The push to disband public schools in favor of charter schools frightens me. As readers know, I don’t think American education has been doing nearly as badly as many sources claim. Given the rapid influx of English language learners, skyrocketing birthrate to single parents, and significant decline in recreational reading, I would say our stagnant test scores are absolutely a sign of educational success. Under the circumstances, those scores ought to be declining and, in some geographic areas, nosediving.

When people suggest charter schools — which I am not against per se — as a replacement for public schools, I can only wince. I have suggested my daughter open a charter school. She will have the credentials. Between my Masters in Secondary Education and my Masters in Business and Public Management from Rice, I have the credentials. If I had the energy, I could create the plan. I could round up the financing. I would create a real school, too, one dedicated to pulling up children in tough circumstances.

But I shudder to think of the free-for-all if we keep pushing for a widely-based, charter system. Opening all those charters will be essentially creating a system of publically-funded, private enterprises. Even with oversight, many of those schools will be created with a profit motive. I am not against making profits, either, but I think of charities as an example where the charter movement may go badly astray.

That guy at Smile Train? I am sure he has had the best of motives and the charity has done good work, but he also makes a very good living. The Wounded Warrior Project has given around half of its donations to wounded warriors. Many dollars have gone to help disabled soldiers. But when the CEO and COO of the charity were forced to resign, that resignation was overdue. When half of that large pool of donations becomes salaries, parties and other extras, the charity’s original mission has gotten lost or at least badly damaged.

The ABC charter school may or may not set out with the best of intentions. I am sure the Wounded Warrior project started with noble intentions. When salaries are no longer set by union negotiations and involved, community board members, though, we need to ask ourselves exactly how those salaries will be determined. When community school boards are no longer overseeing financial operations, who will ensure that part of the money for computers and software does not quietly become diverted into some charter bureaucrats’ pockets?

Occasionally, America hears stories of school districts that have abused the public trust and stolen funds meant for school children, but there are not many of those stories. Oversight exists and has been developed over time. Oversight by local school boards helps control some factors that might contribute to abuse of funds. Districts hiring processes also help. People go in and out and new hires are chosen for their knowledge of processes. You don’t get a group of people who decide together to apply for grant money to run a set of set of schools. I can easily visualize the scenario where that group of grant applicants sits around drinking beer, eating nachos and discussing the salaries they will give each other.

We could create new state and federal bureaucracies to oversee charter spending, of course, but all I can say about that is NoChildLeftBehindCommonCore, RacetotheTopResponsetoIntervention, PARCCSmarterBalanced, and the Post Office. I should not fail to mention state-takeover-based, required testing for more than 20% of my last year in my mathematics classrooms. We need much less government, not more,

Eduhonesty: Some charters have produced excellent results. Dedicated professionals using public money to create private schools can do an amazing job. But we need to be clear that charters are private businesses with a quasi-charitable justification. If we use them to supplant our private schools, I guarantee the growth of many Wounded Warrior or Cancer Federation Charter Schools. Like charities, the range in quality will be staggering — and America’s children will pay the price.