Big bucks behind charter school advocacy

by David Safier

Progressive-minded supporters of the charter school movement, this should make you wary. Not wary of charters per se. Wary of the people pushing them and what that means about the direction charters are heading.

The Walton Family Foundation puts big bucks into charter school advocacy. These are the Walmart folks — very, very conservative people. Their latest contribution is $900,000 to fund the Florida Charter School Alliance. A million here, a million there . . . For the likes of the Walmart family, that adds up to chump change. (Would that progressives had the kind of money allowing them to start dozens of well-funded organizations which can set up branches in states across the country!)

Deep pocket alliances like the new one in Florida exist all over the country, including in Arizona. The Walton Family Foundation is one of the major contributors to these pro-charter efforts.

Think what a million bucks means to an organization headed by some of Florida's heavy hitters who have the legislators' ears already. It means the Charter School Alliance can get new charter laws to bend in pretty much any direction they want.

What direction is that? Ay, there's the rub. When conservative money funds educational special interest groups, they're looking to maximize privatization, minimize regulation and maximize the ways their buddies can make a profit. Improved education? If it happens, it's a side effect, not a goal.

Corporatization of education. Remember that phrase. Some of us in progressive educational circles support the theory behind charter schools, but in practice, charters are increasingly moving toward the McDonalds franchise model, where lots of money can be made — even if the schools are "non-profit" — and away from the independent schools run by creative, independent educators.