California is awash in charter schools, and in charter school scandals. It allows anyone with a proposal to open a charter school and obtain taxpayer funding.

 

Two school districts in Anaheim, California, are suing to close down an online charter school that they say is “educationally unsound” and should never have been allowed to open. In addition, the district leaders said that the charter school used predatory marketing practices and financial incentives to lure students to enroll. The school districts are represented by a law school dean.

 

Why should low-quality online schools be allowed to drain students and revenue away from community public schools?

 

The lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction preventing Excellence Performance Innovation Citizenship (EPIC) from continuing to operate its K-12 virtual school, and ordering the Orange County Board of Education to revoke its charter.

“EPIC was illegally authorized by the Orange County Board of Education in violation of the Charter School Act,” AUHSD Superintendent Michael Matsuda said. “The county school board failed to exercise its oversight duty when the flawed petition first came before them. Instead, they approved it with conditions that were never met. The OCBE’s actions have left us with no recourse other than to seek this injunction.”

Supporting the two Anaheim school districts in seeking the injunction is constitutional scholar and founding dean of the UCI Law School, Erwin Chemerinsky.

“In approving EPIC’s petition, the Orange County school board acted in a manner that was contrary to law,” Chemerinsky said. “In light of the many ways that EPIC is not complying with the law, the approval of the petition violates state education requirements and amounts to an improper use of public funds.”

In recommending denial of EPIC’s petition, OCBE staff members raised concern over EPIC’s lack of valid parent signatures, governance issues, and potential civil liability involving the school and the OCBE, stemming from the fraud probe in Oklahoma.

Moreover, the Anaheim elementary district noted in its original rejection of EPIC’s petition that it:
Failed to specify how special education services would be provided.
Failed to outline the types of supports or interventions they would provide at-risk students.
Failed to include an adequate plan for English learners.
Failed to fully identify its financial and operational plans.
Based in Oklahoma—where it operates as a for-profit business—EPIC is under criminal investigation by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation for allegedly falsifying records to receive payments from the Oklahoma Department of Education. The fraud investigation was under way when OCBE conditionally approved the EPIC application in November 2015.
”Since the individuals managing EPIC’s Oklahoma program are the same individuals managing the program here in our county, you can see why we have serious concerns regarding EPIC and their operational plan,” Anaheim Elementary Superintendent Linda Wagner said.