Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Illinois Facility Fund

What does the Illinois Facility Fund know about education? Not much. What the Illinois Facility Fund knows a lot about though is real estate, specifically real estate for charter schools. The Illinois Facility Fund is a non-profit lender and real estate consultant that offers a full range of financial services for charter schools including below-market rate loans, credit enhancement of bonds and investor pools and a range of real estate consulting services. The fact that the Illinois Facility Fund study was funded by a $100,000 gift from the Walton Family Foundation should trouble anyone who supports public education. The Walton Family Foundation, established by Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart, has been one of the strongest forces in the country advancing public charter schools through its gifts. It has given hundreds of millions of dollars to charter schools as it seeks to promote charter schools that compete with government-run public school systems. Just as Walmart disregards locally-owned stores that can’t match its low prices, it disregards long-established neighborhood public schools.

1 comment:

Articles on Education said...

Whatever the main purpose of this facility fund, we should be thankful that it will help the community and the education of our kids. It's not of who they are, it's more of what they do and what they can offer.