Health & Fitness
Charter Schools: The Worst of Both Worlds
We have all been warned about the dangers of mixing government with religion but what about mixing government with business?
There has been a relatively recent push to form semi-private government entities. The sheer size of the resulting bureaucracy prevents accountability. It starts with “privatizing” or “outsourcing” of services normally performed by our government and elected bodies. What it ends with is the worst of both worlds; a dangerous organization that has total authority over everything and direct responsibility to nobody.
Taxation Without Representation
Charter schools are not governed by a duly elected board. They are publicly funded but independently managed. Taxpayers have no control over pay and benefits for the employees. Homeowners are directly taxed but have no representation on how the money is used. The State has indirect control and oversight of local taxes with no responsibility to provide state funding.
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Fails to Promote a Free Market
Private schools will face unfair competition from charter schools that are capitalized with tax money. Government subsidized charter schools put existing private schools at a serious financial disadvantage. Personnel appointed by state politicians will be deciding which private companies succeed or fail. This produces a toxic business environment that is no longer competitive on merit and free from government influence. These are the same politicians who take campaign money from charter schools and their PACs and super PACs presenting a serious conflict of interest.
Find out what's happening in Genevawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Bankrupt Local School Board and Public Schools
The re-distribution of property taxes to private businesses will in essence defund the public schools. Property taxes will increase and services to students will have to be cut in order to cover the loss of revenue. As public school services decrease, charter schools will become more and more appealing. Loss of revenue will increase exponentially till the district itself is facing bankruptcy. Soon public schools are half empty, deteriorating, and need to be closed and consolidated. Children born of wealth will attend the private institutions and the public school system will be left as ghetto, lacking resources necessary to provide even the most basic of services.
No suburban resident ever said, “We need to manage our school district more like Chicago!” … EVER.
