Is Money and Profit What's Behind Charter School Fever?

September 24th, 2010 - By TheEditor

"Yvette Carnell"On Monday’s episode of Oprah, the hyperbolic excitement wasn’t because of a trip to Australia, or one of Oprah’s favorite things, but her interview with Waiting for “Superman” director Davis Guggenheim.

Guggenheim, also director of “An Inconvenient Truth”, gushed about how he hoped his movie would spark a national conversation on education much like the one we’re still having on global warming. First we had a national conversation on race, then global warming, and now we’re being urged to embark on a national conversation about our crumbling education system. I am exhausted of conversations.

My exhaustion notwithstanding, I managed to trudge along and watch the Oprah episode in its entirety. What struck me most about the conversation between Oprah and her guests was the way in which they all went on and on about the success of charter schools.

It is true that some charter schools have displayed innovative approaches to education which resulted in increased test scores and graduation rates. There are, however, an equal number of charter schools which have either run out of funding or shown less achievement than their public counterparts. Had you watched the Oprah show on Monday, you wouldn’t have known that such disparities existed among charter schools. So why the race to bless charter schools and anoint them the saving grace of our public school system?

The answer: Money.

Policy analyst and former charter school advocate Dr. Diane Ravitch recently reversed her position on charter schools because of what she describes as an “effort to upend American public education and replace it with something market-based.” In the end, Ravitch concluded that charter schools “were proving to be no better on average than regular schools, but in many cities were bleeding resources from the public system.”

Many advocates of charter schools see dollar signs and not the despondent faces of sweet little urban and minority youth who are trapped in failing schools. There are millions of dollars in public education and charter schools are one way of redirecting those federal funds to private institutions.

Over the past 10 years we’ve seen a variety of tasks normally reserved for the federal government outsourced to private corporations. The Internal Revenue Service now hires private debt collection firms to supplement their own agents, the U.S. Military hires Haliburton to protect U.S. diplomats, and very soon charter schools will be hiring teachers and administrators to the job that underfunded public schools can no longer manage.

And the push back against charter schools isn’t at all aided by Geoffrey Canada of the Harlem Children’s Zone, one of charter school’s biggest advocates, who hustles American Express credit cards in television ads. The advertisement only highlights charter school’s connection to free market principles. Like it or not, it is the job of public schools to educate America’s youth. If lawmakers and education advocates were truly serious about renewing our education system, they would do as Ravitch advises and follow the lead of other nations. As Ravitch points out, “nations like Finland and Japan seek out the best college graduates for teaching positions, prepare them well, pay them well and treat them with respect.” To look toward charter schools as the savior of our public school system is absolutely absurd.

Yvette Carnell is a former Capitol Hill Staffer turned political blogger. She currently publishes two blogs, Spatterblog.com and GoGirlGuide.com.

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  • kiara

    Considering that charter schools of all types typically get the results we want, why the heck does it matter if its done for a profit? What nonsense is this? You would rather send your child to a public school that is failing because its non-profit, rather than send your child to an excellent school because it wants to make money? Really????

    Charter schools are not the complete answer, but they are certainly part of the solution and you should be supporting them. Period.

  • awatch

    As a P.S. teacher whose spouse taught at one of the top two charter schools in our state, I can honestly say that it is unfair to compare the two. Arizona will now have more charters than any other state, yet we are at the bottom of the educational ladder. Our charter system has also been around longer than most states. The average test scores in public schools match or are a little higher than the average scores from charters. There are excelling and failing schools in both systems. The best determinant for student success is a 16 (or less) to 1 student to teacher ratio and the ability to deal with behavioral or special needs. In our state, successful Charters accomplish this with high administrator and low teacher pay and the ability to weed out those students that don't "properly fit" their schools. Public schools may not do this and therefore Charter schools are not truly serving all children. P.S. Arizona is a right to work state, so teacher unions can not be blamed for our issues-just state politicians that refuse to assist educators!

  • Lisa

    Do some charter schools work? Yes. Do some fail? Yes. Do some PUBLIC schools work? Yes. Do some fail? Yes. Why don't we stop playing the blame game and start asking WHY? Mr. Facebook is giving $100 million dollars to fix Newark. Why? Newark already spends $20,000 per pupil. My "affluent" district spends less than $12,000 and the schools are working. Newark has the money to improve the schools. We need to look at all contributing factors. Perhaps it's time that the people holding the pursestrings are held accountable. I ask the gentleman from Georgia. Is $20,000 per pupil enough to give a child a successful "charter" school education? If so, since they are ALL public schools, I don't care what you call them, just choose the PRACTICES that work and put them in ALL the schools. Why take the kids out? And if some funds weren't already being siphoned off, you might even have closer to $25,000 per pupil to work with.

  • Millie

    I totally agree it takes well educated teachers and parents coming and working together making sure our children are being taght correctly in math reading and science and we see to it that they excel at there highest potential so they can feel confident and are able to go to college and graduate and get well paying jobs. Check out charles r drew college prep academy the principal mrs latrice rice mitchell and staff and administrators are doing a great job in the bayview in san francisco.

  • Nikole

    Thank you! I am for charter schools only because I believe that ALL schools should not operate the same way. However, it seems that lately public schools are being trashed due to the rise in charter schools. How about public schools get the same support that successful charters like Harlem Zone get? How much difference would there be between the two schools? None. ANY school can succeed with great teachers, dedicated parents and considerable community support. Smaller classes and allowing teachers to make instructional decisions would be a help as well. Let's have a real conversation about what ALL schools need in order to be successful.

  • b janet

    I see interesting points on both sides, but as a parent of a charter school student I am actually for the difference. Are all charter schools fantastic, no. But thats like saying that all public schools are horrible, which they are not either. My daughter has attended both so far and it is a combination of Parents and teachers that make a school great. Not the beurocratic nonsense that our children are caught in. However after working with countless youth groups and children I know that just theoretically saying "we should train our teachers better and pay them more" is a dead end on a no way street. I feel that what charter schools have done is said "There is a different way to teach children" and I think that it would be great if you could take processes that work and apply them on a larger level. There is not one way to teach the masses and each child is different, this is why you have Charter Arts, Math and Science so that your child can start to follow their dreams early. I am a fan of the established charter school groups such as the Harlem Dream Zone, and KIPP academies as they delivery results and our children need new ways of education. I think before we start to tear the movement down we should actually look at the violence on the streets and the staggering unemployment rates before our children. We must change something in the system, because we still occupy the same impoverised communities we did 40 years ago, and thats how long we have been having the "pay teachers more" discussion. Something must change and I am glad charter schools are taking the first step.

    • Alina Turku

      William Pack is the same person who has commented on many Articles, he goes by jonathan ad, Hakan, Gitano, etc., he is PART of the Gulen Movement and works non stop 24/7 fixing damage control about these Gulen Managed schools. Sharon is correct above, these schools ARE not performing, it is a myth – they pay much of our tax money for non-educational expenses like: Public Relations, Marketing, Turkish Olympiads and trips to Turkey along with members of Congress paid for by Gulen's Lobbying groups (Rumi Forum) You cannot trust any biased information out of the Gulen Managed school like their uncredentialed teachers here on h1-b visas are "scholars" it is all LIES.
      Gulen is being investigated in Turkey for his inflitration of Politics, education, media, Police and Military. THE SAME model he is trying here in the USA.
      American kids indoctrinated at these schools learning Turkish, and singing the Turkish national anthem while waving the Turkish flag (which is actually the symbol of Islam)
      Don't let these schools get away with their indoctrination and Gulen's master plan of "working into the arteries of the system" Do your research and learn how the Gulen movement pays groups through their interfaith dialog false fronts to gain their support like universitities and some college heads. It is all bought and paid for with Gulen's $25 billion.
      Remember Gulen owns Zaman Today, ERBU TV and other media so much of what you read online is biased.
      http://www.charterschoolwatchdog.com

  • William Pack

    If you wish to read a success story of a group of charter schools, you can take a look at the article by Dr. William Martin of Rice University in "Texas Monthly", the most prestigious monthly magazine of Texas, about Harmony Public Schools and charter schools in general. This is really a sound article with full of scientific facts and figures. To read the full article, visit this website:

    http://www.divedu.com/articles/15/head-class.html

  • http://charterschoolscandals.blogspot.com/ Sharon

    Ms. Carnell, You are exactly correct, and thank you. Charter schools are a major opportunity for rip-off artists and their associates to make a buck. Massive amounts of money are being lost and will never be recovered. Much more loss will never be discovered. The whole thing’s been set up so the oversight and regulation is weak. It’s a neo-liberal, anti-union free-for-all.

    At this very moment, gobs of tax dollars are being spent on federal, state and local investigators who are looking into charter school schemes, not to mention all the legal and courtroom costs required to deal with the mess. The rules to tighten things up are slowly made after the fact, and are always met with resistance from the charter school movement. In the meantime, the people running the schools are scheming how to always keep one step ahead.

    When the issues are discovered and prosecuted — – taxpayers end up paying for BOTH the prosecution and defense; the charter schools operators use money from their publicly funded budgets to cover their legal defense. The whole charter school scene is a big can of worms.

    Forget the sobbing being produced by the pro-charter propaganda Superman film funded by Phillip Anschutz, who happens to be a far right-wing, evangelical billionaire. The thing to remember is that, time after time, the average academic accomplishments charter schools are shown to be a wash. Some are better, some are worse, and a lot are just the same. Anything good about them doesn’t make up for the bad. For the truth that the mainstream media either doesn’t know, or won’t tell, go to http://charterschoolscandals.blogspot.com/

    And to Mr. Coleman: Why aren't you pumping up Georgia’s three Gulen Movement/Turk-run charter schools, too? And be sure to let us all know if having secretive religious-based, nationalistic movement based in Turkey which is running a network of 120 U.S. charter schools with tax dollars is perfectly okay with you, too.

    • kiara

      if they are a rip off, why do so many have better outcomes than public schools. Considering the amount of money we spend on public education with such poor results to show for it, I would say that we are getting ripped off by them, and their union buddies.

      • http://a-s.clayton.edu/mroberts/Welcome.html Mari Ann Roberts

        @ Kiara
        Actually, charters have quite the unfounded reputation for excellence. It is more of a myth than a reality. Studies show that for the most part they perform no better, and no worse than public schools. It's just the media hype that points to the really wonderful ones that have so many misled. Now are there creative charters?

        Yes! Could PS's be more creative? Definitely!
        However, there are many factors impeding this and MOST of those factors have NOTHING to do with teachers unions, despite what the media would have you believe. We must ask ourselves, if research has shown us how to improve PS's (which it has) and these things can be done in charter schools (which sometimes they are), WHY aren't they being done in PS?

        Primarily because the ruling class in the US does not really WANT to teach PS students to think! These students are often middle to lower income students and students of color. The ruling class can't rule if they have no subjects! They rather train our children to be subservient to follow their rules and never ask questions. If we continue to allow them to divide our population into private, public, charter, and non-charter, and we do not make a demand for better public schools across the board – we are only allowing their plan to succeed.