Madison (WI) charter school would cost up to $28,000 per student

[spedtr90]

The headline "Madison Prep charter school would cost up to $28,000 per student, estimates say"
shared the front page of the Wisconsin State Journal with the governor's attack on unions - no negotiations, double employee payments for health care, call out the National Guard just in case.

In the article it says,..."preliminary estimates by developers of Madison Preparatory Academy peg the cost to the school district in 2012-13 at more than $1.8 million, or about $21,000 per student."

"A Republican charter school bill circulated in the Legislature this week could also alter the landscape. The bill would allow charter schools to receive approval from a state board, rather than a local school board, and those that don't use district employees, like Madison Prep, would be able to access the state retirement and health care systems."

http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/education/local_schools/article_97dd75fc-365a-11e0-8353-001cc4c03286.html


Excuse me...I must leave now to bang my head against the wall......

[madrchsod]

1. the state board is appointed by the governor and...

reports directly to him.

[midnight]

2. 1.8 million to create specialty schools, but little money to fund public schools.

The mark of the neoliberals... It's a terrible shell game.... And the vulnerable loose...

[mzteris]

3. This is the important part;

"the high cost results from the likelihood that Madison Prep will serve more low-income, non-English speaking and special education students, said Kaleem Caire, president of the Urban League of Greater Madison, which is developing the charter school. The school also plans to have a longer school year, school day and require students to participate in volunteer and extracurricular activities.

"What we're asking for is based on the fact that we're going to serve a high-needs population of kids," Caire said. "We don't know yet if what we're projecting is out of line."



Cheaper than incarcerating the non-educated 10 years down the road, n'est pas?

[noamnety]

6. It looks like special ed students

can generally cost about 3 times more. I'm sure it depends on the severity, I'm just looking at this chart:

Composition of Expenditures for U.S. Students With Disabilities Eligible For Special Education 1999-2000


(a little old, it was a quick google search - if anyone wants to find more current data go for it!)

[spedtr90]

9. special ed kids

So will they pick up the state and federal funds for special ed kids too?
Reimbursement for teachers that comes with special ed? ( With actual special ed licenses?)


Will the eventually "counsel out" special ed kids?

[noamnety]

10. If they are supporting special ed students

then I would assume they are getting the appropriate funds for them.

Maybe I am misunderstanding your question.

[spedtr90]

11. special ed reimbursements

If they are getting state & federal funds for special ed, the fact that some of their students will be special ed is not the reason for the higher cost. Wisconsin's public schools are providing for special ed students at less per pupil.

[spedtr90]

8. cheaper than incarcerating the non-educated

Well, even the middle/high income, English-speaking, white, and "smart" kids could end up incarcerated 10 years down the road if they don't get an education.

Seems people who complain about the high cost of education have no problem with the high cost of charters. If the money being tossed around by Gates and others, and money for spent on new charters, went to improve existing schools rather than take money from them, improvements would benefit all. I read here about schools being closed and going without libraries while money is spent on charters to move into public school buildings and take even more from those children.

The same people screaming more money won't solve the problem seem fine with spending more money to "solve the problem".

[Starry Messenger]

4. But "throwing money at the public schools" isn't allowed.

Only to charters for profit. :banghead:

[FBaggins]

5. Is that $28k for ongoing expenses?

Or does it also divide up lots of start-up expenses by the number of students?

[spedtr90]

7. it is annual per pupil cost

I assume the $28,000 is the annual per student cost, according to this from the article:

"The district expects to spend an average of about $15,000 per student this year, said Erik Kass, assistant superintendent for business services. Badger Rock, a charter school planning to open this fall, is expected to cost $13,373 per student."

From the comments to the newspaper article:

FACT: "... (this)school is essentially a publicly funded private school that is not subject to public processes... Because of this, Madison Prep will have to reproduce all central administration and operational functions for itself - a highly inefficient use of public resources. Additionally, the per-pupil amount that the District will hand over to the Urban League to fund this school is not offset by a reduction in staffing or other needs in already existing schools. This means that resources will have to be taken way from already existing schools to pay for this, unlike in the other charter schools in the district...Apart from the 5 year review process, the ULGM and Madison Prep boards are not accountable to the public through our democratically-elected officials for their resource allocation and programming decisions. They will function as any other non-profit Boards function – as fund-raising machines."