St. Louis PD follows the paper trail to investigate for-profit charter schools
Elisa Crouch of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch looked into Imagine Schools Inc., the nation's largest charter school operator. This image is from Imagine Schools' website: http://www.imagineschools.com.
Elisa Crouch of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch helped me understand why I see so many charter school billboards: it’s a for-profit business. Elisa looks closely at St. Louis schools operated by Imagine Schools Inc., the nation’s largest charter school operator. She finds that the real estate deals often overshadow the students, who haven’t performed well on standardized tests and often lack basic materials. She writes:
“Nevertheless, those schools are generating millions of dollars for Imagine and a Kansas City-based real estate investment company through real estate arrangements ultimately supported with public education money.
“The deals are part of a strategy that has fueled Imagine’s national expansion. In most cases, Imagine sells its buildings to another company that leases them back to Imagine, with the schools themselves shouldering the rent with public funds.”
Imagine operates in 13 states and the District of Columbia; check this map to see if one of its schools is