We see some familiar names here. This article highlights our areas of concern.
“In late February, the North Carolina chapter of the Americans for Prosperity Foundation — a group co-founded by the libertarian billionaire Koch brothers — embarked on what it billed as a statewide tour of charter schools, a cornerstone of the group’s education agenda…Many of these companies are becoming political players in their states, working to shape the still-emerging set of rules charters must play by. A few, including Mitchell’s company, have aligned themselves with influential conservative groups, such as Americans for Prosperity and the Koch-supported American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC…To Mitchell, his schools are simply an example of the triumph of the free market. ‘People here think it’s unholy if you make a profit’ from schools, he said in July, while attending a country-club luncheon to celebrate the legacy of free-market sage Milton Friedman.
“It’s impossible to know how much Mitchell is taking home in profits from his companies. He’s fought to keep most of the financial details secret. Still, audited financial statements show that over six years, companies owned by Mitchell took in close to $20 million in revenue from his first two schools…Settled into the southeastern part of the state, Mitchell quickly connected with the state’s big political players, including conservative kingmaker Art Pope. By 2002, he was sitting alongside Pope on the board of the John Locke Foundation. The foundation is part of the State Policy Network, a Koch-supported group of think tanks whose agenda includes steering public funds away from traditional schools and toward charters, vouchers and tax credits for homeschoolers. [KPI is Kansas’ State Policy Network member.]…But comparing the performance of these two schools to their traditional-school counterparts is complicated by the fact that they have comparatively low percentages of needy students, who tend to score lower on standardized tests. For instance, 37 percent of test-takers at Columbus Charter School earlier this year were “economically disadvantaged,” compared to the county’s 74 percent. The two schools do not provide busing or participate in the federal free and reduced-price lunch program — services that are considered key to ensuring broad access.”
Read more here: http://www.propublica.org/article/charter-school-power-broker-turns-public-education-into-private-profits