Charter schools get a second helping of free money
Established charter schools are able to tap into grants meant to help start-ups by nesting schools within schools. Sometimes the two schools share everything, from staffers to teachers to buildings.
BY SCOTT HIAASEN AND KATHLEEN MCGRORY
SHIAASEN@MIAMIHERALD.COM
From the outside, it looks like a single school, with one main door, one security guard, one principal greeting students.
But on paper, the Charter School of Excellence at Tamarac is actually two schools in one — a bookkeeping strategy allowing the school to collect an extra $250,000 in grant money from the state.
The grant money is intended to help new charter schools get started. But several South Florida charter school operators have tapped into this money by creating new “schools” within existing schools. In many cases, the two schools are indistinguishable, sharing the same building, equipment and administrators.
The practice is perfectly legal, state and federal education officials say. But some critics say this allows