Charters in the Philadelphia area received more than $30 million in Paycheck Protection Program funds, while public schools in Philadelphia continue to be systematically underfunded. The big winner in the PPP sweepstakes is the for-profit Chester Community Charter School, owned by a major Republican donor and billionaire.One of the largest loans, between $5 million and $10 million, went to Chester Community Charter School (CCCS), which is operated by a for-profit management company owned by wealthy Republican donor Vahan Gureghian.The loan was received by Archway Charter School of Chester, Inc., which is the nonprofit name for CCCS under which it files its 990 tax form.The CCCS charter already received more than $2.5 million from the CARES Act, intended for public schools. So CCCS, which aims for a complete takeover and privatization of its district, is funded both as a “public school” and a small business.
Philly-Area Charters Collect $30 Million+ in PPP Funding
(Dan here…via Diane Ravitch’s blog…)
Philly-Area Charters Collect $30 Million+ in PPP Funding
by dianeravitch
I am a big fan of Geoffrey Canada,Harlem Children’s Zone, and Promise Academy. So, I cannot be generally unsupportive of charter schools. However, this Philadelphia charter school project looks more like crony capitalism than it looks like innovative pedagogy.
Empire building in the name of public service is not uncommon in our education system regardless of whether the organization issuing the checks is private or public. Relationships between school boards and text book publishers are an old problem, but land and construction deals are probably better acknowledged forms of theft in the public sector. Nonetheless, the fanaticism over charter schools has opened up public education funds to theft on a far larger scale than Horace Mann ever imagined possible. An ignorant man cannot be free, but he can be bought.