It took ProPublica reporters $45 and a flag to start a private school in Arkansas. No teaching experience. No background check. Nobody asked what they'd teach or how they'd measure whether kids were learning.
Last month I showed you Alpha School getting rejected as a charter in Texas, then approved for the state's voucher program anyway. This is that same pipeline with even fewer guardrails.
In Arkansas, the reporters registered an LLC online and got a certificate the same day. Then they applied to get public money as a microschool. It took about 10 minutes and two documents. No accreditation, no proof of financial solvency, and no cap on how many students they could enroll. They set their tuition at $7,208, the exact voucher amount per student. When they asked the state about it, an Education Department employee didn't reject them. He suggested ways they could still get the money.
In West Virginia they filed on notebook paper. The state told them to take the "microschool route," where no one has any oversight. The department says it does not approve or deny microschools for any reason, including the qualifications of the owner. Unlimited students, by law.
The reporters never took a dime and never enrolled a kid.
But nothing stopped them from doing either. Arkansas has gone from under 100 private schools to more than 220 since its voucher program started, plus 143 microschools approved this year alone.
Anyone can open one. The state can't stop you. And your tax dollars are paying for it all.