The latest report from the Stanford-based CREDO research group found that online charters deliver a poor education. Students in online charters lose 42 days of reading in a year, and 180 days of instruction in math. Zilch. K12, Inc. is the largest of the online charter chains. It was founded by the Milken brothers, Michael and Lowell. It is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
****************
MEDIA ADVISORY
California Teachers Association/NEA December 14, 2015
1705 Murchison Drive
Burlingame, CA 94010
http://www.cta.org
Contacts: Claudia Briggs at 916-296-4087 or Mike Myslinski at 408-921-5769.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dec. 15 Media Conference Call to Discuss Educators’
Struggle in One of Nation’s Largest Online Charter Schools to Address Major Issues Impacting 15,000 Students
California Educators to Deliver Report Card of Straight Fs
at Dec. 16 Washington, D.C. Shareholders Meeting
***Tuesday, December 15, 2015***
BURLINGAME – More than 750 educators at the Simi Valley-based California Virtual Academies (CAVA) have been seeking a stronger voice in improving working conditions and student learning for 15,000 students. The recent Public Employment Relations Board decision declaring the California Teachers Association as the exclusive bargaining agent comes at a critical time and promises to provide momentum for the teachers’ on-going efforts to make their online school more responsive to the needs of their students.
Concerned CAVA teachers have been calling for improvements at their school for years. In March 2015 they shared their experiences in an in-depth study of CAVA released by the “In the Public Interest” group that called for better oversight of the school. In June they filed complaints with school districts that authorized CAVA charters throughout California in an effort to protect students. Recently, new research from Stanford University and the University of Washington came out reinforcing many of the concerns CAVA teachers have voiced.
WHO: Educators at California’s largest virtual charter school will discuss in a Tuesday, Dec. 15, media conference call why their colleagues plan to deliver a report card with Straight Fs the next day at the annual shareholders meeting in Washington, D.C. of the controversial Virginia-based K12 Inc., a for-profit education company providing management services and curriculum to CAVA.
WHEN: Conference call is at 1 p.m. PST/ 4 p.m. EST on Tuesday, Dec. 15.
SPEAKERS: Eric Heins, president of the California Teachers Association; teachers working to improve California Virtual Academies.
MEDIA CALL-IN INFORMATION:
Media should call toll-free 1-888-505-4368 to get on the teleconference. The password code is 4500878.
WASHINGTON, D.C. EVENT: California CAVA teachers will be educating shareholders of K12 Inc. at their annual meeting and will be joined by other concerned supporters. The event starts at 9:30 a.m. EST Wednesday, Dec. 16, at the law offices of Latham & Watkins LLP, 555 Eleventh Street, NW, Suite 1000, Washington, D.C., 20004.
###
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Two article headlines from today’s Dayton Daily News, “Lawmaker Seeks Curb on Charter School Ads” and “Charters Failing to Repay Misspent Dollars”.
The first article summarizes that Ohio charters, serving only 7% of the state’s students, spend twice the amount on advertising as the public schools, which serve 93% of the students. The report further states that the public school budget for advertising, includes solicitation of bids for work.
K12 Inc., addendum to the legacy of a convicted financier.
Forget unionizing, shut the whole thing DOWN.
Off-topic but charter-related: See Bob Braun’s Ledger Dec 14, 2015 post re US Dept Ed Office Civil Rights resolution agreement re Title VI multiyear federal investigation on negative effects of school closures on students of color and students w disabilities. Mr Braun cites Jitu Brown on “these education experiments.”
This is a key point, and it’s consistently overlooked or obscured:
” Lack of Transparency – The actual amount K12 California spends on providing services for California students,like the amount of profit K12 Inc. makes from the state, is private information. The public, parents, students, teachers and policymakers have no way of accurately calculating the level of resources being spent on CAVA’s virtual classrooms. ”
If we only know the amount of public funding they get and we know nothing about what (or where) they spend, that’s not an “audit” in any ordinary sense of the word.
I’d love to know if they pass thru funds from one state to another. Obviously they could do that with the profit piece- K12 could take the profit they clear in one state and use that in another- but I bet people would object to that if they knew it was happening because it’s so radically different that ordinary public school funding. The assumption is if people are paying state taxes they’re funding schools in that state, not in another state.
Teacher Evaluations and Teacher Training is also part of the Milken “not-for profit “education empire. The Milken brothers have received millions of SEED & SIG grants from Arne Duncan’s DoEd for teacher evaluations & school turnaround-coaching TN has an ongoing contract with them for TEAM/TAP. Thanks to our corrupt political/corporate system this cancer is spreading all over the country as our public assets waste away.
I would anticipate the Milkens jumping into fast track “teacher “certification training through NIET now that ESSA allows anyone who can breath to bypass universities to prepare highly qualified teachers.
http://www.niet.org/newsroom/press-releases/
http://www.milkeninstitute.org/blog/view/619
“How can we keep K-12 reform on track”
“Our work is guided by the formula that our founder and chairman, [convicted Wall St felon] Michael Milken, developed: Prosperity equals the effect of financial technology acting to multiply the value of human capital, social capital and real assets”
It’s so gross to me when people who pushed the Common Core tests use the Common Core test scores to write nonsense like this:
“But the delays are an undeniable setback for those who believe accountability is the key to improving an education system in which, by the governor’s own count, two-thirds of third- and eighth-graders are flunking math and reading tests”
Really? “Two thirds” of NY children are “flunking” math and reading? They’re doing exactly what critics said they would do- labeling the kids and schools as failures in order to push an ed reform political agenda.
This is the Education Post, which is run by a former Obama hire and funded by Gates. They want to lobby Cuomo not to back off Obama’s preferred reforms so they happily use this bogus “flunking” statistic as a weapon.
Parents were told in my state that ed reformers would resist their past practice of labeling kids as failures based on this test, despite the fact that doing so is politically useful to some adults. They’re breaking the promise they made to teachers, schools and parents.
Not people who can be trusted.
https://educationpost.org/inside-the-perfect-political-storm-thats-forcing-gov-cuomo-to-backpedal-on-new-york-education-reform/
Chiara,
Thanks for the link. Accountability has nothing to do with improving education. It deforms education.