U.S. government wasted millions on charter schools that never opened

Dec 10, 20190

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North Carolina education leaders on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2019 turned down a new Native American charter school but disagreed over whether the denial was because of the school's portrayal of U.S. history.

More than 35% of charter schools funded by the federal Charter School Program between 2006 and 2014 either never opened or were shut down, costing taxpayers more than half a billion dollars, according to a new report from an advocacy group that reviewed records of nearly 5,000 schools. The state with the most charter schools that never opened was Michigan, home to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.

The report, titled "Still Asleep at the Wheel," said that 537 "ghost schools" never opened but received a total of more than $45.5 million in federal startup funding. That was more than 11% of all of the schools that received funding from the Charter School Program (CSP), which began giving grants in 1995.

http://www.startribune.com/u-s-government-wasted-millions-on-charter-schools-that-never-opened/565996071/