, is that they are monetizing data. Pearson testing company thinks it knows more about the children they test than their parents do. As Leonie Haimson has shown, Goliath has bought 400 identifiable data points on students. And Summit Learning says it will follow your child through her entire life.

“Pasi Sahlberg’s presentation on GERM, the Global Education Reform Movement, showed graphically how the corporate reform assault undermined schools around the world. He then described counter-attacks against GERM in New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Liberia, Scotland, Chile, and elsewhere. Educators have a duty to reclaim our professional autonomy. But we also must be willing to state some hard truths.

“Sahlberg says that people want to believe that the kids are “alright.” But, globally, they face a threat that must be explicitly addressed. The well-being of students is declining as screen time increases. Students and teachers must push back against the Goliath which profits from more eyes being glued to digital devices.

“Susan Ochshorn and Denisha Jones brought this dangerous trend closer to home. They condemned children being placed in front of keyboards before they are ready. And this may be the narrative that will really take off. Silicon Valley elites don’t put their 4-year-olds in online courses.

“During the previous generation, Goliath used charters that increased segregation to supposedly undo the damage done by segregation, but most voters didn’t send their children to the high-poverty schools that were targeted. So, many people didn’t understand why those corporate reforms were doomed to fail. Surely the broader public will grasp the absurdity of placing 70 students and 2 teachers in “personalized” learning to address toxic stress that is made worse by premature exposure to too many hours in front of keyboards.

“Helen Gym’s account of victories in Philadelphia is also encouraging. Goliath won when they rushed implementation of policies without an open discussion of their theories. After the Reformers got so overconfident they consulted parents, they lost. In other words, to know Goliath’s agenda is to understand that they grasp very little about what students need and parents want.”

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Education Reform, For-Profit, Network for Public Education, Networkfor Public Education Action Fund, Privatization

Betsy DeVos Will Be in the Hot Seat as Five House Committees Prepare to Grill Her

By dianeravitch
November 25, 2018 //
56

We saw at her confirmation hearing two years ago how ill-prepared Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is when questioned persistently about her views and actions. We saw a repeat performance when she was questioned by Lesley Stahl on “60 Minutes.” This is a person who is unaccustomed to being held accountable.

Now, at least five committees in the new Democratic-controlled House of Representatives intend to question her about her many controversial efforts to protect for-profit colleges, not students; to roll back protections for transgender students; to put the burden of proof on rape victims, not their alleged assailants; and many more of her policies intended to weaken civil rights protections and the duty of government to defend the weak and vulnerable, not the ruthless and powerful.

For two years, Democrats watched with fury as Education Secretary Betsy DeVos sought to dismantle nearly every significant Obama administration education policy.

Now, they’re gearing up to fight back. Lots of them.

As many as five Democratic-led House committees next year could take on DeVos over a range of issues such as her rollback of regulations aimed at predatory for-profit colleges, the stalled processing of student loan forgiveness and a rewrite of campus sexual assault policies.

“Betsy DeVos has brought a special mix of incompetence and malevolence to Washington — and that’s rocket fuel for every committee in a new Congress that will finally provide oversight,” said Seth Frotman, who resigned as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s top student loan official earlier in protest of Trump administration policies likely to be examined by Democrats.

Even in a Republican-controlled Congress, DeVos had a strained relationship at times with some committees. Her main priorities, such as expanding school choice, were largely ignored as lawmakers hashed out government funding bills. Now she will have to answer to House Democrats wielding gavels, several of whom have long worked on education issues and have been among her most vocal critics.

She came to her job expecting Congress to allow her to shift $20 Billion from Title I to Vouchers. That never happened. Her only funding victory was an increase in funding for charter schools, which now get $450 million, which they certainly don’t need, since they are the plaything of the billionaires.

Many committees are waiting to interview her, including the House Education Committee, chaired by Rep. Bobby Scott of Virginia; the Appropriations subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut; and the Financial Services Committee, chaired by Rep.Maxine Waters of California.

Categories Betsy DeVos, Charter Schools, Civil Rights, Democrats, Education Reform, For-Profit, Fraud, Higher Education, Students

Thrive Charter Schools in San Diego: Where the Founders Thrive, But Not Students

By dianeravitch
November 24, 2018 //
9

Tom Ultican has written several articles about the Destroy Public Education Movement; this installment examines a failing charter chain in San Diego that continues to rake in big bucks.

The Thrive charter chain, he says, is a masterpiece of marketing, but a failure at education.

When the chain was launched, the San Diego Unified School District staff said it was not ready to open; the founders appealed and were rejected by the staff of the County Board of Education. The founders appealed to the State Board of Education, where its defective application was rubberstamped by Governor Jerry Brown’s pro-Charter State Board.

Ultican says that charter schools are supposed to perform at least as well as similar public schools or show improvement over time.

Thrive charter schools did not meet either benchmark. But that did not deter funders or founders.

They were shameless and kept growing their failing charter chain. And the money kept rolling in, to expand the failure to more children.

“Once she obtained the charter authorization from the SBE, money came. The known list of 2014 donations: Buzz Woolley’s Girard Foundation granted her $108,000; Gate’s Educause sent $254,500; Charter School Growth Fund kicked in $175,000 and the Broad Foundation delivered $150,000 for a total of $688,000. The next year, Broad gave another $50,000 and the New Schools Venture Fund pitched in $100,000. There is another $144,000 promised from Educause.

“Destroy public education (DPE) careers pay well. Tax records reveal that Nicole’s start up “non-profit” has been lucrative. Her pay: year one $122,301; year two $133,747 and year three $142,541. Her husband holds a senior management position at the CCSA which means DPE money flows his way as well.”

In 2017, the charter chain added another school, this one paid for by taxpayers, but with this addendum. The property belongs not to taxpayer who paid for it, but TO THE CHARTER OWNERS! How cool is that!

You will not be surprised to learn that the pro-privatization website “The 74,” is wild about Thrive. Nor will you be be surprised to discover that Thrive loves putting kids on computers and that one of its cheerleaders is Tom Vanderbilt Ark, a leading salesman for edtech.

Ultican reminds us that the Thrive charter chain calls itself “public schools,” but it is a private contractor that runs lucrative but failing schools. All that keeps them going is this formula:

“Bad schools like TPS survive because they are good at marketing; have deep pocketed benefactors and political allies.”

Thrive is not thriving.

Ultican says Thrive is evidence that California needs a moratorium on charter schools until lawmakers systematically root out fraud, self-dealing, waste, and abuse. That’ll be the day.

Categories Accountability, California, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Education Reform, Failure, For-Profit, Privatization, San Diego

Arizona: Online Charter Operator Pays Himself Another $1.3 Million, Gives Teachers a 1% Raise

By dianeravitch
November 23, 2018 //
8

The Primavera online charter school in Arizona is rewarding himself handsomely with taxpayers’ money. Will Governor Doug Ducey or the legislature care or will regulate this self-dealing?

The CEO of Primavera, whose multimillion-dollar payments to himself spurred calls for more oversight of Arizona charter schools, received another $1.3 million from the online charter this past school year, records show.

Damian Creamer, the sole owner of the for-profit Primavera, also paid $27.6 million from the school’s state education funding to another company he owns, Strongmind. The payment was for curriculum, enrollment, technical support and other services.

Meanwhile, the school, which reported it had the third-worst dropout rate in Arizona, gave its 95 teachers a 1 percent pay raise last school year.

Primavera disclosed its spending for the period from July 1, 2017, to June 30, 2018, in an independent audit required by the Arizona State Board for Charter Schools.

Creamer did not respond to requests for comment.

The audits provide a snapshot of how lightly regulated charter operators use tax dollars. Charter schools are not subject to the same financial or governance oversight as traditional district public schools, and The Republic has found that some operators, like Creamer, have become charter school millionaires by operating the public schools.

After The Republic reported this year that Creamer had paid himself $8.8 million despite operating a school with the state’s third-highest dropout rate, Attorney General Mark Brnovich called for the law to be changed to allow his office to investigate charter schools more broadly.

Creamer has said the $8.8 million payment was for tax purposes but has not provided documents to support that claim.

“When you see public money go to line the pockets of someone who is supposed to help students become a millionaire, I can’t believe it’s not a crime,” Brnovich said at the time.

Since then, a Republican state senator and Gov. Doug Ducey have said they, too, will push to overhaul Arizona’s charter-school laws to require more transparency and compliance with the same procurement and conflict-of-interest laws that govern district schools.

Brnovich has criticized Creamer because the online charter school owner uses education funds to buy services from related businesses he owns or controls. A related-party transaction or self-dealing is illegal for school districts but common among Arizona charter schools.

Basis Charter Schools Inc., for example, pays about $10 million as an annual, no-bid management fee to a company controlled by its founders. American Leadership Academy founder Glenn Way made at least $18.4 million building schools for ALA through no-bid contracts. And state lawmaker Eddie Farnsworth is poised to make at least $11 million by selling his Benjamin Franklin schools to a non-profit company he created.

Brnovich’s office recently obtained a fraud conviction against Daniel K. Hughes, president and CEO of Discovery Creemos Academy in Goodyear, after he abruptly shuttered his charter school in January and defrauding taxpayers of at least $2.5 million by inflating the school’s enrollment.

Primavera still amassing cash

Primavera has accumulated so much money that it has set aside $8.5 million for Creamer in stockholder’s equity, records show. Creamer can take the money anytime.

Categories Accountability, Arizona, Charter Schools, Education Industry, For-Profit, Privatization, Virtual Charter Schools

Utah: Why the Secrecy Around This Lucrative Charter Chain?

By dianeravitch
November 19, 2018 //
8

The largest charter chain in Utah is American Prepartory Academy. It is operated by a for-profit entity. The schools are very profitable. The owners keep their operations secret, as they probably assume that the public would not be happy to learn how much tax dollars go into their bank accounts, not the schools.

One of its founders and its Executive Director, Carolyn Sharette, is also the registered agent of a for-profit management company, American Preparatory Schools, Inc., which will charge the school $5,805,200 for the 2018-2019 school year. That’s a bump up from the $4.6 million the company got last year.

Where’s the money going?

State funding, your taxpayer dollars, comprise 88 percent of American Prep’s budget. But what do the students get with that money?

Sharette isn’t telling – and she doesn’t have to. The State Charter School Board does not demand accountability from contracted companies working for the school.
The Board told KUTV’s Beyond the Books that it monitors a charter school’s student performance and adherence to its charter and state and federal rules. But Sharette’s for-profit company is beyond its reach.

It’s also a family affair. Two of Sharette’s siblings, brother Howard Headlee and sister Laura Campbell, are co-founders of American Prep.

Sharette and Campbell sit on its executive board. Headlee registered three 501(c)3 companies that own the school’s property and buildings and lease them back to the schools. And at least two of Sharette’s children have been employed by the for-profit management company, American Preparatory Schools, Inc.

Where’s your tax money going, Utah citizens?

None of your business!

Once it goes to this charter chain, there is no accountability.

Satisfied?

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Education Reform, For-Profit, Privatization

Angie Sullivan: Stop the For-Profit Charter Scam in Nevada

By dianeravitch
November 19, 2018 //
9

Angie Sullivan teaches young children in a Title 1 school in Clark County (Las Vegas), Nevada. She writes an email blast to every legislator in the state.

Angie writes:

Folks in other states are banning for-profit charter management corporations.

With good reason.

Whole campaigns are built on banning for-profit scams in other states. We need folks in Nevada to notice this mess.

http://m.wtol.com/toledonewsnow/db_347256/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=yQmm1LBE

Attendance should match testing.

In Nevada we have for-profits corporations claiming they have thousands enrolled but only a few test?

We cannot afford to give $18 Million to a corporation if they are only providing $1 million in educational type services. Note: I did not state learning – because providing a type of service is NOT learning if students do not graduate.

Meanwhile, we elect lawmakers who sit on for-profit charter boards, manage a for-profit branch, or work at a for-profit charter. They will sit in legislative session next year and have their hands on bills to line pockets. Note: I did not say teach kids, because that is NOT the bottom line or mission of a corporation. No wonder no one graduates.

Let’s not repeat mistakes of other states which expanded charters at an alarming rate and now the tax payer suffers. Nevada has a big enough mess already.

Nevada Charters are definitely not a remedy or an example. It is a travesty that a real public school in CCSD is threatened with being turned into a charter. Scary.

It is not fiscally responsible to allow Academica, Gulen Corals, or On-lines to run rampant without the same transparency and accountability required by all public schools.

Time for a for-profit charter moratorium and to clean up this $350 million mess.

CCSD Parents need to be demanding expansion of CCSD Magnets – which are the top schools in the nation – instead of these scammers. And we need funding to maintain quality in Magnets. That is what works. People need to demand what works.

The Teacher,
Angie

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Failure, For-Profit, Funding, Privatization

Restore Reason: What Happens When Government Services Are Privatized

By dianeravitch
November 16, 2018 //
21

Thanks to Guy Brandenburg for directing me to this fascinating post about what happens when private corporations take over government services, in this case, reporting the weather.

Restore Reason writes about the commercialization of weather reporting and draws a parallel with charter schools and vouchers. Please open the link and read the entire post.

I just listened to “The Coming Storm”, by Michael Lewis. I didn’t carefully read the description before diving in, and thought it would inform me about the increasing violence of weather. Rather, I learned about the privatization of weather, or at least the reporting of it, and the Department of Commerce.

Turns out, the Department of Commerce has little to do with commerce and is actually forbidden by law from engaging in business. Rather, it runs the U.S. Census, the Patent and Trademark Office, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Over half of its $9B budget though, is spent by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to figure out the weather. And figuring out the weather, is largely about collecting data. “Each and every day, NOAA collects twice as much data as is contained in the entire book collection of the Library of Congress.” One senior policy adviser from the George W. Bush administration, said the Department of Commerce should really be called the Department of Science and Technology. When he mentioned this to Wilbur Ross, Trump’s appointee to lead the Department, Ross said, “Yeah, I don’t think I want to be focusing on that.” Unfortunately for all of us, Ross also wasn’t interested in finding someone who would do it for him.

In October 2017, Barry Myers, a lawyer who founded and ran AccuWeather, was nominated to serve as the head of the NOAA. This is a guy who in the 1990s, argued the NWS should be forbidden (except in cases where human life and property was at stake) from delivering any weather-related knowledge to Americans who might be a consumer of AccuWeather products. “The National Weather Service” Myers said, “does not need to have the final say on warnings…the government should get out of the forecasting business.”

Then in 2005, Senator Rick Santorum (a recipient of Myers family contributions) introduced a bill to basically eliminate the National Weather Service’s ability to communicate with the public. Lewis asks his readers to “consider the audacity of that manuever. A private company whose weather predictions were totally dependent on the billions of dollars spent by the U.S. taxpayer to gather the data necessary for those predictions, and on decades of intellectual weather work sponsored by the U.S. taxpayer, and on the very forecasts that the National Weather Service generated, was, in effect, trying to force the U.S. taxpayer to pay all over again for the National Weather Service might be able to tell him or her for free.”

It was at this point in my listening that I began to think how this privatization story was paralleling that of education’s. In both cases, those in the public sector are in it for the mission, not the money. In both cases, the private sector only “wins” if the public sector “loses”. In both cases, it is in the interest of the private sector to facilitate the failure of the public sector or make it look like it is failing.

Just as private and charter schools profit when district schools are perceived to be of lower quality, Barry Myers has worked hard to make government provided weather services look inferior to that which the private sector can provide. As Lewis points out, “The more spectacular and expensive the disasters, the more people will pay for warning of them. The more people stand to lose, the more money they will be inclined to pay. The more they pay, the more the weather industry can afford to donate to elected officials, and the more influence it will gain over the political process.”

This is the beginning of a thoughtful post. Please read it.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Corporate Reform, Corporate Reformers, Deregulation, Disruption, Education Industry, For-Profit, Privatization

Sue Legg: Twenty Years of School Choice in Florida, Part 4

By dianeravitch
November 11, 2018 //
17

This is the final installment in Sue Legg’s series about twenty years of school choice in Florida. She is the former education Director of the Florida League of Women Voters and was assessment and evaluation contractor for the Fl. DOE for twenty years while on the faculty at the University of Florida.

She writes:

Twenty Years Later: The SociaI Impact of Privatization

Privatization of schools in Florida is about more than money. It reflects the ebb and flow of the common school movement originating in the 1830s which promoted a free public education system to assimilate the millions of immigrants arriving in the United States. Resistance came from political, religious, and social divisions, elements of which persist even now. Florida, now the third largest state must assimilate its growing immigrant population. The public schools include 2.8 million students who are 38% white, 33% Hispanic, and 22% black. Ten percent are English Language Learners. These demographics may well change Florida’s politics. There is a majority of younger and ethnically diverse people many of whom tend to register to vote as independents.

Charters and private schools represent 22% of the Florida student enrollment. Charter enrollments are 42% Hispanic and 20% African-American. The tax credit scholarship program enrolls 38% Hispanic and 30% African-American.
Numerous research reports e.g. Brookings, CREDO Urban Study, and Florida Department of Education raise concerns about the academic benefit of choice programs. Few examples exist where charters outperform similar public schools and proportionately more charters do less well. The social consequences of choice are even more serious as documented in the 2017 Florida State University Collins Institute’s Report on Patterns of Resegregation in Florida Schools.
The ‘separate but equal’ doctrine adopted by Governor Jeb Bush in 1999 has undermined diversity in schools. Schools with low income and high minority status tend to receive ‘D’ or F’ school grades, for which they were blamed, sanctioned, and made targets of charter school takeover programs.

The major findings of the Collins Institute report document the social impact of choice. The economic and racial segregation documented in regular public schools is even more severe in charters.

• About one third of black and Hispanic students attend intensely segregated schools (90% single race).

• Sixty percent of Florida’s children qualify for free and reduced lunch (FRL). Black and Hispanic students are 1.5 times more likely to experience double segregation by race and economic status.

• Charter schools over enroll Hispanic students (42%), and these students typically have from 10-20% fewer white students than in public schools.

• Black students are more likely to go to extremely segregated schools than Hispanics.

• Only in 8 districts did charters enroll at least 60% of FRL students.

• Most districts enrolled higher percentages of students with disabilities and English as a second language than their charter schools.

Accountability: Florida is masterful at self-promotion.

In April 2018, the headline for Governor Scott’s press report on NAEP results was: Florida Students Lead the Nation in Reading and Mathematics. While Florida’s schools fourth grade NAEP reading scores ranked 6th nationwide, they fell to 26th on the eighth grade. It may be no coincidence that the spectacular rise in fourth grade NAEP scores coincided with the implementation of third grade mandatory retention for students who are not proficient on the state assessment. A contributing factor to the drop in eighth grade scores is that about one half of the children on private school scholarships return to public schools after third grade. The high school graduation rank is 38th which may in part be due to requirements that students pass an algebra I exam and an English Language Skills test to graduate.

Florida also touts the improvement rate of ‘failing public schools’. Of over 4000 public schools, 35 received a failing grade in 2018. Yet, the legislature passed a law mandating a state takeover of failing schools by designated by charter management firms. The 2018 failure rate for Florida charters is much higher (30/365 schools).

Resistance to the Impact of Choice is Growing.

Progress through the courts is slow but necessary to make change possible. The Florida League of Women Voters won a Supreme Court decision in 2016 to redraw legislative districts. It won again in 2018 to allow early voting on college campuses, to block a confusing proposal to create a separate statewide independent (charter) school system, and to prevent the current governor from naming new members of the Supreme Court on his last day in office. The Citizens for Strong Schools’ Supreme Court hearing on school funding and quality is November 8th.

The court of public opinion looms even larger. The common school movement arose out of the need to address inequities due to immigration, religion, and school funding. Free public schools were seen as the best way to build a sense of the civic responsibility needed to support our new democracy. Will the voters, not only in Florida, once again recognize the value of the public interest over self interest in our public schools when it matters most?

Categories Accountability, Florida, For-Profit, Fraud

Sue Legg: Twenty Years of School Choice in Florida, Part 3

By dianeravitch
November 10, 2018 //
6

Sue Legg recently retired as education director of the Florida League of Women Voters. She was assessment and evaluation contractor for the Fl. DOE for twenty years while on the faculty at the University of Florida. At my request, she wrote a four-part series reflecting on School Choice in Florida after 20 years.

Twenty years later: Who Benefits, Not Schools!

Florida’s Constitution mandates that the state shall make ‘adequate provision for all students to access a uniform, safe, secure, efficient and high-quality system of free public schools.

The strategies on how to implement or circumvent these values result in constant lawsuits…at least five in the last two years alone. The arguments are not new: civil rights, funding, local vs. state control, and accountability. One might ask: Who benefits in a system that generates so much conflict? Politicians and profiteers, but not the public may well be the answer.

Political Cronyism and Conflict of Interest.

Charter supporters use money and influence to affect policy outcomes. According to Integrity Florida, $2,651,639 was spent on committee and campaign contributions in 2016 alone. Major donors include John Kirtley, who heads Florida Federation for Children and is also chair of Step Up for Students (which distributes a billion dollars in corporate tax credit scholarships to private schools). All Children Matters, run by Betsy DeVos, gave over $4 million to Florida political committees between 2004 and 2010. The Walton family gave over $7 million between 2008 and 2016 to Florida’s All Children Matter. Large contributions by the Waltons, John Kirtley, CSUSA, Academica, Gary Chartrand (a member of the State Board of Education) and others were also made to Kirtley’s Florida Federation for Children. In addition, for profit charters have spent over $8 million in lobbying in Tallahassee. Former Governor Jeb Bush’s foundation ExcelinEd, supports the spread of pro-choice policies in 38 states.

Conflict of interest claims in the Florida legislature have been made against current and former legislators including Speaker of the House Richard Corcoran; legislators Manny Diaz, Eric Fresen (recently found guilty of tax evasion), Seth McKeel, House Education Chair Michael Bileca, Senators John Legg, Anitere Flores, Kelli Stargel, and Ralph Arza (who was forced to resign for other reasons). They have personal ties to the charter industry and held important education committee leadership roles.

Testing Companies.

The A.I.R. testing company received a six-year $220 million contract for the Florida state assessment exams. This contract does not include the mandatory End of Course exams required in high school subjects, the kindergarten readiness test, the English Language Learner test, or the 50 teacher certification tests and the principals’ leadership exam. Add to this cost was the technical debacle resulting from a law requiring all tests to be administered online. Districts did not have the bandwidth.

Private and Charter Schools Expansion.

The Florida tax credit scholarships (FTC) to private schools no longer serves only low-income families. Income eligibility has risen to $63,000 for partial stipends. Funding is increased by 25% per year, but the corporate tax revenue to support them runs afoul of the governor’s agenda to reduce taxes. As a compromise, in 2018 a sales tax ‘donation’ to private schools for new car owners was approved for students with approved claims of being bullied. Students with disabilities may qualify for MacKay scholarships to private schools which may have no qualified teachers to serve them. Parents whose children have severe disabilities are given a stipend and search on their own for assistance.

Categories Accountability, Bush, Jeb, Charter Schools, Disruption, Education Industry, Florida, For-Profit, Fraud, Funding, Privatization

Sue Legg: Twenty Years of School Choice in Florida, Part 2

By dianeravitch
November 9, 2018 //
4

Sue Legg, the former director of education for Florida’s League of Women Voters, wrote this series at my request. She was assessment and evaluation contractor for the Fl. DOE for twenty years while on the faculty at the University of Florida. This is part 2.

Twenty Years Later: Impact of Charter and Private Sector Schools

With support from the state, charter and private schools enroll 22% of Florida’s three million children. Charters receive the same per student funding as regular public schools. Private schools receive tax credit scholarships to avoid Florida’s constitutional ban on vouchers funded directly by the legislature.

Nearly half of Florida’s 655 charters are run by for-profit management firms dominated by two firms: Academica and Charter Schools USA (CSUSA).

In 2016, In the Public Interest reported that Academica’s real estate arm controls more than $155 million in south Florida real estate. They essentially own the property for half of their schools and lease it to themselves through the non-profit charter boards they establish. Some of its charters pay exorbitant leases to the Catholic church or other religious entities. Using church facilities is not illegal if there is no religious instruction or other artifacts in classrooms.

CSUSA operates in a similar manner. CSUSA has its own real estate company. We tracked the history of one such school and found that CSUSA had purchased a former ATT call center for about $1.2 million. They flipped the building several times to have the property reappraised, and invested $1.5 million in air conditioning etc. The final appraisal was for $9 million, and the CSUSA board signed an escalating lease for over a million dollars per year which would in time surpass the school budget. Teachers are paid from the remaining budget which seldom allows for retirement or health benefits. Thus, teacher turnover tends to be more than double the rate for traditional public schools.

In 2016, the U.S. Office of the Inspector General delineated the similarities between charter financing and the subprime loan crisis that wreaked havoc with the housing industry. Real estate loans have minimal annual payments with large balloon payments when the loan becomes due.

Independently run charters survive at first on start up funds from the state and federal government. Even though charters are exempt from the regulations governing the quality of school facilities, many complain they are underfunded. Some are housed in abandoned strip malls or former business locations that need remodeling.

The lack of regulation was supposed to spur innovation. Charters must meet local fire and safety codes, employ teachers who are certified within 18 months, and administer state assessments. Otherwise, they are exempt from operational district oversight and state school facilities codes. District school boards can only intervene if charters cannot pay their bills or they receive failing grades two years in a row on the state assessment tests. There is no limit on charter expansion, and the State Board of Education may overrule, and does, proposals that are not approved locally.

Where does this lack of regulation lead? The simple answer is profiteering, corruption and closures. The management of Newpoint charters is the current scandal. The company has been charged with racketeering involving 57 million dollars in the operation of its 15 schools. Investigative reporting by the Miami Herald, Orlando Sentinel, and Tampa Bay Times have documented many other scandals in which charters close without warning, funds are collected for unenrolled students,

Charters close at an alarming rate. At least 373 Florida charters closed in the last twenty years. They take the money with them. Even some proponents of charters are having doubts.

Parents are finding out the hard way that they have no voice in charter school management. Erika Donalds, a former school board member whose husband is a legislator, sponsored the doomed constitutional amendment 8 to create a separate charter system. She also co-founded one of the Classical Academies where she was a board member. The charter was based on ‘Christian values’, but had a principal who created an environment “where fraud can occur without detection”. Donalds withdrew her children. She has, however, formed an alliance with the wife of the 2017 Florida Senate president to open another Classical Academy.

Past attempts by some legislators to limit the ‘self-dealing’ and profiteering failed. In September 2018, Integrity-Florida released its latest report on needed reforms. Millions of tax payer dollars have been lost to both excessive profits and criminal misuse of funds. Legislation is needed to require a justification for opening a charter and improved regulation to prevent profiteering. At least now, the public is growing aware of the financial threats to our public schools. No longer is the problem ‘over there’. It is affecting everyone.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Corporate Reform, Education Industry, Education Reform, Failure, Florida, For-Profit, Privatization
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