Hillsdale Loves Fiction
Especially in pursuit of taxpayer dollars
Hillsdale College will soon operate two charter schools in Tennessee by way of its American Classical Academy.
In 2022, Gov. Lee suggested that he dreams of at least 50 Hillsdale-affiliated charter schools in the state.
So, it’s worth taking a look at how Hillsdale charters are operating in other states.
A recent piece in the Washington Post gives some cause for concern.
The story concerns Cincinnati Classical Academy, a charter school affiliated with Hillsdale.
And what a story it is. CCA “borrowed” the demographics from Cincinnati Public Schools in weaving a tale of serving low-income and minority students. As a result of their promise to serve underserved students, the school was awarded nearly $2 million in federal education funding.
The reality is that the school is located in a Cincinnati suburb and essentially operates as a free, private, Christian school for predominantly middle- to high-income white students.
As the Post story notes:
CCA, which prides itself on teaching virtue, asked for the grant on the basis of its claim that it was closing the achievement gap and serving disadvantaged students, never reporting that only 16 percent of its students are economically disadvantaged and that 2 percent are Black
More than 80 percent of the students in Cincinnati Public Schools were economically disadvantaged compared to fewer than 17 percent at CCA.
The only category in which CCA exceeds a demographic of Cincinnati Public Schools is White students. More than 82 percent of CCA students are White, compared to 20 percent in the public school district.
But telling a story of closing achievement gaps and fudging the numbers (that is, entirely misrepresenting the demographic the school serves) meant CCA could net a couple million dollars of taxpayer money - and, by meeting the imaginary goals it proposed, could keep the money flowing for years to come.
In Tennessee, Hillsdale has been relentless in its push to gain access to public funds in order to support what are essentially private schools.
American Classical Education, the Hillsdale arm in the Volunteer State, has both backed candidates for local school boards AND made appeals to the State Charter Commission when elected local leaders expressed skepticism.
Two schools in the ACE network will soon open in Tennessee. The schools will receive a mix of state and local funding to operate.
And, as noted earlier this year:
If Hillsdale is successful at growing to this scale (50 schools), local taxpayers in suburban and rural districts in Tennessee could end up paying as much as $350 million a year in extra expenses to operate a charter network for a college in Michigan.
That’s a pretty solid take for Hillsdale and would almost certainly mean local property tax increases to finance the advancement of a Christian nationalist agenda.
