Edison-Operated School Receiving $460,053 from DOE

In what is certainly yet another sign of "truthiness in education," the Department of Education is handing out nearly 500k to Edison Learning, probably the only charter operator that could challenge Imagine Schools in a contest of pure corruption and greed. Pathway Academy, a K-8 charter school operated by Edison, is the official recipient of this grant, but, just like their Imagine peers, there are plenty of ways for privatizers to wrangle a few bucks out of public education by using non-profits as fronts for their schemes.

One can only hope this isn't the beginning of Duncan's replication plan for the "good" charters...

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Three St. Louis charter schools get federal grants

By: David Hunn

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

The U.S. Department of Education has awarded more than $2 million in Charter Schools Program grants to four new Missouri charter schools.

In St. Louis, Shearwater High School, St. Louis Collegiate and Jamaa Learning Center — all slated to open this fall — received three-year grants of more than $500,000 each.

Pathway Academy of Kansas City got $460,053. Pathway, a K-8 school, opened in August. It is managed by EdisonLearning and sponsored by the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

The grants aim to help leaders in planning, program design and opening their schools.

Shearwater High School, focused on dropout recovery and prevention, received $647,541. Shearwater will be sponsored by St. Louis University.

Jamaa Learning Center, a K-8 community school, received $703,266. Jamaa is set to open in the Ville neighborhood of north St. Louis.

St. Louis Collegiate, a college-prep middle and high school, received $524,693. It hopes to serve the Baden neighborhood in north St. Louis.