Funding for Charter Schools Mapped

[Caiyuo]

Interactive map @ http://news.muckety.com/2011/10/06/c...-network/34471

A map of the funders of the charter school movement looks much like a map of the funders of the conservative wing of the Republican Party.

To create the map below, we started with the Alliance for School Choice, an organization headed by Betsy DeVos, former chair of the Michigan Republican Party.

DeVos is the sister of Erik Prince, founder of Blackwater. Her mother, Elsa Prince Broekhuizen, is a big donor to conservative organizations such as Focus on the Family and the Media Research Center. Broekhuizen was also a major contributor to the effort to outlaw same-sex marriage in California.

The alliance is affiliated with the American Federation for Children, also chaired by Betsy DeVos.

Carrie Penner, a director of both organizations, is also on the board of the Walton Family Foundation, run by the Wal-Mart heirs. The Waltons give generously to charter school organizations around the country. (See a larger, expanded version of the map.)

You’ll note in both versions of the map connections to conservative think tanks and nonprofits, including the Hoover Institution, the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research and the Federalist Society.

[Caiyuo]

I think it serves to further make the point that with both charter school performance being only about 17% better than public schools in reading & math and the sources of funding for the push of charter schools, it's much more about politics than actually improving education in America.

[Dimmauk]

My mother sent me an email about my daughter's school being running by terrorist Muslims. They do have alot of middle eastern people that work there. LOL it's the Harmony school of innovation, and I've been happy so with how it is run.

[scrockstar]

I think it serves to further make the point that with both charter school performance being only about 17% better than public schools in reading & math and the sources of funding for the push of charter schools, it's much more about politics than actually improving education in America.

Keep in mind that many charter schools are placed in areas where most public school fall way below the national average in test scores. So that 17% higher than the national average is actually significant. If you ever walk into a low income area public school and then a charter school in the same area, the difference is night and day.

Having said that, I've meet 3 individuals who run charter schools and they sell the idea pretty hard. Despite the fact that they see it as the "cure" for the educational system in American I have a hard time believing that it is.

1. They cost a lot of money to run and depend on outside contributions for much of their operating costs. I doubt there is enough money to turn every public school into a charter school.

2. They hire teachers who "buy into the product". These teachers are the kind who don't want to do just the minimum and believe they are making a difference. Whether they are or not they actually are making a difference is irrelevant. There is a finite amount of teachers who fit this criteria.

3. The people who run these schools (well, the ones I've met) are extremely charismatic and natural leaders. They seem to be able to get everyone else at the school to buy into the product. I wonder how much of their success can be attributed to their educational model and not to the people who run these schools. In my mind these schools will be hard to "mass produce".

[quannum]

4. They cook their books

[notorious bum]

Oops, guess that propaganda film 'American Teacher' wasn't as honest as you first thought.