Private College ITT closes 130 campuses, stranding 35,000 students because it mislead students about "quality" programs, and pushing students into risky loans. Damn government regulation.

With the push for educational savings accounts to pay for private K-12 schools, you'd think people would be more wary about this whole scheme after seeing overnight closings and mismanagement every week in the headlines.

Well take a good look at a similar private system in higher education if you want to see how this privatization model will play out. It's an idea owned lock, stock and barrel by the Republican Party (ALEC). The party of "ideas" has a private bridge to sell you...and the taxpayers will be on the hook:

AP: The for-profit college chain ITT Technical Institute is shutting down all 130 of its U.S. campuses, (stranding) 35,000 students, saying Tuesday it can't survive recent sanctions by the U.S. Department of Education.

You'd think they would have been considerate enough not to waited until school started?

ITT Educational Services announced that campuses won't open for the fall term that was scheduled to begin Sept. 12, leaving students scrambling for last-minute options since many U.S. colleges already have started fall classes. ITT also cut more than 8,000 jobs immediately.

Ouch, damn big government bureaucracy's red tape and burdensome regulations...or not:

The chain was banned Aug. 25 from enrolling new students who used federal financial aid, because the company had become a risk to students and taxpayers. The department also ordered ITT to pay $152 million within 30 days to help cover student refunds and other liabilities if the chain closed.

Why not leave these private schools alone for gods sake, you know, the free market?

Days before those sanctions were announced, ITT's accreditor reported the chain had failed to meet several basic standards … It had also been investigated by state and federal authorities who accused ITT of pushing students into risky loans and of misleading students about the quality of programs.

Acting surprised after all the investigations and warnings, the CEO whined of course about the very regulation that caught him:

ITT Educational Services CEO Kevin Modany told reporters ITT was the victim of a "regulatory assault" and never had the chance to defend itself. Modany added ITT had offered to "wind down" its operations gradually … Department Undersecretary Ted Mitchell however said ITT never made a formal proposal.

Republicans love the old saying, buyer beware, because someone makes a lot money, and someone like everyday Americans, will lose a lot of money. Misleading school advertising and no accountability fostered all this. That's capitalism, and that's coming your way with private K-12: 

Under President Barack Obama, the Education Department has led a crackdown on for-profit colleges that have misled students or failed to deliver the results they promise. The now-defunct Corinthian College chain agreed to sell or close more than 90 U.S. colleges in 2014 amid a fraud investigation over advertising practices. The department is also deciding whether to cut ties with the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools, the group that accredited ITT and Corinthian.

The private school horror is affecting ITT students and instructors right here in Madison. WISC: