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Sunday, July 5, 2020

Wendy Lecker: Connecticut Charter Schools Are Double Dipping | Diane Ravitch's blog

Wendy Lecker: Connecticut Charter Schools Are Double Dipping | Diane Ravitch's blog

Wendy Lecker: Connecticut Charter Schools Are Double Dipping



Wendy Lecker is a civil rights attorney who writes often for the Stamford (Ct.) Advicate. she writes here about the disgraceful double dipping of charter schools in Connecticut, taking funds designated for public schools, then seeking and getting federal funds intended for small businesses.
Are charter schools to be defined as public schools or private businesses? When it’s time to get public money, they insist they are public schools, even though they are controlled by private boards. But when the money is for private businesses only, they line up to get the money. They are shape-shifters.
Lecker writes that the charters got their share of money intended for public schools:
With the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act, Congress provided federal aid to public schools, and specifically directed that charter schools receive aid as public schools. Connecticut public school districts and charter schools are receive comparable aid under the CARES Act’s Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (“ESSERF”). For example, New Haven will receive about $8 million, so a CONTINUE READING: Wendy Lecker: Connecticut Charter Schools Are Double Dipping | Diane Ravitch's blog