If data and research matter, the worst reform in U.S. education is the virtual charter school.
The League of Women Voters–one of the few national organizations with integrity about education issues (I.e. has not been bought by the Gates Foundation) issued a report about these floundering “schools,” that typically have low test scores, high dropout rates, and low graduation rates. Only a devotee of the Jeb Bush reform school would want to invite these ineffectual schools into their state. Poor New Mexico. Its acting state commissioner Hannah Skandera used to work for the Jebster himself, so whatever Florida has done to bring in for-profit hucksters must be brought to New Mexico, of course.
So New Mexico has a K12 virtual charter (listed on the New York Stock Exchange, founded by the Milken brothers), and a Connections Academy, owned by the much unloved Pearson.
Here is the study conducted by the New Mexico League of Women Voters.
Here is an article by Bonnie Burn in the Las Cruces Sun-News explaining why the League of Women Voters opposes for-profit schools. Actually, she is wrong on one point. There is a growing body of research that shows the ineffectiveness of virtual charters. However, they are highly profitable.
Will the Secretary of Education Arne Duncan speak out against for-profit virtual charters? Will elephants fly?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
And here is an article by a teacher at a K12 Inc virtual charter, describing the sort of education the students at these schools receive:
http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2014/01/15_months_in_virtual_charter_h.html
An excerpt:
“Luis Huerta of NEPC and Teachers College, Columbia University cites K12 Inc.’s explicit strategy of targeting the least-supported population of students. He states that the corporation has an established practice of going after students who are “at risk” because of their tendency to not engage in school or expect much, if anything, from their educational experience, thereby creating a greater profit margin for K12 Inc. If a student is not active in school or demanding a quality education, he or she does not take as much of a teacher’s time; fewer questions are asked, less work needs reviewing and less interaction is required. By targeting these students for enrollment, K12 Inc. is able to push a higher student to teacher ratio: fewer teachers equals less expense, more students equals more income, fewer expenses in conjunction with greater income equals greater profits. This is a core issue with for-profit education management organizations.
The majority of students at the school are the kinds of kids whose histories and current realities cause concerned adults to keep eyes open for signs of trauma, those that haunt the dreams of educators and social workers. My students were survivors – of suicide attempts, of bullying, of abuse, of neglect, of the attempted suicides of siblings or best-friends or boyfriends. Some of them battle addictions and destructive habits; some self-harm, isolate themselves, or even run away.”
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That’s a far cry from the image they portray on those commercials paid with our tax dollars.
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Off topic but wanted to get this out:) http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/the_dismal_science/2014/07/sweden_school_choice_the_country_s_disastrous_experiment_with_milton_friedman.html
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Thanks…very good article. Explains much that we are discussing.
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Diane,
Thank you putting this item on the blog.
The New Mexico League of Women Voters are right on with their report concerning virtual charter schools. These virtual charter schools are a for-profit disease that is spreading across the United States eating up educational resources to fill the pockets of CEO’s who run corporate organizations such as Connections, K12-Inc., Pearson, etc. who could care less about the success or failure of students across America. They are only interested in the bottom-line and people like Secretary of Designee Skandera and Jeb Bush are helping the big corporations to succeed in this effort.
The NM Public Education Commission has denied three attempts by for-profit companies to set up virtual charter schools in the state. K12, Inc., and Connections have both been turned down by the Commissioners. The District Courts eventually upheld the decision of the Commission. But, K12, Inc came in the backdoor and went to the Farmington School Board for approval and got it. Connections, after being denied by the Commissioners, turned to Secretary of Education Designee Skandera for approval. Skandera reversed the decision of the Commission.
You are very right when you say Skandera is bringing Jeb Bush’s Florida educational standards and processes to New Mexico. Skandera will do anything and everything to see that Jeb Bush is successful in New Mexico. Note I did NOT say that students will be successful in New Mexico. The methods that Skandera are using do not lead, will not lead to lasting educational success for all students in New Mexico.
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To the students, parents, and citizen-taxpayers of New Mexico… get ready, you’re about to get royally rogered by the “corporate reform” profiteers.
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I love the genius of this, I have to say. My hat is off to them.
They have managed to off-load the job of educating children to parents, while getting paid by the state for doing it. I think this has ALL KINDS of possible applications in the world ‘o contracting.
The parents are essentially working for K12, free, while K12 scoops up all the funding and all the profits. That it is marketed to the poorest parents is just the cherry on the brazen rip-off sundae.
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I’m doing research on cyber charter reform. Does anyone know the average cost per pupil of one year of virtual school (K-12)? I mean the REAL cost, not how much the for-profit virtual schools charge. Thanks!
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Good luck to the taxpayers of NM. We’ve had cybers in PA for many years now, and what they mean to local districts is a huge uncontrollable unpredictable expense that bleeds traditional school districts dry. These guys are the experts at how to maximize that market share and minimize expense.
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