Charter Schools, Some With Billionaire Benefactors, Tap Coronavirus Relief ;by Erica L. Green

Charter schools, which are publicly funded but privately run, are securing coronavirus relief meant for businesses even as they also benefit from public school aid. “To me, either you’re a fish or a fowl — you can’t say you’re a public school one day, but now because it’s advantageous, say you’re a business,” said Carol Burris, the executive director of the Network for Public Education which crutinizes charter school management. Because a vast majority of charter schools  are run by nonprofit companies they were eligible to receive a share of billions of dollars in relief that Congress allocated to public education."  And dozens of them  have decided for the purpose of coronavirus relief that they are businesses, applying for aid even as they continue to enjoy funding from school budgets, tax-free status and, in some cases, healthy cash balances and the support of billionaire backers.