#charterschools — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #charterschools, aggregated by home.social.
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'Regulations vary widely from state to state, so “charter school” is more an umbrella term than a specific school structure. Across this broad spectrum, there are numerous examples of both high-performing schools and mismanaged, profit-driven failures. Advocates and opponents of charter schools are quick to cherry-pick from either extreme, trying to characterize them as wholly good or bad. But neither side can extend these anecdotes to the overall system.'
Minnesota, the birthplace of charter schools, needs to lead the way on reforming them
Too often, charter schools are highly segregated, underperform academically and employ underpaid educators
By Jesse Schumann
Minnesota Reformer
https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/05/05/minnesota-the-birthplace-of-charter-schools-needs-to-lead-the-way-on-reforming-them/ -
The story of Seth Andrew, a silver-tongued thief who wreaked havoc in my little Vermont town—until the FBI arrested him for stealing $218,000.
https://www.conferencesthatwork.com/index.php/soapbox/2022/08/seth-andrew
#SethAndrew #thief #MarlboroCollege #Vermont #DemocracyPrep #CharterSchools
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The story of Seth Andrew, a silver-tongued thief who wreaked havoc in my little Vermont town—until the FBI arrested him for stealing $218,000.
https://www.conferencesthatwork.com/index.php/soapbox/2022/08/seth-andrew
#SethAndrew #thief #MarlboroCollege #Vermont #DemocracyPrep #CharterSchools
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The story of Seth Andrew, a silver-tongued thief who wreaked havoc in my little Vermont town—until the FBI arrested him for stealing $218,000.
https://www.conferencesthatwork.com/index.php/soapbox/2022/08/seth-andrew
#SethAndrew #thief #MarlboroCollege #Vermont #DemocracyPrep #CharterSchools
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The story of Seth Andrew, a silver-tongued thief who wreaked havoc in my little Vermont town—until the FBI arrested him for stealing $218,000.
https://www.conferencesthatwork.com/index.php/soapbox/2022/08/seth-andrew
#SethAndrew #thief #MarlboroCollege #Vermont #DemocracyPrep #CharterSchools
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The story of Seth Andrew, a silver-tongued thief who wreaked havoc in my little Vermont town—until the FBI arrested him for stealing $218,000.
https://www.conferencesthatwork.com/index.php/soapbox/2022/08/seth-andrew
#SethAndrew #thief #MarlboroCollege #Vermont #DemocracyPrep #CharterSchools
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Assim Minas Gerais leiloa suas escolas
Governo mineiro vai à B3 para entregar 95 instituições a fundos especulativos. Iniciativa fecha um ciclo que inclui sucateamento, salários achatados e precarização. Fica clara necessidade de reformar Ensino por caminho oposto ao empresarialhttps://outraspalavras.net/alemdamercadoria/assim-minas-gerais-leiloa-suas-escolas/
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The Classical Learning Test Takes Aim at the SAT–ACT Duopoly
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The Classical Learning Test Takes Aim at the SAT–ACT Duopoly
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The Classical Learning Test Takes Aim at the SAT–ACT Duopoly
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The Classical Learning Test Takes Aim at the SAT–ACT Duopoly
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Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow – No trackers, no ads. Black type, white background. Privacy policy: we don't collect or retain any data at all ever period. [Unofficial] @[email protected] ·Pluralistic: Billionaires are a danger to themselves and (especially) us (09 Mar 2026)
https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://pluralistic.net/2026/03/09/autocrats-of-trade-2/
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Indiana advances bill that would 'mandate discrimination' against trans people, ACLU warns
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Indiana advances bill that would 'mandate discrimination' against trans people, ACLU warns
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Indiana advances bill that would 'mandate discrimination' against trans people, ACLU warns
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Indiana advances bill that would 'mandate discrimination' against trans people, ACLU warns
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With Democrats like Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett, who needs Republicans? His (and his donors') charter school scheme is destroying public education. We demand Fully-funded, fully-public schools NOW!
#IndianaNews #Indianapolis #JoeHogsett #ILEA #PublicEducation #CharterSchools
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With Democrats like Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett, who needs Republicans? His (and his donors') charter school scheme is destroying public education. We demand Fully-funded, fully-public schools NOW!
#IndianaNews #Indianapolis #JoeHogsett #ILEA #PublicEducation #CharterSchools
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With Democrats like Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett, who needs Republicans? His (and his donors') charter school scheme is destroying public education. We demand Fully-funded, fully-public schools NOW!
#IndianaNews #Indianapolis #JoeHogsett #ILEA #PublicEducation #CharterSchools
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With Democrats like Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett, who needs Republicans? His (and his donors') charter school scheme is destroying public education. We demand Fully-funded, fully-public schools NOW!
#IndianaNews #Indianapolis #JoeHogsett #ILEA #PublicEducation #CharterSchools
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With Democrats like Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett, who needs Republicans? His (and his donors') charter school scheme is destroying public education. We demand Fully-funded, fully-public schools NOW!
#IndianaNews #Indianapolis #JoeHogsett #ILEA #PublicEducation #CharterSchools
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South Carolina’s Measles Outbreak Illustrates Danger of Vaccine Misinformation
A confluence of larger national trends threaten communities with reemergence of a preventable, potentially deadly virus. -
New Test Case on #StateFunded #Religious #CharterSchools Is Being Assembled
As previously reported, earlier this year the #US. #SupremeCourt split 4-4 on the question of whether the #1stAmendment allows #Oklahoma to authorize and fund a #religiouslysponsored virtual charter #school.
https://religionclause.blogspot.com/2025/11/new-test-case-on-state-funded-religious.html
https://www.jta.org/2025/11/21/united-states/jewish-group-revives-religious-charter-school-fight-in-oklahoma-months-after-test-case-stalled-at-supreme-court -
The story of Seth Andrew, a silver-tongued thief who wreaked havoc in my little Vermont town—until the FBI arrested him for stealing $218,000.
https://www.conferencesthatwork.com/index.php/soapbox/2022/08/seth-andrew
#SethAndrew #thief #MarlboroCollege #Vermont #DemocracyPrep #CharterSchools
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The story of Seth Andrew, a silver-tongued thief who wreaked havoc in my little Vermont town—until the FBI arrested him for stealing $218,000.
https://www.conferencesthatwork.com/index.php/soapbox/2022/08/seth-andrew
#SethAndrew #thief #MarlboroCollege #Vermont #DemocracyPrep #CharterSchools
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The story of Seth Andrew, a silver-tongued thief who wreaked havoc in my little Vermont town—until the FBI arrested him for stealing $218,000.
https://www.conferencesthatwork.com/index.php/soapbox/2022/08/seth-andrew
#SethAndrew #thief #MarlboroCollege #Vermont #DemocracyPrep #CharterSchools
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The story of Seth Andrew, a silver-tongued thief who wreaked havoc in my little Vermont town—until the FBI arrested him for stealing $218,000.
https://www.conferencesthatwork.com/index.php/soapbox/2022/08/seth-andrew
#SethAndrew #thief #MarlboroCollege #Vermont #DemocracyPrep #CharterSchools
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The story of Seth Andrew, a silver-tongued thief who wreaked havoc in my little Vermont town—until the FBI arrested him for stealing $218,000.
https://www.conferencesthatwork.com/index.php/soapbox/2022/08/seth-andrew
#SethAndrew #thief #MarlboroCollege #Vermont #DemocracyPrep #CharterSchools
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"...the Charter School model is just totally, fundamentally flawed. Labour will repeal the Charter School model, we'll deal with any schools that have been established in the meantime on a case-by-case basis ..."
#ChrisHipkins, NZ Labour leader, 2025
This is the kind of bottom line we need to hear more of from Labour. "Charter Schools" can be converted to Special Character schools, just like the last lot.
#podcasts #WaateaNews #BradburyGroup #education #CharterSchools
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"...the Charter School model is just totally, fundamentally flawed. Labour will repeal the Charter School model, we'll deal with any schools that have been established in the meantime on a case-by-case basis ..."
#ChrisHipkins, NZ Labour leader, 2025
This is the kind of bottom line we need to hear more of from Labour. "Charter Schools" can be converted to Special Character schools, just like the last lot.
#podcasts #WaateaNews #BradburyGroup #education #CharterSchools
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"...the Charter School model is just totally, fundamentally flawed. Labour will repeal the Charter School model, we'll deal with any schools that have been established in the meantime on a case-by-case basis ..."
#ChrisHipkins, NZ Labour leader, 2025
This is the kind of bottom line we need to hear more of from Labour. "Charter Schools" can be converted to Special Character schools, just like the last lot.
#podcasts #WaateaNews #BradburyGroup #education #CharterSchools
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"...the Charter School model is just totally, fundamentally flawed. Labour will repeal the Charter School model, we'll deal with any schools that have been established in the meantime on a case-by-case basis ..."
#ChrisHipkins, NZ Labour leader, 2025
This is the kind of bottom line we need to hear more of from Labour. "Charter Schools" can be converted to Special Character schools, just like the last lot.
#podcasts #WaateaNews #BradburyGroup #education #CharterSchools
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Eww gross. Rimmer is using the wellbeing of autistic people to shill his corporate schools nonsense;
This could have been started just as easily as a so-called special character school within the public school system. With much better protections for the rights and interests of students, parents and staff.
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Privatize!! Privatize!! Privatize!! Long live the dictatorship of the Market!!!
"ducation Secretary Linda McMahon has been clear about her desire to shut down the agency she runs. She’s laid off half the staff and joked about padlocking the door.
She calls it “the final mission.”
But the department is not behaving like an agency that is simply winding down. Even as McMahon has shrunk the Department of Education, she’s operated in what she calls “a parallel universe” to radically shift how children will learn for years to come. The department’s actions and policies reflect a disdain for public schools and a desire to dismantle that system in favor of a range of other options — private, Christian and virtual schools or homeschooling.
Over just eight months, department officials have opened a $500 million tap for charter schools, a huge outlay for an option that often draws children from traditional public schools. They have repeatedly urged states to spend federal money for poor and at-risk students at private schools and businesses. And they have threatened penalties for public schools that offer programs to address historic inequities for Black or Hispanic students.
McMahon has described her agency moving “at lightning rocket speed,” and the department’s actions in just one week in September reflect that urgency.
Over just eight months, department officials have opened a $500 million tap for charter schools, a huge outlay for an option that often draws children from traditional public schools."
https://www.propublica.org/article/education-department-public-schools-activists-linda-mcmahon-trump
#USA #Trump #Schools #Education #CharterSchools #Privatization
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A proposed Queenstown charter school has had its fast-track application refused.
The libertarian Liger Leadership Academy set up in QT in 2022 and operate in an office building in Frankton, catering to around 40 students. Their new school would have held 250 and was part of the 'Coronet Village' proposal which seems to have gone belly up since Rod Drury walked away.
However Ligar had already announced that they'd close their existing school at the end of this year and replace it with the charmingly named 'Atlas High School'.
Is that name a tilt to Seymour? One can only shrug.
https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/queenstown/shock-after-charter-school-application-rejected
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>So far, 48 charter operators—which are required to be nonprofits, governmental entities, or higher education institutions—have received at least $735 million in state and federal funds (passed through the school districts) under the program SB 1882 inaugurated, which came to be called “Texas Partnerships.” These operators largely control the budgets and operations of the public schools they helm.
The nonprofit distinction is pointless when those nonprofits are permitted to funnel the vast majority of their income to for-profit entities that do the actual education work.
>Under most Texas Partnership contracts, school districts retain the responsibility to maintain facilities, furniture, and equipment, offer transportation and meals to students, and provide special education services, but they give up control over administration, curriculum, and budgets.
Textbook case of privatize the profits and socialize the costs.
>In response to an Observer question about the Beaumont school’s academic performance, a spokesperson for Green Dot Public Schools noted via email that its related organization, Green Dot Public Schools Southeast Texas, ran the school and was dissolved in June 2024, adding: “We do not have additional background or context that we can provide.”
Its *shell company*. Call it what it is.
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An interesting thought experiment: what if teachers collectively chose to form these non-profits themselves? And ran the schools as they saw fit? Education co-ops, perhaps.
>Shelly Haney, a longtime educator, turned Midland ISD’s Goddard Junior High from an F-rated to a C-rated school as principal from 2013 to 2019. That’s why, in 2019, then-superintendent Orlando Riddick asked her, while she was still Goddard’s principal, to start a nonprofit and apply for a Texas Partnership contract to run the school in addition to Bunche Elementary School and later other elementaries, Haney said. The charter organization would be called the REACH Network.
Yay! So it's been tried at least.
>But Haney ran into the same obstacles that her predecessors at Bunche had faced: community poverty, low teacher retention, and then COVID-19. There were early signs of trouble when Bunche’s new principal quit in September 2019, four weeks after the school year started. Three more principals left during the four years REACH was in operation. Amid teacher shortages that got worse during the pandemic, Midland ISD waived certification requirements —as allowed under state law—and there were fewer experienced teachers available in the district’s hiring pool to help carry out reforms, Haney told the Observer.
So there is no Stand and Deliver magic formula to addressing poverty, I take it. For this approach to work, the co-op will need broader political and economic support.
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>There’s also no record that School Innovation Collaborative applied for federal tax-exempt status in the Internal Revenue Service database. San Antonio ISD terminated its contract early with the organization in 2023. CEO Doug Dawson did not respond to the Observer’s request for comment.
>
>Colbert described those kinds of paperwork issues as red flags. “These are public tax dollars that are going to pay these people, and there are requirements of the law that they’re not meeting,” he said.What in the actual fuck? That's a red flag alright. But it's a red flag for the boards inking the contracts. We're talking absolutely basic, due diligence 101 shit here.
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>Regarding Texas Partnership operators in general, Quinzi, the teachers union legal counsel, said: “They’re going to put as much money into their pockets and the least amount of money in the classroom.”
At least the union rep knows how to tell it like it is. All of the trustees and politicians quoted in this article keep dancing around the core contradiction.
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Finally: this article was very heavy in data. It needed graphs. Badly. But seeing as we're going to be implementing similar bad ideas on a much larger scale going forward here in Texas, the author is at least not going to be lacking in data for the foreseeable future.
#Texas #txlege #vouchers #education #SchoolVouchers #SchoolChoice #txpol #CharterSchools #NPIC #501c3 #NonProfit #NonProfitIndustrialComplex
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>So far, 48 charter operators—which are required to be nonprofits, governmental entities, or higher education institutions—have received at least $735 million in state and federal funds (passed through the school districts) under the program SB 1882 inaugurated, which came to be called “Texas Partnerships.” These operators largely control the budgets and operations of the public schools they helm.
The nonprofit distinction is pointless when those nonprofits are permitted to funnel the vast majority of their income to for-profit entities that do the actual education work.
>Under most Texas Partnership contracts, school districts retain the responsibility to maintain facilities, furniture, and equipment, offer transportation and meals to students, and provide special education services, but they give up control over administration, curriculum, and budgets.
Textbook case of privatize the profits and socialize the costs.
>In response to an Observer question about the Beaumont school’s academic performance, a spokesperson for Green Dot Public Schools noted via email that its related organization, Green Dot Public Schools Southeast Texas, ran the school and was dissolved in June 2024, adding: “We do not have additional background or context that we can provide.”
Its *shell company*. Call it what it is.
------
An interesting thought experiment: what if teachers collectively chose to form these non-profits themselves? And ran the schools as they saw fit? Education co-ops, perhaps.
>Shelly Haney, a longtime educator, turned Midland ISD’s Goddard Junior High from an F-rated to a C-rated school as principal from 2013 to 2019. That’s why, in 2019, then-superintendent Orlando Riddick asked her, while she was still Goddard’s principal, to start a nonprofit and apply for a Texas Partnership contract to run the school in addition to Bunche Elementary School and later other elementaries, Haney said. The charter organization would be called the REACH Network.
Yay! So it's been tried at least.
>But Haney ran into the same obstacles that her predecessors at Bunche had faced: community poverty, low teacher retention, and then COVID-19. There were early signs of trouble when Bunche’s new principal quit in September 2019, four weeks after the school year started. Three more principals left during the four years REACH was in operation. Amid teacher shortages that got worse during the pandemic, Midland ISD waived certification requirements —as allowed under state law—and there were fewer experienced teachers available in the district’s hiring pool to help carry out reforms, Haney told the Observer.
So there is no Stand and Deliver magic formula to addressing poverty, I take it. For this approach to work, the co-op will need broader political and economic support.
------
>There’s also no record that School Innovation Collaborative applied for federal tax-exempt status in the Internal Revenue Service database. San Antonio ISD terminated its contract early with the organization in 2023. CEO Doug Dawson did not respond to the Observer’s request for comment.
>
>Colbert described those kinds of paperwork issues as red flags. “These are public tax dollars that are going to pay these people, and there are requirements of the law that they’re not meeting,” he said.What in the actual fuck? That's a red flag alright. But it's a red flag for the boards inking the contracts. We're talking absolutely basic, due diligence 101 shit here.
------
>Regarding Texas Partnership operators in general, Quinzi, the teachers union legal counsel, said: “They’re going to put as much money into their pockets and the least amount of money in the classroom.”
At least the union rep knows how to tell it like it is. All of the trustees and politicians quoted in this article keep dancing around the core contradiction.
------
Finally: this article was very heavy in data. It needed graphs. Badly. But seeing as we're going to be implementing similar bad ideas on a much larger scale going forward here in Texas, the author is at least not going to be lacking in data for the foreseeable future.
#Texas #txlege #vouchers #education #SchoolVouchers #SchoolChoice #txpol #CharterSchools #NPIC #501c3 #NonProfit #NonProfitIndustrialComplex
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>So far, 48 charter operators—which are required to be nonprofits, governmental entities, or higher education institutions—have received at least $735 million in state and federal funds (passed through the school districts) under the program SB 1882 inaugurated, which came to be called “Texas Partnerships.” These operators largely control the budgets and operations of the public schools they helm.
The nonprofit distinction is pointless when those nonprofits are permitted to funnel the vast majority of their income to for-profit entities that do the actual education work.
>Under most Texas Partnership contracts, school districts retain the responsibility to maintain facilities, furniture, and equipment, offer transportation and meals to students, and provide special education services, but they give up control over administration, curriculum, and budgets.
Textbook case of privatize the profits and socialize the costs.
>In response to an Observer question about the Beaumont school’s academic performance, a spokesperson for Green Dot Public Schools noted via email that its related organization, Green Dot Public Schools Southeast Texas, ran the school and was dissolved in June 2024, adding: “We do not have additional background or context that we can provide.”
Its *shell company*. Call it what it is.
------
An interesting thought experiment: what if teachers collectively chose to form these non-profits themselves? And ran the schools as they saw fit? Education co-ops, perhaps.
>Shelly Haney, a longtime educator, turned Midland ISD’s Goddard Junior High from an F-rated to a C-rated school as principal from 2013 to 2019. That’s why, in 2019, then-superintendent Orlando Riddick asked her, while she was still Goddard’s principal, to start a nonprofit and apply for a Texas Partnership contract to run the school in addition to Bunche Elementary School and later other elementaries, Haney said. The charter organization would be called the REACH Network.
Yay! So it's been tried at least.
>But Haney ran into the same obstacles that her predecessors at Bunche had faced: community poverty, low teacher retention, and then COVID-19. There were early signs of trouble when Bunche’s new principal quit in September 2019, four weeks after the school year started. Three more principals left during the four years REACH was in operation. Amid teacher shortages that got worse during the pandemic, Midland ISD waived certification requirements —as allowed under state law—and there were fewer experienced teachers available in the district’s hiring pool to help carry out reforms, Haney told the Observer.
So there is no Stand and Deliver magic formula to addressing poverty, I take it. For this approach to work, the co-op will need broader political and economic support.
------
>There’s also no record that School Innovation Collaborative applied for federal tax-exempt status in the Internal Revenue Service database. San Antonio ISD terminated its contract early with the organization in 2023. CEO Doug Dawson did not respond to the Observer’s request for comment.
>
>Colbert described those kinds of paperwork issues as red flags. “These are public tax dollars that are going to pay these people, and there are requirements of the law that they’re not meeting,” he said.What in the actual fuck? That's a red flag alright. But it's a red flag for the boards inking the contracts. We're talking absolutely basic, due diligence 101 shit here.
------
>Regarding Texas Partnership operators in general, Quinzi, the teachers union legal counsel, said: “They’re going to put as much money into their pockets and the least amount of money in the classroom.”
At least the union rep knows how to tell it like it is. All of the trustees and politicians quoted in this article keep dancing around the core contradiction.
------
Finally: this article was very heavy in data. It needed graphs. Badly. But seeing as we're going to be implementing similar bad ideas on a much larger scale going forward here in Texas, the author is at least not going to be lacking in data for the foreseeable future.
#Texas #txlege #vouchers #education #SchoolVouchers #SchoolChoice #txpol #CharterSchools #NPIC #501c3 #NonProfit #NonProfitIndustrialComplex
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>So far, 48 charter operators—which are required to be nonprofits, governmental entities, or higher education institutions—have received at least $735 million in state and federal funds (passed through the school districts) under the program SB 1882 inaugurated, which came to be called “Texas Partnerships.” These operators largely control the budgets and operations of the public schools they helm.
The nonprofit distinction is pointless when those nonprofits are permitted to funnel the vast majority of their income to for-profit entities that do the actual education work.
>Under most Texas Partnership contracts, school districts retain the responsibility to maintain facilities, furniture, and equipment, offer transportation and meals to students, and provide special education services, but they give up control over administration, curriculum, and budgets.
Textbook case of privatize the profits and socialize the costs.
>In response to an Observer question about the Beaumont school’s academic performance, a spokesperson for Green Dot Public Schools noted via email that its related organization, Green Dot Public Schools Southeast Texas, ran the school and was dissolved in June 2024, adding: “We do not have additional background or context that we can provide.”
Its *shell company*. Call it what it is.
------
An interesting thought experiment: what if teachers collectively chose to form these non-profits themselves? And ran the schools as they saw fit? Education co-ops, perhaps.
>Shelly Haney, a longtime educator, turned Midland ISD’s Goddard Junior High from an F-rated to a C-rated school as principal from 2013 to 2019. That’s why, in 2019, then-superintendent Orlando Riddick asked her, while she was still Goddard’s principal, to start a nonprofit and apply for a Texas Partnership contract to run the school in addition to Bunche Elementary School and later other elementaries, Haney said. The charter organization would be called the REACH Network.
Yay! So it's been tried at least.
>But Haney ran into the same obstacles that her predecessors at Bunche had faced: community poverty, low teacher retention, and then COVID-19. There were early signs of trouble when Bunche’s new principal quit in September 2019, four weeks after the school year started. Three more principals left during the four years REACH was in operation. Amid teacher shortages that got worse during the pandemic, Midland ISD waived certification requirements —as allowed under state law—and there were fewer experienced teachers available in the district’s hiring pool to help carry out reforms, Haney told the Observer.
So there is no Stand and Deliver magic formula to addressing poverty, I take it. For this approach to work, the co-op will need broader political and economic support.
------
>There’s also no record that School Innovation Collaborative applied for federal tax-exempt status in the Internal Revenue Service database. San Antonio ISD terminated its contract early with the organization in 2023. CEO Doug Dawson did not respond to the Observer’s request for comment.
>
>Colbert described those kinds of paperwork issues as red flags. “These are public tax dollars that are going to pay these people, and there are requirements of the law that they’re not meeting,” he said.What in the actual fuck? That's a red flag alright. But it's a red flag for the boards inking the contracts. We're talking absolutely basic, due diligence 101 shit here.
------
>Regarding Texas Partnership operators in general, Quinzi, the teachers union legal counsel, said: “They’re going to put as much money into their pockets and the least amount of money in the classroom.”
At least the union rep knows how to tell it like it is. All of the trustees and politicians quoted in this article keep dancing around the core contradiction.
------
Finally: this article was very heavy in data. It needed graphs. Badly. But seeing as we're going to be implementing similar bad ideas on a much larger scale going forward here in Texas, the author is at least not going to be lacking in data for the foreseeable future.
#Texas #txlege #vouchers #education #SchoolVouchers #SchoolChoice #txpol #CharterSchools #NPIC #501c3 #NonProfit #NonProfitIndustrialComplex
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>So far, 48 charter operators—which are required to be nonprofits, governmental entities, or higher education institutions—have received at least $735 million in state and federal funds (passed through the school districts) under the program SB 1882 inaugurated, which came to be called “Texas Partnerships.” These operators largely control the budgets and operations of the public schools they helm.
The nonprofit distinction is pointless when those nonprofits are permitted to funnel the vast majority of their income to for-profit entities that do the actual education work.
>Under most Texas Partnership contracts, school districts retain the responsibility to maintain facilities, furniture, and equipment, offer transportation and meals to students, and provide special education services, but they give up control over administration, curriculum, and budgets.
Textbook case of privatize the profits and socialize the costs.
>In response to an Observer question about the Beaumont school’s academic performance, a spokesperson for Green Dot Public Schools noted via email that its related organization, Green Dot Public Schools Southeast Texas, ran the school and was dissolved in June 2024, adding: “We do not have additional background or context that we can provide.”
Its *shell company*. Call it what it is.
------
An interesting thought experiment: what if teachers collectively chose to form these non-profits themselves? And ran the schools as they saw fit? Education co-ops, perhaps.
>Shelly Haney, a longtime educator, turned Midland ISD’s Goddard Junior High from an F-rated to a C-rated school as principal from 2013 to 2019. That’s why, in 2019, then-superintendent Orlando Riddick asked her, while she was still Goddard’s principal, to start a nonprofit and apply for a Texas Partnership contract to run the school in addition to Bunche Elementary School and later other elementaries, Haney said. The charter organization would be called the REACH Network.
Yay! So it's been tried at least.
>But Haney ran into the same obstacles that her predecessors at Bunche had faced: community poverty, low teacher retention, and then COVID-19. There were early signs of trouble when Bunche’s new principal quit in September 2019, four weeks after the school year started. Three more principals left during the four years REACH was in operation. Amid teacher shortages that got worse during the pandemic, Midland ISD waived certification requirements —as allowed under state law—and there were fewer experienced teachers available in the district’s hiring pool to help carry out reforms, Haney told the Observer.
So there is no Stand and Deliver magic formula to addressing poverty, I take it. For this approach to work, the co-op will need broader political and economic support.
------
>There’s also no record that School Innovation Collaborative applied for federal tax-exempt status in the Internal Revenue Service database. San Antonio ISD terminated its contract early with the organization in 2023. CEO Doug Dawson did not respond to the Observer’s request for comment.
>
>Colbert described those kinds of paperwork issues as red flags. “These are public tax dollars that are going to pay these people, and there are requirements of the law that they’re not meeting,” he said.What in the actual fuck? That's a red flag alright. But it's a red flag for the boards inking the contracts. We're talking absolutely basic, due diligence 101 shit here.
------
>Regarding Texas Partnership operators in general, Quinzi, the teachers union legal counsel, said: “They’re going to put as much money into their pockets and the least amount of money in the classroom.”
At least the union rep knows how to tell it like it is. All of the trustees and politicians quoted in this article keep dancing around the core contradiction.
------
Finally: this article was very heavy in data. It needed graphs. Badly. But seeing as we're going to be implementing similar bad ideas on a much larger scale going forward here in Texas, the author is at least not going to be lacking in data for the foreseeable future.
#Texas #txlege #vouchers #education #SchoolVouchers #SchoolChoice #txpol #CharterSchools #NPIC #501c3 #NonProfit #NonProfitIndustrialComplex
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"charter schools are a difficult business proposition ... 'It’s a sector where investors can of course find great opportunities but they have to be careful, and carefully manage expectations.'"
Why TF does a publicly funded charter school serving low-income children with our local taxpayer dollars have "investors" and a "business proposition"?
Yes there is an affordable housing crisis in the Bay Area, and declining enrollments for many school districts - but parasitic arrangements like this one, which suck tax dollars out of local public schools, are part of the problem.
(disclosure, I know teachers who used to work at DCP.)
#CharterSchools #privatization #education #grift
https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/06/25/californias-sky-high-housing-prices-spur-charter-school-default/ -
As Indy charter struggled, ex-CEO’s school credit card shows charges for steakhouses, wine, StubHub
"Lengthy period of questionable transactions raises concerns about oversight of Indianapolis charter schools, which receive state funding like other public schools...Matchbook Learning took over IPS’ K-8 School 63 in 2018 as part of the district’s Innovation Network — but the turnaround strategy has largely failed to improve academic results"
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The story of Seth Andrew, a silver-tongued thief who wreaked havoc in my little Vermont town—until the FBI arrested him for stealing $218,000.
https://www.conferencesthatwork.com/index.php/soapbox/2022/08/seth-andrew
#SethAndrew #thief #MarlboroCollege #Vermont #DemocracyPrep #CharterSchools
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The story of Seth Andrew, a silver-tongued thief who wreaked havoc in my little Vermont town—until the FBI arrested him for stealing $218,000.
https://www.conferencesthatwork.com/index.php/soapbox/2022/08/seth-andrew
#SethAndrew #thief #MarlboroCollege #Vermont #DemocracyPrep #CharterSchools
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The story of Seth Andrew, a silver-tongued thief who wreaked havoc in my little Vermont town—until the FBI arrested him for stealing $218,000.
https://www.conferencesthatwork.com/index.php/soapbox/2022/08/seth-andrew
#SethAndrew #thief #MarlboroCollege #Vermont #DemocracyPrep #CharterSchools
-
The story of Seth Andrew, a silver-tongued thief who wreaked havoc in my little Vermont town—until the FBI arrested him for stealing $218,000.
https://www.conferencesthatwork.com/index.php/soapbox/2022/08/seth-andrew
#SethAndrew #thief #MarlboroCollege #Vermont #DemocracyPrep #CharterSchools
-
The story of Seth Andrew, a silver-tongued thief who wreaked havoc in my little Vermont town—until the FBI arrested him for stealing $218,000.
https://www.conferencesthatwork.com/index.php/soapbox/2022/08/seth-andrew
#SethAndrew #thief #MarlboroCollege #Vermont #DemocracyPrep #CharterSchools
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This is an interesting angle on that #SCOTUS case about a proposed religious charter school in #Oklahoma. Could it disrupt funding for other #CharterSchools?
https://progressive.org/public-schools-advocate/this-supreme-court-decision-could-determine-the-future-of-charter-schools-burris-20250513/?mc_cid=19ba60c387&mc_eid=42caf3e016
