State Charter Schools Quarrel All About the Money

When you're forced to state it's not about the money, it usually is. 

Erskine College's entry into the charter school oversight game has ruffled some feathers in the SC Public Charter School District that oversees nine charter schools hoping to switch managers. Most of the quarrel concerns whether the SCPCSD has overreached its contract with the schools. 

Some of the schools, several online, are "in breach" of standards they say are bogus. Others meet all those standards but wish to change anyway.

If the exodus is all about accountability, why would schools such as Oceanside Academy in Mt. Pleasant, one that meets all standards, wish to change?

"Aside from students' academic performance, a lot of money is on the line. Two of the online schools alone, SC Virtual and Cyber Academy, received a combined $33.5 million in state tax funding last school year, with some of that money going to the nationwide private charter management company K12 Inc. And whoever authorizes the schools in South Carolina gets a 2 percent cut."

"But [SCPCSD Board Chairman Don McLaurin]said the fight over transfers has nothing to do with his district's financial interests."

Yeah, right.