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Health & Fitness

How to Make a Profit off Public Schools

Half the state budget goes to public education and over half of Cobb’s taxes. Yet, public schools are still underfunded by the county and state. Teachers are underpaid, overworked and constantly criticized by people with a political, religious, or business bias.

How can you make any money from this system? It looks like a tick would have a better chance of getting blood from a rock. Corporate parasites are smarter and have a lot more money than any tick.

Problem 1.  Why would a parent take their child out of a quality public school? They wouldn’t.

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Solution 1.  Under fund quality public education and make it bad public education.  Desperate parents will jump at any possibility to get their child a good education. Wouldn’t you?

Problem 2.  How do you funnel money out of the public school system?

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Solution 2.  Building a quality “For-Profit” Charter School (FPCS) outside of the public school system is not profitable. Trained teachers, small classes, counselors, administrators, and transportation are expensive.  Cut costs by hiring unaccredited teachers and staff, then reduce benefits. Have large classes. Prohibit Special Needs and disruptive students. Toss out underperforming or problem kids. Inflate test scores by eliminating the weakest students. The bottom line is profit not education. Eliminate transportation, buses cost too much.  

Problem 3.  With this low cost business model, how do you attract parents?

Solution 3.  Lie, exaggerate, distort, confuse, and obfuscate. Promise more than you can deliver. Claim that your business model provides a quality education. Most parents don’t know that FPCS’s do no better than the public school down the street, especially parents in the poorer parts of the county which is the target population. If lying didn’t work, people wouldn’t lie.

In Saturday’s MDJ, it reported the school board candidate forum In Mableton, all candidates supported Charter Schools. It didn’t say what kind of Charter School, Public or Public For-Profit.

Problem 4.  Finding a sales force.

Solution 4.  With billions at stake and ethics a hindrance, create/buy your own team. Republicans are already on the FPCS team. The FPCS industry is looking for a Democratic politician who goes to all the M.L. King Birthday events, votes like a liberal, but has a character flaw that can be exploited.

Problem 5.  How to “influence” Democratic politicians

Solution 5.  Don’t contribute Republican FPCS money to support a candidate. It is counterproductive. Spend anonymously sourced money attacking her opponent.  State Senator Vincent Fort is no friend of the FPCS business and had 7 very expensive critical mailers sent out trying to defeat him, not to support his opponent. When the candidate picked by the FPCS industry wins, she can say that she never had any help from the Dark Side. Thanks to Supreme Court, money can be laundered and names hidden. In addition, use a local Democrat as a conduit for out of state FPCS money. Find a politician or potential politician and explain the biggest campaign problem, getting money, is no problem. The AJC noted a few years ago that School Board member David Morgan of South Cobb was the conduit for Republican pro-voucher school money to other Democrats, and he helped a Republican defeat (D) State Rep. Pat Dooley. 

Problem 6.   Pesky local oversight.

Local school boards have accepted plans from FPCS that were well written, looked financially sound, and then supplied public money. Local school boards also provided oversight and accountability and when the FPCS did not perform, the money was cut off.

Solution 6.  Eliminate local school boards. Large campaign contributions to the Governor and some of his powerful friends got a constitutional amendment on the ballot that took approval and oversight away from local school boards. Now, it is in the hands of the state. (Amendment 1 passed in 2012). When State School Superintendent John Barge said Amendment 1 hurt public education, Governor Deal removed most of his budget and authority.

Next column: Exactly how does public money find its way into private hands?    

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