K12 Inc. is the largest provider of online charter schools. This sector is probably the worst part of the charter industry. CREDO reported last year that for every 180 days of online enrollment, a student will lose 180 days in math, and 72 in reading.

 

At its shareholder meeting on December 15, a group of shareholders proposed that the corporation become transparent as to how much it spends on lobbying.

 

As reported on Valerie Strauss’s blog, shareholders wanted to know more:

 

At a meeting scheduled for Thursday, shareholders are going to ask for a vote on whether the company should be required to publicly disclose details about its lobbying efforts in various states. The Arjuna Capital shareholder resolution asks that K12 prepare an annual report showing:

 

Company policy and procedures governing lobbying, both direct and indirect, and grass-roots lobbying communications.
Payments by K12 used for (a) direct or indirect lobbying or (b) grass-roots lobbying communications, in each case including the amount of the payment and the recipient.
K12’s membership in and payments to any tax-exempt organization that writes and endorses model legislation.
Description of the decision-making process and oversight by management and the board for making payments lobbying payments.

 

It is not known whether their efforts to get the company to disclose its lobbying activities were successful.

 

One of the proponents of transparency is Bertis Downs, who owns K12 Inc. stock and is a member of the board of directors of the Network for Public Education. He is a public school parent in Athens, Georgia.

 

Strauss wrote about him:

 

The new shareholder effort is being led by Bertis Downs, a public school advocate in Athens, Ga., who spent his career providing legal counsel and managing the rock group R.E.M., and who bought K12 stock a few years ago. Asked why he is taking this action, Downs said in an email:

 

My motivation in filing for this disclosure of K-12’s lobbying activities stems from my overall curiosity and interest as a parent and a shareholder in knowing more about what lobbying is done, whether through ALEC or directly, that leads to the so-called “education reform” laws being passed all over the country. How much does the company spend and how do they spend it and what results do they get for it? And is any of that good for meaningful teaching and learning in our schools? And is it good for the company and its shareholders?

 

At some point, parents should wake up and stop sending their children to these “schools.”