Charter Schools Are Big Business. Who's Making Money Off Public Education?

With Arizona public schools struggling to raise students’ standardized test scores, the Legislature in 1994 began a grand experiment: charter schools.

They were exempted from state procurement or conflict-of-interest laws and the oversight of elected boards. With less regulation, charters could succeed where traditional public schools had failed, proponents argued.

Today, about 16 percent of Arizona students attend a charter school. And one of the state’s big chains, Basis, operates some of the best public schools in the country.

But not all charters are academic powerhouses, and some have turned into cash cows through multi-million-dollar business deals between charter schools and their founders.

With funding for Arizona traditional public schools ranking near the bottom nationally, charter school critics say the state can ill afford to let profiteers line their pockets with funds that should go to the classroom. Some argue charters should have to be as transparent about their spending as traditional public schools.

Learn more at the Arizona Republic