On the last day for Atlanta public schools, I am walking the halls of Tech High, a 4-year-old charter school built as an elementary school in 1922 that is in constant need of repair. In addition to rent of $36,000 per year, maintenance is another $250,000. "When you look at these pipes, they burst," said Kelly McCutcheon, executive vice president of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, a think tank that conceived of Tech High and supports it financially. "We plan on breaking even next year," said McCutcheon, though the foundation has to raise almost $500,000 this year to support it, down from $1.326 million in the 2005-2006 school year. The Atlanta system will spend about $8,500 per student for the 250 who attend Tech High, but includes no money for maintenance, transportation, nutrition or administrative functions.
McCutcheon estimates that charter schools, like Tech High, get about 60 percent of the funding provided other public schools. It could become self-supporting with 500 students.
