Charter Schools Do Not Make Money on Charter Schools

Frank Biden, President of Maverick Charter Schools, says that Charter School Companies do not make money on the Charter Schools -- they make money on the real estate.

That is insulting.

Charter schools exist in large part because public schools are set in their ways, they have some great teachers, many good teachers, and some bad teachers. To make matters worse, public schools are too often run like a monopoly. For a long time parents had a challenge, "Take it or leave it".

Now parents are leaving in droves -- often for charter schools that invest even less money in education than the cash strapped public schools, because so much money is paid to the Charter School companies for management fees and rent.

Biden's comments are insulting. It is like a razor company saying they do not make money on the razor, but what is not said is they make a ton on the razor blades.

Shedding light on their practices helps, but what is really needed is for public schools to improve and take away the shine from the charter schools. If this were to happen, public school attendance would increase, the could add back services, and charter schools would no longer be a cash cow to their management companies.