[cogman10]

In my school district, the only new facilities being built are charter schools. We have unlimited funds, it seems, to send to these private organizations but not enough funds to build or expand a public school or hire teachers/aids.

Some of my kids school aids have been homeless because the pay isn't high enough. The aids and teacher all work second jobs.

[kjksf]

Per internet charter schools get 20-36% less funding per child than traditional public (district) schools.

Also, charter schools are also public, not private.

The data seems to contradict everything you claim about charter schools.

"we" (taxpayers) send more money to traditional public schools than to (also public) charter schools.

[dragonwriter]

> Also, charter schools are also public, not private.

Charter schools are funded by the public district issuing the charter, but can be any of public, private non-profit, or private for-profit.

They are public in the sense of being governed by the rules (with exceptions provided in the charter, but which exceptions are allowed is also part of the rules) applicable to the public system, which they form part of, but they aren't necessarily public entities.

[ModernMech]

> Per internet charter schools get 20-36% less funding per child than traditional public (district) schools.

The public school system is much larger and has a longer tail to support than charter schools. Larger organizations require more overhead as a percentage of their operating budget. Public schools also have to support every student in the community no matter how high it costs, unlike charter schools, which support a lower proportion of them. Both factors manifest as higher per-student costs if you just average it all out.

There's a parallel to private insurance which can kick out the sickest individuals, and a public option which must take everyone. Obviously the latter is more expensive to operate, so private insurance prefers dealing with the former, leaving the public to cover everyone else at taxpayer expense.

> Also, charter schools are also public, not private.

OP said "to send to these private organizations" not that charter schools are private schools. While charter schools are public, many charter schools are run by private organizations.

[cogman10]

> charter schools are also public, not private.

Charter schools are publicly funded and privately operated. That's what I mean by private.

And the per child payment is less because charter schools are experts at keeping children with disabilities out of their facilities. They have to accept them, but they can deny entry if they don't, for example, employ special ed teachers, therapists, etc.

Public schools have to provide those services. They have to accept all children.