In Florida, $55 million for charter buildings, zero for district schools

by David Safier

Ah, yes, the "Florida Educational Miracle," Gov. Rick Scott edition. They love them some charter schools — district schools, not so much. So they're giving $55 million for charter school building construction and maintenance. Older district schools, far more in need of maintenance, are getting nothing.

Here's an example.

The charter school operated for children of employees of The Villages, the Republican stronghold in north Lake County frequented by Scott and former President George W. Bush, is expected to receive about $1 million.

It's great to be rich and know the right people, ain't it?

The current conservative push in Arizona is to "equalize" funding between charter and district schools. Charters don't generally furnish transportion or food, most have fewer minority students, far fewer ELL students, and almost no special ed students, who are the most expensive students by far. But they want the same amount of money anyway. Translation: they want more money. Florida, who we're using as a model, is leading the way.