New religious charter believes in Value-Added

Students participating in By the Hand Club's after school program, say a prayer at the end of their chapel session before returning to their classrooms to begin their homework. | Jessica Koscielniak / Sun-Times

“My faith motivates me to do more,” says Donnita Travis, the founder and executive director of By the Hand and the charter’s chairman of the board. The politically-connected Travis claims that God spoke to her and told her to start the BTH after-school program.

Her newly-approved CPS charter school is affiliated with Moody Church and will be housed along with a religious prayer-based after-school program. According to the Sun-Times, classrooms have religious posters on the walls, and "the group tracks how many kids in their program attend church" (not test scores?).

The charter school would be housed in a new building adjacent to the current $6 million, 26,000-square-foot Austin facility, and the charter would lease its space from the nonprofit for $750 per student, officials said. It plans to enroll 90 children per grade and would initially open with just two grades.

For those of you who don't have your calculator handy, if the school goes K-8, the rent will come to $540,000. Tax free. Not bad. And they say there's no money to be made in charter schools. #ReligiousValueAdded