Tech Billionaire-Backed Charter School Under Fire In Chicago

theodp writes "'As a nonprofit venture philanthropy firm,' boasts the billionaire-backed NewSchools Venture Fund, 'we raise philanthropic capital from both individual and institutional investors, and then use those funds to support education entrepreneurs who are transforming public education.' One recipient of the NewSchools' largesse is The Noble Network of Charter Schools, which received a $5,300,000 NewSchools 'investment', as well as a $1,425,000 grant from NewSchools donor Bill Gates. One way that Noble Street College Prep has been transforming education, reports the Chicago Tribune, is by making students pay the price — literally — for breaking the smallest of rules (sample infractions). Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel defended Noble after a FOIA filing revealed the charter collected almost $190,000 in discipline 'fees' — not 'fines' — last year from its mostly low-income students, saying the ironically exempt-from-most-district-rules charter school gets 'incredible' results and parents don't have to send their children there. Beyond the Noble case, some are asking a bigger question: Should billionaires rule our schools?"

Comments

Re:So, from the article...

[zill]

Forgetting to place quotation marks around another writer’s words.

These seem pretty straightforward and hard to fuck up

Oh, the irony.

A whole minute?

[Quiet_Desperation]

In the real world, fine's are much more.

Improper use of an apostrophe. $50 fine and 20 points from Gryffindor.

Is this your hedgehog?

[Hognoxious]

They missed off:

1. smelling of foreign food
2. walking in a loud shirt in a built-up area
3. looking at me in a funny way
4. coughing without due care and attention
5. possession of curly black hair and thick lips