Barns, Go-Karts and Strip Malls: The Wild West of Private Schools That Collect Taxpayer Dollars

A ProPublica investigation finds that private schools are multiplying across the country on the back of taxpayer dollars, while many states decline to scrutinize who is running them. ProPublica reports that in Florida a teacher who lost her license over the sexual abuse of a minor was able to open a private school and collect public money, and that Arizona says state law bars its education department from overseeing private schools at all. Analyzing directories in thirteen states, the outlet found at least fifteen hundred more such schools than five years ago, bringing the total above nine thousand six hundred, with campuses opening in barns, addiction treatment centers, and family fun parks. According to the advocacy group EdChoice, states funneled ten point six billion dollars into these programs last year, a twenty-nine percent jump, even as public districts lose students and close schools.

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