Cashing in on Kids is In the Public Interest‘s pick of recent news about the privatization of public education and the parents, students, teachers, and communities fighting back.

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“What if school could come to you?” As public school districts step up to feed children and educate students virtually, for-profit online education corporations are hoping to convince parents to take the plunge. K12 Inc., which has close ties to Wall Street and conservative organizations, including the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), has over 400 active Facebook ads directed at parents, students, and teachers. Its stock price has been climbing since mid-March.

DeVos uses troubled fund to hand out money to charter schools. Education writer and retired teacher Peter Greene details the $65 million in grants awarded last week by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos through the federal Charter Schools Program (CSP). Forbes

More on charters aiming for federal bailout money. Carol Burris, executive director of the Network for Public Education, writes about the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools asking for federal rescue money for charter schools: “Charter schools claim to be public schools—except when being a ‘business’ is to their advantage.” Diane Ravitch’s Blog

Shock doctrine? For more on the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, see In the Public Interest’s summary of the work history of Nina Rees, its president and CEO. Rees worked for the education department in the Bush administration during Hurricane Katrina, after which all public schools in New Orleans were privatized. In the Public Interest

Is online schooling the next gold rush? Bill Lucia, CEO of EdVoice, argues that California’s regulation of charter schools is holding back the expansion of online learning. EdVoice was founded by Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, who once said he’d like to see privately operated charter schools educate 90 percent of California’s students. Cal Matters

“The coronavirus just might end school privatization nonsense.” Education historian Diane Ravitch strikes an optimistic note about the future of public schools. Education Week