"A child's learning is the function more of the characteristics of his classmates than those of the teacher." James Coleman, 1972

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Entertainment Properties: Excited About Charter Profits

Entertainment Properties, a public real estate investment trust, is seeing profits on the rise these days thanks to a booming movie industry (thanks, Avatar) and the expanding charter school market. EP owns 27 schools run by Dennis Bakke and the Imagine Schools, and you can be mighty sure EP will continue expanding into the charter school market until regulators put a halt to their shenanigans.

Here's a recent clip from the Wall Street Journal, which touches on the giddiness of EP as Duncan and Obama push for more and more segregated charter chains implementing a hefty dose of test-based mania and "no excuses" pedagogical approaches for poor, black, and brown students:
One of the few niche businesses that Entertainment Properties is planning to remain in is charter schools. The company owns 27 schools, which are operated by Imagine Schools Inc., and is planning to develop more. [Entertainment Properties Chief Executive David] Brain says the business has great potential because demand and political support for the alternative schools are growing. He said the unlevered returns on charter schools have been between 10% to 12%. "We think there is a major opportunity here" as first movers, he said, saying the company is the only public REIT to invest in charter schools.

No comments:

Post a Comment