In some private schools in states with school voucher schemes, 100% of the students are supported with publicly-funded vouchers. While these schools may have other revenue sources, this “100%” status means their primary source of income is public funds. It does not mean, though, that they have any of the accountability and transparency associated with public schools.
ProPublica digs into some of these “100% schools” and finds both poor performance and questionable financial practices. Yes, both of these may occur in public schools - but, public schools post line-item budgets online and must conduct business in public meetings. There are also rules about awarding contracts to board members - rules that don’t seem to apply to private schools.
More from the ProPublica story:
Atlas Preparatory Academy in Milwaukee was a 100% school in my city that had low test scores and declining enrollment while also receiving more than $4.3 million in voucher money for 357 students in grades K-12. It was one of the first schools I dug into, and immediately some of the facts I unearthed in public documents made me curious.
There was, for instance, the money being made by its board chair, who also appeared to serve as a school administrator. His compensation was more than $150,000 in 2024.
A school administrator who also held a board position (giving him power over his own compensation) and who, PP found, also ran a business that had a contract with the school:
In another transaction that would raise alarm in a public school setting, the same board chair’s accounting firm received tens of thousands of dollars from the school for accounting and consulting.
And, more self-dealing:
One warm day in June, I stood in the lobby of one such school in Milwaukee, near a large fish tank. I’d sought days earlier to contact the woman running the school. An audit showed she was paying her own company rent for the building ($128,000 in one recent year).
Plus, the issue of performance. As the story notes, in Wisconsin, private school students accepting vouchers do (mostly) take standardized tests. The results in the case of one 100% school are not so great:
In many states, private schools also don’t have to administer standardized tests or report those scores — in sharp contrast to the mandates for public schools. Wisconsin is different because it does require both students using vouchers and public school students to be tested, though parents can and do opt out.
In recent years, Atlas Prep has fared poorly on the state’s report card for schools, garnering the lowest rating: “fails to meet expectations,” or one star out of a possible five.
There is, though, no requirement that this school adopt an improvement plan or face state takeover or closure. No accountability to the taxpayers funding it - a sharp contrast to what happens to public schools.
The voucher world creates an education Wild West - a place where there are few rules and survival is largely dependent on the ability to produce slick marketing materials encouraging parents to use vouchers to fund your operation.
