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Charter Schools: Separate But Equal on Steroids
Yet another business opportunity for grifters
The sad reality is that all too often when unscrupulous businesses take advantage of unwary consumers, they target the most vulnerable populations. Consider how finance companies target high-interest rate loans to those least able to afford them. Or how payday lenders offer short-term loans for interest rates as high as 780 percent or more. Or how mortgage brokers enticed aspiring homeowners with the low initial rates of adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs), leading us into our great financial crisis of 2007.
The rallying cry of the defenders of these predatory industries is often “the people could have chosen not to borrow the money” or “they didn’t really need that big house or that nice car.” But when you dangle money today to help a family whose income does not pay for basic living expenses, is that really a choice? Why is the American dream increasingly only afforded by the very rich?
Consider the proliferation of charter schools. So-called because they are run by private entities who sign a contract, or a charter, with a sponsoring organization such as a school district to operate a school with public funds. The requirements placed upon these operations are often meager, under the pretense that such freedom will lead to innovation. As…
