Costly charters

Re the Dec. 14 story Florida gave about $70 million to charter schools that later closed; state recouped little: I did not understand how charter schools operated until my community was confronted with this issue. Why do we allow more charter schools to sprout when the ones that already exist are not doing well? Obviously, charter schools are well represented in Tallahassee. They enter into agreements with churches that are suffering and with property owners who are guaranteed long-term leases.

The charter schools that are successful have created a monster. Charter schools are “non-profit” entities. Their owners create management companies that run these schools with money that comes from Tallahassee to pay bills, salaries — look at the boards of directors! — maintenance, human resources and more.

While our tax money is being disbursed to private business owners, public schools are suffering from lack of funds. Charter schools, basically, are private schools with public funding. There is no transparency in their operaton or enrollment procedures. A lot of children are still being left behind.

Shame on us.

This story was originally published December 14, 2015 at 9:16 PM with the headline "Costly charters."