What is a “For Profit” Charter School?

There used to be only one kind of public school. Enlightened educators and a few politicians realized that some locally controlled modifications to state educational rules made good sense in order to give local school systems some needed flexibility. Not every student is going to college and not every student will need vocational training.

Charter School status gave public school systems the flexibility to take Home Economics and Shop type courses out of Walton High Schools list of required courses. Walton High school became a Public Charter School that was founded, funded and supervised by the local public school system. Marietta City schools decided that having more flexibility in the rules made good sense for them and the entire Marietta Public school system was changed to a Public Charter School system.”

School boards went a step farther in the name of flexibility and creativity. If a group, generally parents, came to the school board with a detailed plan for a different type of school, the school board could approve or deny the application. If approved, the school board would make sure that public funds would be prudently spent or the funding would be revoked.

Educational exploiters saw a money making opportunity and created another kind of Public Charter School. It was the “For Profit Charter School” model. The name “For Profit” has such negative connotations when it comes to public education that it has been dropped from their vocabulary.

Some local elected officials who rely on “For Profit Charter School” companies for income and campaign contributions refuse to say “For Profit Charter Schools.” One tried to dance around the issue by stating that she supported education – all kinds of education. Another said that he supported Charter Schools but couldn’t bring himself to say that there is more than one kind of Charter School.  He could say Charter School but refused to say “For Profit Charter Schools”.

Private access to public funds was no temptation to the greedy and ruthless, it was a golden opportunity. School boards that denied these educational parasites were circumvented. They (Walton Family, Private Equity companies, Rupert Murdock, AMWAY heirs, and a host of others) began pouring huge amounts of money into political campaigns of the ethically weak and against the ethically strong. They got local control over Charter Schools taken away in last year’s Amendment 1 referendum on the Nov. 6, 2013 ballot.

Now, “For Profit Charter School” companies can go straight to the state of Georgia to get approval and funding for their education profit centers. Local control doesn’t exist for these “For Profit Charter Schools”. (D) Rep. Alisha Morgan is running for state school board chief and her largest contributor is the “For Profit Charter School” business.

Next column, how do educational parasites find and attack their prey?