WTF of the week: 80% of charter schools in Michigan run by for-profit corporations

From E.D. Kain:

Four out of five charter schools in Michigan are run by for-profit corporations. Let that sink in a minute. This should be deeply, deeply troubling for anyone thinking about their child’s future education, or the future of this country.

We’ve had years to examine for-profit education results at the higher education level. Companies like University of Phoenix and others cost taxpayers money, provide subpar education, serve as diploma mills, and prey on students who may never be able to pay back the tens of thousands of dollars in student loans they take on. They even prey on military veterans and active-duty service members.

We should be terrified of this happening to our public schools. Yet here it is happening nonetheless, all across the country. The corporate takeover of public education is underway, though its origins may be in the good intentions of people like Dr. Miron and the well-meaning efforts of school reformers to improve the education prospects of our children.

Meanwhile, in Texas, for-profit corporations have cornered the market on alternative certification for teachers. More than half of new teacher hires in Texas now come through these alternative certification programs, many of which include no actual teaching as part of the training process.

Finally, your child can attend for-profit schools stocked with teachers trained by for-profit companies, then graduate and attend a for-profit college, and then work for one of those for-profit companies!