For instance, the state never informed parents who were new to Title of Liberty and were planning to spend their voucher money there that it had previously been a charter school called ARCHES Academy — which had had its charter revoked last school year due to severe financial issues. Nor that, as a charter, it had a record of dismal academic performance, with just 13% of its students proficient in English and 0% in math in 2023…
Yet just a month after the board's decision, ARCHES was re-creating itself as a renamed, newly religious private school, simply by pivoting to accept voucher dollars. In other words, it was closed down by a public governing body but found a way to keep existing and being funded by the public anyway, just without the standards and accountability that would normally come with taxpayer money…
…Still, she said, it's "on you" to check the credentials and the criminal history of every private school founder and provider to whom you're considering paying your ESA dollars, because in Arizona, "anybody can start a private school, you have no idea." There are mostly "just rumors to rely on," she said. …
"You're putting your kid in [a school], hoping it's going to work," Cross said. "If it closes midyear, you're kind of screwed."…
https://www.propublica.org/article/arizona-private-school-vouchers-no-transparency
No comments:
Post a Comment