Wikipedia defines business "profiteering" as... the act of making a profit by methods considered unethical... and applied to businesses that play on political corruption to obtain government contracts, and Encyclopedia.com as a term for making unconscionable or socially destructive profits, especially in times of economic stress and widespread shortages. While some types of profiteering are illegal, such as price fixing schemes, and others are restricted by industry codes of conduct - a few business profiteers rely on corrupt politicians to enact laws which inevitably create or increase profits for them, but does little for consumers and the general public.
The Cambridge English Dictionary defines "profiteer" as a person who takes advantage of a situation in which people are suffering to make a profit... and Merriam-Webster as one who makes an unreasonable profit especially on the sale of essential goods during times of emergency.
In applying the descriptors in the previous definitions for profiteers and profiteering, there are indications that the public school funding crisis in Oklahoma is being taken advantage of by profiteers. By the way, profiteers often refer to themselves by the more socially accepted term "capitalists" who are simply more imaginative in targeting public services and tax dollars. As applied to the profiteering of our public schools, political corruption is the directing of the public tax dollars to the private sector by state lawmakers. Government contracts are the actual state state laws which allow for the siphoning of public funds by profiteers while socially destructive profits are those enjoyed by profiteers which help cause the destruction of our public schools. I don't think anyone can deny that public schools in Oklahoma are now in the times of economic stress or that students and teachers are suffering as a result, but only time will tell if the sale of essential goods (public education) during these times of emergency will turn millionaires into billionaires (profiteers).
One example of profiteering at public expense comes to mind when considering the above definitions and facts - the rural charter school movement in Oklahoma. Late last year, Carlton Landing Academy, the first rural charter school opened in Oklahoma. Carlton Landing, the town, was incorporated in 2013 as the brainchild of wealthy entrepreneurs (profiteers) who wanted an exclusive resort community for their friends on Lake Eufala. They immediately started Carlton Landing Academy, a private school for the elite, located in the community. They started with around 50 students for their "designed school" and paid teachers very well - since it was private and exclusive. To actually run and maintain a school is very expensive, and since the "owners" of Carlton Landing are not just "capitalists" - but "profiteers" always seeking ways to earn profits, they began to explore the acquisition of public funds (taxpayer dollars) to finance their private school. They convinced specific lawmakers to sponsor "rural charter school" bills which would legalize the acquisition of public school funding for their exclusive private school. In return for sponsoring a charter school bill, one or more legislators were promised a seat on the charter school board, which can also be very lucrative. The charter school bill was ultimately successful, and Carlton Landing Academy, the exclusive private school, became Carlton Landing - exclusive charter school. It is exclusive because only resident children have parents who are wealthy enough for them to attend. It is a rural public charter school because it receives state aid from the Oklahoma State Department of Education after the charter bill was passed in 2015. Carlton Landing Academy (the now "public" school) received $228,000 in state aid during the 2016 school year. This was $228,000 that Carlton Landing Academy (the private school) did not receive in 2013, 2014, and 2015, so it was only icing on the cake for wealthy entrepreneurs. Bear in mind that wealthy entrepreneurs, for the most part, are those who say Oklahoma has too many school districts and should consolidate, but have actually added over 20 school districts to Oklahoma over the past 5 years. These 20+ schools represent $millions in taxpayer dollars that Oklahoma pays. Carlton Landing Academy, with an initial 50+ students, received approximately $4,300 per student in its first year, which probably paid teacher salaries. If the school had 3 teachers with 17 students each, each teacher could earn $76,000, based on its state aid.
Carlton Landing Academy charter school is located in the Canadian Public Schools district, so could attract students from Canadian as well as many other small surrounding districts. According to profiteers and their legislative allies, "this is all about competition and school choice", so "may the best school win". The result of Carlton Academy attracting enough students to harm the surrounding school districts, however, is slim - since it is an exclusive school, limited by the parents wealth. There is a greater danger to public schools than simply the profiteer acquisition of public state aid - the profiteer acquisition of state dedicated revenue (gross production, school land earnings, car tags, REA tax) and ad valorem revenue (local property tax). Of course, since dedicated revenue is chargeable to state aid, profiteers are not that concerned with acquiring gross production, etc.. because they can not profit from its acquisition. The "BIG" prize for profiteers is the acquisition of ad valorem revenue, since true public schools receive property tax in their Building Fund, General Fund, and Bond and Sinking Fund, but private and corporate charter schools do not. For example, Canadian Public School district (the host for Carlton Landing) received a little over $1 million for its General Fund and about $160,000 for its Building Fund in 2016. Of the $1 million in property taxation that Canadian received, half or more came from Carlton Landing properties as each home is taxed on an average $500,000 value, while the rest of the Canadian School properties are probably not worth as much. Many experts believe that since profiteers' main concern are profits, it only makes common sense that they want to acquire property taxes. A conservative friend of mine in the State Legislature told me that "... the Legislators who support charter schools are desperate to find a viable revenue source for those schools. In order to do so they must have the local gross production taxes, and eventually control of ad valorem. They will use the excuse "the purpose is to receive credit for, and re-distribute all public school funding to corporate charters as well."
It's what profiteers do - profit. These are not profiteers in a traditional sense (capitalists), but profiteers who bleed the public in order to become millionaires and billionaires. If the corporate charter school movement in Oklahoma is successful in bleeding our public schools, the end result will be "ghost" schools in our rural communities, and eventually ghost towns. The only entity which has a chance at stopping the bleeding is our rural lawmakers. This has now become a challenge for our conservative Representatives and Senators: Stop the bleeding of our rural public schools and communities, for our childrens sake and our rural towns sake.
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