Charter School Finances
December 7th, 2009
Back when the push for charter schools began in the 1990s, their advocates said that this new model of public financing and private control would save money. Freed of regulations and not bound by union contracts, the line went, these schools could provide a quality education at a discount price.
What a difference a decade make. Several recent reports make clear that, while charter schools may or may not provide a better education, they certainly do not do that for a discount price. Many charter school leaders freely admit they raise money to augment their per-pupil financing from the Department of Education, and they do not mean a bake sale here and there either.
The Times reported yesterday that charter schools have become the pet cause of hedge fund managers. The board of Harlem Success Academy 4, boosted by John Petry and Joel Greenblatt of Gotham Capital, has pledged to raise $1.3 million to help the school in its first three years.
Last spring billionaire Eli Broad announced he would give $2.5 million to help two charter groups: Harlem Success and Uncommon Schools.
Harlem Success seems to be a particular favorite of the rich. It reportedly raised $8 million between its founding in 2006 and last April.
Education blogger Ken Hirsh reviewed charter school filings for 39 schools 2007-2007 school years and found they received at least $11.6 million — or $1,175 per student — in donations beyond their allocation of public money.
Charter schools say the money is essential because the school get not money for physical plant (although the city certainly helps them find space).
But the money buys other things as well, such as, in many, a longer school days and smaller class size — and higher salaries for administrators. Geoffrey Canada, the president and CEO of the Harlem Children’s Zone, which runs the Promise Academy Charters, makes $494,269 a year. The Children Zone, does, though, so a lot more than run charters.
Former City Councilmember Eva Moskowitz, the head of the Harlem Success Academy schools makes $396,750 a year. On average, researcher Kim Gittleson found, the top earner at a charter school or charter management organization makes $169,772.
For comparison, Joel Klein makes $250,000. He’s responsible for a system with well over a thousand schools and 1.1 million students. Moskowitz runs four schools with a total enrollment of less than 1,400.
By Gail Robinson on December 7, 2009, 4:34 pmIn category: Gotham City | 2 Comments »


December 8th, 2009 at 5:47 pm
James D. Merriman, chief executive officer of the New York City Charter School Center, sent this response:
To the extent that your comment regarding whether charter schools provide a better education was directed specifically at New York City’s charters (as the context makes it appear), the comment is unfair. While nationally there is much debate, the fact is that in New York City the results are in and have been for years. The study by Professor Hoxby et al. showed the beneficial effect of charters and to date, the only criticism of the study is that the researchers may have overstated the effect (though such criticism was based on supposition). That study used a methodology that is regarded as strong. There have been no serious studies of New York City’s charter schools that show charter schools underperforming district schools or that explain away charter school performance as simply due to demographic differences.
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February 7th, 2012 at 6:53 pm
Gotham Gazette – The Wonkster » Blog Archive » Charter School Finances – just great!