Archives for category: On-Line Education
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North Carolina Appeals Court Says No to For-Profit Virtual K12 Corporation

By dianeravitch
December 4, 2013 //
21

A North Carolina Appeals Court turned down K12, the publicly traded corporation that operates virtual charters.

It wanted to open a virtual charter in the state, but the State Board of Education did not act on its request, so it was denied.

K12 sued, and for now, has lost.

When the Legislature goes back into session, we will see whether the rejection sticks.

K12 has a history of astute lobbying and strategic political contributions.

K12 gets very poor marks from researchers and poor results, but that never stands in the way of its expansion.

Besides, the expansion of online charters is a priority for ALEC.

Categories ALEC, Charter Schools, North Carolina, On-Line Education

Cyber Charters: The Worst Schools in Pennsylvania, and More on the Way

By dianeravitch
November 29, 2013 //
16

Adam Schott and James Jack write here about the poor performance of cyber charters in Pennsylvania.

You might even say the abysmal performance of cyber charters.

Pennsylvania has 16, more of them than any state in the nation, and six more want to open. No wonder they want to open. It is a lucrative business.

They write:

If it was viewed as a single school district, Pennsylvania’s expansive cyber charter sector would represent Pennsylvania’s second-largest district, with more than 35,000 students attending 16 schools statewide. Cyber charters received approximately $366 million in taxpayer funds in 2012-13—drawing payments from 498 of the state’s 500 school districts.

Their performance is awful:

In 2011-2012, just one of the state’s then 12 cyber charter schools met state academic thresholds for adequate yearly progress, while eight schools landed in one of several stages of “corrective action”—the lowest level of academic performance.

A 2011 report by Stanford’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes that examined Pennsylvania charter schools found that “performance at cyber charter schools was substantially lower than the performance at brick-and-mortar charters.”

Last week, Research for Action and our colleagues at the Education Law Center weighed new data: School Performance Profile scores, which are at the heart of the state’s new accountability plan under its No Child Left Behind waiver. We examined scores for the 11 cyber charter schools for which complete data were available—together, these schools educate nearly 17,000 students, or roughly half of the statewide cyber charter enrollment.

All 11 cybers scored among the lowest schools in the state. Not one of these cyber schools met or exceeded the average performance of Pennsylvania’s public and charter schools.

In fact, according to the state’s data, the average performance of cyber charters was more than 33 points behind that of traditional public schools, and nearly 23 points behind brick-and-mortar charter schools. Put another way, cyber charters—despite recent expansion—represent less than one half of one percent of the state’s schools, yet account for more than one-third of the state’s lowest-scoring based on that data.

 

Pennsylvania’s cyber charter schools enroll a student population that broadly reflects the state as a whole in terms of special education identification rates, English language learner status, and other characteristics. Yet the sector’s performance is well below that of the overwhelming majority of public schools, both traditional and brick-and-mortar charter schools.

 

Pennsylvania policymakers have an obligation to make decisions informed by all available evidence. We urge them to carefully consider the performance data on cyber charters as they consider further expansion of this sector.

Adam Schott is Director of Policy Research at Research for Action and a former Executive Director of the State Board of Education. James Jack is a Senior Research Associate at RFA.

Categories Charter Schools, Education Reform, For-Profit, On-Line Education, Pennsylvania

E.L. Doctorow on Technology in Our Lives

By dianeravitch
November 24, 2013 //
6

Every once in a while, I read something that sticks with me and reverberates in my mind. That was my reaction when I read E.L. Doctorow’s remarks at the National Book Awards. These are words to savor, chew on, and ponder.

“Victor Navasky, publisher emeritus of The Nation magazine, introduced E. L. Doctorow, the recipient of the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. Mr. Navasky recalled that Mr. Doctorow once said: “There is no room for a reader in your mind. You don’t think of anything but the language you’re in.”

“Edgar, I have news for you,” Mr. Navasky said. “You may not have us in mind, but you are in a roomful of your grateful readers.”

Mr. Doctorow took the stage and cooled the mood down with a somber speech on technology, government surveillance and the Internet. (Somewhat uncomfortably, Amazon.com and Google were sponsors of the event.)

“Text is now a verb,” Mr. Doctorow said. “More radically, a search engine is not an engine. A platform is not a platform. A bookmark is not a bookmark because an e-book is not a book.”

“Reading a book is the essence of interactivity,” he added, “bringing sentences to life in the mind.”

Categories On-Line Education, Technology, Computers

In Which Whitney Tilson and I Find Common Ground

By dianeravitch
October 1, 2013 //
35

You have never seen the name Whitney Tilson on my blog
before now. Tilson is a hedge fund manager who is a major supporter
of KIPP, Teach for America, and Democrats for Education Reform. I
have heard that he has written unpleasant things about me, like
calling me a union shill. I avoid mentioning him as I see no value
in personalizing issues and I try not to become engaged in ad
hominem exchanges.

To my surprise, Tilson reached out to let me
know that he had written
a devastating critique of the online charter corporation
called K12. As a financier, he knows more about the business than I
could ever fathom. He wanted to let me know that we are in accord
that K12 delivers a poor quality of education.

I was glad to see a leader of this movement trying to clean out the Augean stables.
Also, I was gratified by his conciliatory action in writing me.

We have exchanged a few emails. At some point, we may meet. I have
never called him any names. Perhaps he will now stop questioning my
motives and recognize that I write with as much sincerity as he
does. He knows–perhaps he always knew–that I am financially
independent and had no reason to sell myself to the unions or
anyone else.

I support teachers’ unions, because I believe that
teachers need a collective voice, just as other groups
in society do (think: Chamber of Commerce,
AMA, ABA, DFER, Etc) I support unions, although I have never
belonged to one, because they protect the rights of working people
and help poor people enter the middle class. I believe the attacks
on unions—and their diminishing numbers— have contributed to
the growing income inequality in this country and the shrinking
middle class.

It is good to tone down the rhetoric. But I will not
waver in my belief that public education, democratically
controlled, is a pillar of a democratic society.

Nor will I compromise my conviction that those entering the education
profession must be well prepared for the hard work of their chosen
profession.

Nor will I abandon my opposition to the widespread
assumption that test scores are the best and only way–or even an
accurate way–to measure students, teachers, or schools.

Nor will I be persuaded that schools alone can end poverty, no matter what
their scores. Schools are part of the solution, but much more is
needed, meaning social and economic change. We will see where this
goes. I appreciate Tilson’s offer to reason together. I am all for
that. What he wrote about K12 is devastating. Everyone should read
it.

Categories Corporate Reformers, Democrats for Education Reform, K12 Inc., On-Line Education

Alice Mercer Reviews “Reign of Error” and EdTech

By dianeravitch
September 27, 2013 //
8

Alice Mercer’s review
of “Reign of Error” addresses the question raised by some
EdTech reviewers about where I stand on the use of technology in
the classroom. She quotes from the book to demonstrate that I
strongly believe in the value of technology as a tool to transform
and enliven teaching.

Why read a few sentences in a dull textbook
about John F. Kennedy’s electrifying Inaugural Address when you can
watch it in the same amount of time, get a visceral sense of the
man, hear his voice, watch the crowd react, and get a vivid
real-time overview of the world he was describing?

Why read about an event when technology can take you to the scene?

Mercer also understands and explains the lure of technology to those who see
the schools as an emerging market, a chance to tap into scarce
public dollars. She knows that entrepreneurs hawking
“personalization” and “individualization” are often
thinking about adaptive testing and test prep, not creative ways to
engage young minds in exploring new ways of learning. And when a
financially strapped district spends $1 billion on tablets and
iPads instead of repairing crumbling buildings, we must ask about
priorities.

Categories On-Line Education, Technology, Computers

What You Need to Know about Virtual Charter Schools

By dianeravitch
September 10, 2013 //
17

I often receive questions, on and off the blog, about
virtual charter schools. This post will summarize the key things
that you need to know to be an informed consumer. Begin with the
politics and money promoting virtual charter schools. Colin Woodard
won the prestigious George Polk award last year
for this expose of the effort to bring virtual charter
schools to Maine. It is a stunning piece of investigative
reporting. Virtual charters have a terrible track record. They have
a high attrition rate, low test scores, and low graduation rates.
Their one positive feature is that they make a lot of money for
investors. This is
what the National Education Policy Center wrote about
virtual charters. This is what CREDO
found about the performance of virtual charters in
Pennsylvania, the state that has more of them than any other. This
is what the
New York Times wrote about K12, the biggest of the
virtual charter corporations. This is what
the Washington Post wrote about virtual charters. This is
the
post I wrote about a statement called “Digital Learning
Now!” written by a group led by Jeb Bush and Bob Wise to promote
the expansion of virtual charters without any regulation. The post
contains a link to the statement. Campaign contributions and
lobbying have allowed the cyber charters to expand without adequate
regulation and supervision of their quality or financing. The head
of the nation’s largest cyber charter school, Nicholas
Trombetta, was indicted only days ago by federal
prosecutors, charged on 11 tax and fraud violations and accused of
stealing nearly $1 million. In the future, if your state
superintendent or governor or legislators want to bring virtual
charters to your state, send them copies of these reviews. Be aware
that some may be pushing virtual charters because they want to cut
costs by replacing teachers with computers or because they received
campaign contributions from the individual corporations that stand
to benefit. And do not forget that the money that the virtual
charters receive is taken away from public schools across the
state. This money is then used for advertising, recruitment of new
students, and paying off investors.

Categories Charter Schools, Education Reform, On-Line Education

Tennessee Scandal: Worst School in the State Protected by Lobbyists

By dianeravitch
August 26, 2013 //
32

The worst-performing school in Tennessee is K12’s for-profit Virtual Academy.

If it were a public school, it would have been closed by now.

But K-12 is profitable and it hires good lobbyists so there will be no sanctions.

“Students at the Tennessee Virtual Academy, an online school run for profit, learned less than their peers anywhere else in Tennessee last year, data released by the state last week show, but efforts to crack down on the school have been delayed by heavy lobbying on its behalf.

“Results from standardized tests show that students in the Tennessee Virtual Academy made less progress as a group in reading, math, science and social studies than students enrolled in all 1,300 other elementary and middle schools who took the same tests. The school fell far short of state expectations for the second year in a row.

“But the school will remain open this year after an effort by Gov. Bill Haslam’s administration to rein in the school if it failed for a second year was turned back by the school’s owner, Virginia-based K12 Inc. The company, which relies on online learning to educate its students, waged a public relations campaign that involved the school’s teachers, some of its parents and lobbyists.

“Nearly a year after Tennessee Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman declared the Tennessee Virtual Academy’s results “un­acceptable” and demanded an immediate turnaround, the school stands to collect about $5 million in state funds this school year. Last year, the school took in an estimated $15 million.

“Critics say the results fit a pattern for K12’s schools nationwide. The company has opened online schools across the country, taking advantage of state school-choice and charter school laws.”

Meanwhile, Jeb Bush and ALEC continue to promote online virtual charters as the wave of the future, the very essence of “personalized and customized” learning, and the Obama administration remains silent as these low-quality “schools” proliferate, empowered by campaign contributions and lobbying. (Paid for with your tax dollars.)

Categories Charter Schools, Education Industry, For-Profit, On-Line Education, Tennessee

Breaking News: Founder of Pennsylvania Cyber Charter Indicted

By dianeravitch
August 24, 2013 //
22

Nicholas Trombetta, founder of the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School, has been indicted by federal authorities on 11 fraud and tax charges.

Trombetta’s school is the largest cyber charter in the state and possibly the nation, with 10,000 students and annual revenues in excess of $100 million.

Prosecutors said that Trombetta had stolen nearly $1 million. He “is accused of creating entity after entity, ultimately controlling what prosecutors said was an intricate web of interlocking businesses whose purpose was to enrich himself, his sister and various associates.”

Trombetta’s attorney said he will plead not guilty.

“The indictment alleges that the former wrestling coach and school superintendent formed businesses that billed for doing no work; masked his control of a corporation by naming straw owners; hid income from the IRS; took $550,000 in kickbacks on a laptop computer contract with Virginia-based NCS Technologies Inc.; and even “caused” employees to make $40,000 in individual payments to his favored political candidates before reimbursing them through one of his companies.

Although no such charges have been filed, there is a federal statute that prohibits making campaign contributions in the name of another person, or what are referred to as “conduit political contributions.”

Prosecutors insisted they were not making any judgments about cyber charters, just about Mr. Trombetta’s financial dealings.

As we have learned from studies like the one conducted by CREDO and another by NEPC, cyber charters provide an inferior quality of education–high attrition rates, low graduation rates, low test scores.

But the money is really good for those who run the schools, so long as they don’t break the law.

Categories Charter Schools, On-Line Education, Pennsylvania

Another of Jeb Bush’s “Chiefs for Change” Steps Down

By dianeravitch
August 17, 2013 //
13

Stephen Bowen, state commissioner of education in Maine,
announced
that he was resigning his post to take a job as “director
of innovation” for the DC Council on Chief State School Officers.
He is the second member of Jeb Bush’s Chiefs for Change to resign
in the past few weeks. Tony Bennett of Florida w the other; he
resigned when news broke about rigging the A-F grading system to
raise the grade of a school run by a political donor. Last year,
Bowen was at the center of a scandal
revealed by journalist Colin Woodard. Bowen was taking
instruction and even model legislation to promote digital learning
from Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education. FEE gets
subsidies from the tech corporations that stand to profit as
digital learning expands. Bowen previously worked for a
conservative think tank in Maine. The interesting aspect of this is
the apparent transformation of the CCSSO, which was for many years
a staunch defender of public education. Bowen clearly was a charter member of the privatization movement, of which his mentor Jeb Bush is a prominent leader.

Categories Bush, Jeb, Chiefs for Change, Corporate Reformers, On-Line Education

Why Is Pennsylvania Unable to Pay for Public Schools?

By dianeravitch
August 13, 2013 //
15

Pennsylvania has more cyber charters than any other state (16 at last count). It also has a large charter sector that performs no better than public schools. The Governor took $1 billion out of the public schools’ budget, and he is allowing the public schools of Philadelphia to die.

Here is a good explanation:

“We cannot afford four separate school systems

“Pennsylvanians must decide if we want to continue to support public education or if we will allow those who want to privatize education to prevail. Pennsylvania taxpayers are now supporting four separate school systems – our traditional community-based public schools, bricks and mortar charter schools, cyber-charter schools and private schools. We simply cannot afford it. The funding being diverted from our community-based public schools to charters and private schools is killing public education.

“Pennsylvania taxpayers are spending $946 million on bricks and mortar charter schools, 71 percent of which did not meet the federal Adequate Yearly Progress standard (AYP), $366 million on cyber-charters, none of which met AYP. The Education Improvement Tax Credit program is diverting another $200 million from public schools to support private schools.

“The Philadelphia public school crisis shows us the future for many public schools around the Commonwealth if we do not recommit to adequate funding for our school districts.”

http://www.hangerforgovernor.com/we_cannot_afford_four_separate_school_systems”

Categories Budget Cuts, Charter Schools, On-Line Education, Pennsylvania
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