Shawgi Tell: Charter Schools Have No Valid Claim to Public Property
Shawgi Tell is a professor of education at Nazareth University in New York. He has taken note of states where charter schools are given ownership of public property, where they buy property and supplies with public money but keep title to their purchases if their charter should close. He has seen states that require districts to hand over empty buildings to charter owners for $1, which then becomes their private property. He thinks these transfers of public assets to private ownership are wrong.
He bases his argument on the belief that public property belongs to taxpayers, but charter schools are privately owned.
He writes:
Public facilities and infrastructure are produced by the working class and people and belong to the public. They exist in order to serve the common good and to contribute to the extended reproduction of society.
This collectively-produced wealth must not be handed over to competing owners of capital who are only concerned with maximizing profit as fast as possible, regardless of the damage caused to society and the environment. Socially-produced wealth must be off limits to narrow private interests. The aims and purposes of the CONTINUE READING: Shawgi Tell: Charter Schools Have No Valid Claim to Public Property | Diane Ravitch's blog