Imagine Charter Schools have the St. Louis Blues

by David Safier

This has been coming for a long time. Imagine Schools, a for profit company with the most charter schools of any EMO (75 last time I counted), is facing all kinds of problems with its six low performing Missouri schools which enroll a total of 3,800 students.

Missouri Baptist University, which sponsored the schools, is walking away and letting the state clean up the mess by either closing the schools or insisting they be improved.

The Missouri Imagine Schools problem has been festering for years, and the St. Louis papers have done a terrific job of covering the story. Imagine Schools is one of the Big Three nationally in questionable charter school practice. The other two are K12 Inc. and White Hat. All three operate in Arizona, though White Hat is a small player here compared to the others.

Are there any problems with Arizona's 18 Imagine Schools? No one knows, because no journalist has made an effort to pull back the curtain on the AZ operation. With the St. Louis developments and similar problems all over the country, it might be time for someone to take a look at what's happening here. I have a treasure trove of articles about Imagine Schools from all over the country — well over a hundred — which I am happy to share with anyone who wants to take a deeper look.