Archives for category: Virtual Charter Schools
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Democratic Senators Call for Investigation of Online Charter Schools

By dianeravitch
October 11, 2018 //
48

You read that right. Democratic senators want an investigation of virtual charter schools, the kind that I have posted about here about 100 times. They read a report about how shoddy they are, written by the Center for American Progress. That shocked them. They say there is almost no research about these profiteering virtual charter schools that Betsy DeVos and ALEC adore. Apparently, the only research they ever hear about is whatever is written by the Center for American Progress, which loves charters but not vouchers.

Two Democratic senators asked Wednesday for the Government Accountability Office to launch an investigation into the practices and policies of virtual charter schools. The request comes on the same day the Center for American Progress released a report outlining stark academic shortcomings at these schools and a disproportionate focus on profit over quality.

The virtual charter schools have come under scrutiny in states including California and Ohio. But now Democratic Sens. Patty Murray (Wash.) and Sherrod Brown (Ohio) are calling for a more comprehensive look at how these schools work in the 27 states that house them. About 300,000 students attend these online public schools of choice. The enrollment has been steadily increasing over the years.

“There is almost no research on whether virtual charter schools meet student needs, especially for students who require specific accommodations, including English learners and students with disabilities,” says the letter from the senators.

Of course, they are wrong. There has been a great deal of research about the failure of virtual charter schools, much of it by Gary Miron of the Western Michigan University, published by the National Education Policy Center. Here is the latest.

The charter-friendly CREDO at the Hoover Institution at Stanford studied online charter schools in 2015 and determined that their students typically lost a full year of learning in math, and 72 days in reading. (p. 23). That’s like not going to school at all.

The first set of analyses examines the academic growth of online charter students compared to the matched VCRs made up of students who attended brick-and-mortar district-run schools. These schools are typically referred to as traditional public schools (TPS). Compared to their VCRs in the TPS, online charter students have much weaker growth overall. Across all tested students in online charters, the typical academic gains for math are -0.25 standard deviations (equivalent to 180 fewer days of learning) and -0.10 (equivalent to 72 fewer days) for reading (see Figure 3). This means that compared to their twin attending TPS, the sizes of the coefficients leave little doubt attending an online charter school leads to lessened academic growth for the average student.

In addition to research studies documenting the virtual charter sham, there have been many excellent pieces of investigative journalism, like Jesse Calefati’s series on K12, Inc. in California.

And I should mention that I devoted a chapter to virtual charter scams in my 2013 book Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools.

What kind of education staff do these senators have? Why is CAP their only source of information?

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Failure, For-Profit, Fraud, Privatization, Virtual Charter Schools

DeVos Ally, New Leader of For-Profit K12 Inc. Promises to Clean Up Its Shoddy Record

By dianeravitch
October 9, 2018 //
18

Over the years, it has become obvious that virtual charter schools are a sham. ECOT in Ohio was a spectacular failure, which made millions for its for-profit owner (“the ECOT man”) but cost taxpayers over a billion dollars that should have gone to public schools. The founder of the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School is now in jail, convicted of stealing millions of dollars, but convicted only of tax evasion, not embezzlement. June Brown, who operated K12 Inc. schools in Pennsylvania, avoided conviction because of her advanced age (she kept the money).

K12 Inc. is perhaps the biggest of the shams because it has the most students. It is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. It makes handsome profits, but its students drop out at a high rate and get low test scores on state tests. The NCAA stripped 24 of the virtual K12 Inc. schools of accreditation a few years back after it discovered that students were often taking the K12 Inc. tests without bothering to first sit for instruction. NCAA officials saw tests that included “true-false” questions, and observed that students could take the test again if they failed. Any number of K12 Inc. virtual schools have been engaged in fraudulent practices that led to fines or even jail sentences for their operators.

K12 Inc. has been repeatedly criticized for the poor performance of its students. They start behind and they don’t catch up. See here. See here. See here. See here.

K12 Inc. originated with Ron Packard, who was paid $5 million a year to run it, Michael Milker, the ex-felon who invested in it, and Bill Bennett, the ex-Secretary of Education who was supposed to sell it to home schooling families (but had to step back after making a comment on his radio show that the best way to reduce crime was to encourage the abortion of black babies.)

Politico interviewed Kevin Chavous, a close ally of Betsy DeVos, who adores for-profit virtual charter schools. He promised to do better in the future.

K12 INC. PUSHES TO DO BETTER AMID CRITICISM OF VIRTUAL SCHOOLS: Low graduation and attendance rates have led to widespread scrutiny in recent years of virtual schools, which allow students to do Internet-based schooling on a computer at taxpayers’ expense. One of the largest providers is K12 Inc., which serves 110,000 students in 31 states.

— Kevin Chavous, a former D.C. council member and a founding board member of the American Federation for Children school choice group that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos used to chair, took over a year ago as president of the company’s academics, policy and schools group. He recently stopped by the POLITICO newsroom, and offered insight into work underway at K12 Inc. Here’s what he shared:

— Tracking students. Chavous said the company rolled out a new system to more closely track both student and teacher performance and focus on “aggressive engagement” to ensure students are logging on. Teachers and administrators are held accountable when students aren’t progressing. He noted that only 11 percent of K12’s first-time students are on grade level when they start, so many have a long way to go to catch up academically. “We are going to be very disciplined about making sure we have growth with all of our students,” Chavous said.

— ECOT collapse. Even though K12 wasn’t affiliated with the massive Ohio virtual school ECOT that closed earlier this year, Chavous said its collapse has been a wakeup call. He said about 4,000 of its former students moved to Ohio Virtual Academy, a K12 school. One big lesson is that the “onboarding process” is important, so he said in Ohio they’ve started requiring mandatory orientation so there’s a clear understanding among students and parents of what’s expected. Another lesson, he said, is that providers need a better understanding of each student’s academic needs from the get-go.

— Desperate parents. Chavous said he’s spent hours listening to inquiries from parents calling to ask about attending a K12 school. Nearly half are parents whose kids have been bullied, he said. “Ninety-five percent of those phone calls, the parents are full of desperation,” Chavous said.

— School violence. After school shootings, he said K12 sees an uptick in calls, and safety concerns are one reason parents like online education. “We’re filling a need that others aren’t filling. That means we do have a responsibility to fill that need academically in the right way. And … our company takes that charge on,” he said.

— Future of school choice. Chavous said he thinks DeVos’ support for virtual schools has had little effect on the work K12 is doing around the country. “It really hasn’t had an impact on policy shifts that we’ve seen,” he said.

Categories For-Profit, Fraud, Virtual Charter Schools

Michigan: Virtual Schools Grow Despite High Failure Rate

By dianeravitch
September 25, 2018 //
17

The virtual charter industry is booming in Michigan, despite its abysmal performance.

Michigan, DeVos’s home state, has outsourced its education system as much as possible to for-profit entrepreneurs. Michigan is the only state where 80% of charters are operated by for-profit corporations.

http://www.wkar.org/post/study-virtual-schools-growing-mi-despite-poor-outcomes#stream/0

According to this report, one-quarter of the 101,000 students attending virtual charters did not pass a single class.

The graduation rate is far below that of public schools.

Michigan’s standing on NAEP has fallen to the bottom 10 since the widespread adoption of school choice.

Michigan is an exemplar of PROFITS MATTER, NOT EDUCATION.

Categories Betsy DeVos, Education Reform, For-Profit, Fraud, Michigan, Scandals, School Choice, Virtual Charter Schools

Arizona: What a Joke! Gov. Ducey Wants to Reform Charter Law!

By dianeravitch
September 22, 2018 //
7

Arizona has a Charter Law that ignores nepotism, conflict of interest, Profiteering, frauds, scams, etc.

Now Governor Doug Ducey is in a tight race with educator David Garcia, and Ducey wants to “reform” the charter law! And I have a bridge to sell you if you are that gullible.

Laurie Roberts of the Arizona Republic says that this is hilarious. PS: I love Laurie Roberts and Craig HARRIS of the Arizona Republic, who regularly expose charter corruption (he exposes it, she ridicules it).

She writes, to begin:

“A month ago, Gov. Doug Ducey said he wasn’t concerned that the head of Primavera charter school – which puts just 11 percent of its state funding into instruction — scored an $8.8 million “shareholder distribution” from the for-profit company that runs the online operation.

“I’m not concerned about the CEO,” Ducey told The Republic’s Craig Harris. “That is of very little interest. I’m concerned about the child and the parent and what the child is equipped to do after 12 years of education.”

“Today, Ducey and other Republicans have seen the light and the light is a freight train of public outrage racing right at them as they seek re-election.

“As a result, Ducey is now backing a set of charter school reforms proposed by state Sen. Kate Brophy McGee, R-Phoenix, who like Ducey is facing a fight to get back to the state Capitol next year.

“While I’m certainly happy to see that Ducey and his Republican colleagues at long last might be willing to plug gaping loopholes that have allowed some charter operators to plunder public money, I have to ask the same question I asked when they suddenly saw the need to prioritize public schools as teachers took to the streets this spring:

“Where’ve you been?”…

“Virtually every year, we hear an outrageous story about a charter school operator who has fundamentally failed the smell test, either by shorting kids or lining their pockets – or both.

“Virtually every year, Democrats in the Legislature propose reforms to fix laughable state laws that require hardly any oversight or public accountability.

“And virtually, every year Republicans ignore all evidence of a problem while joining hands and chanting “school choice, school choice, school choice.” This, to the delight of their dark money pals who shovel campaign money their way.

“Indeed, it is a choice to focus only on charter school successes — and there certainly are some — while ignoring problems rampant in the charter school industry.

“Just last fall, the centrist Grand Canyon Institute released the results of a three-year study that found up to up to 77 percent of charter school holders are using public funds on “potentially questionable financial transactions” — often paying themselves or their various relatives to provide goods and services to their charter schools under a price they get to set, courtesy of no-bid contracts.

“The study found that charter school executives earn on average 50 percent more than their school district counterparts while teachers earn 20 percent less. That classroom spending and academic performance are both lower in charters than in district schools.

“Rather than taking a serious look at those findings, our leaders and the charter school industry labeled the Grand Canyon Institute as “anti charter” and did … nothing.”

Categories Accountability, Arizona, Charter Schools, Corruption, Education Industry, For-Profit, Fraud, Privatization, Virtual Charter Schools

Ohio: ECOT Received Even More than $1 Billion in State Money!

By dianeravitch
September 20, 2018 //
4

The Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow (ECOT) is the biggest online charter scandal in the nation, for now. The state poured more than $1 billion over 17 years into this for-profit enterprise, with no accountability until recently. After the state finally audited ECOT, it learned that there was no system in place to know whether students logged in, whether they participated in instruction, and commenced proceedings to recover at least $80 million. ECOT fought the state in court and lost. Rather than return the money, ECOT closed its doors.

Almost every Republican official running for statewide office received campaign funding from William Lager, the entrepreneur behind ECOT. Mike DeWine, the Republican candidate for governor, returned the ECOT money, but continues to accept contributions from other for-profit charter “schools.” Online charter schools everywhere have dismal records and are typically the worst-performing schools in every state where they are allowed.

One thing became obvious: the Republican elected officials who received Lager money showered ECOT with favors, including no-accountability, no oversight, and regular appearances as graduation speakers. It is striking how little money it cost Lager to buy their loyalty.

Bill Phillis, Ohio watchdog, writes here that ECOT got even more than the $1 billion that has been reported.

He writes:

Remember the Straight A Fund grants?

State Superintendent Dr. Richard Ross hatched the idea of passing out grants for school improvement via the Straight A Fund. Millions of dollars were distributed.

Incredibly, in fiscal year 2014, ECOT received a grant of $2,951,755 in Straight A Funds. (ECOT also received a huge grant of state money that was funneled through The Ohio State University.) ECOT over the years collected $130 million in federal funds. All these funds were in addition to the billion dollars ECOT took from school districts.

When ECOT received the $3 million Straight A Fund grant, at least some Ohio Department of Education (ODE) officials should have known that ECOT was collecting money for students not participating in the ECOT program.

The $3 million Straight A Fund grant to ECOT was for “A Personalized Learning Road Map for Every Math Student Grades 6-12…” During the 2015-2016 school year ODE found less than half of ECOT students were participating in any part of the ECOT program.

Obviously the grant didn’t reach all students-possibly not any students.

At this juncture in the ECOT saga, will there be any attempt to claw back any portion of state grants and federal dollars ECOT received? Did anyone at ODE monitor the ECOT expenditures of the federal and state grants?

Who is responsible for allowing ECOT to squander hundreds of millions of dollars?

William L. Phillis | Ohio Coalition for Equity & Adequacy of School Funding | 614.228.6540 | ohioeanda@sbcglobal.net| http://www.ohiocoalition.org

Bill Phillis also posted this question from a public education advocate:


Jeanne Melvin, President of Public Education Partners (PEP), reveals a Michigan charter advocate’s political campaign donations to Ohio politicians

The charter industry has birthed a network of political campaign donors devoted to the expansion of the industry. Such groups as the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), All Children Matter, Inc., (formerly run by Betsy DeVos), Michigan Mackinac Center for Public Policy and Democrats for Education Reform, influence state and federal legislation in support of the charter industry.

The idea that charters would be operated by teachers and parents in the context of a school district was hijacked. A charter industry has evolved which has spawned a multi-billion dollar support group. Education policy is primarily driven by campaign contributions from charter operators and charter support groups.

To the Editor:

I respond to the Sept. 2 Dispatch.com article “Which side is right in political battle over ECOT blame?” Why is the demand for accountability concerning the largest scandal in our state’s history being called a political battle?

Speaking up for our children and their families, as well as Ohio taxpayers, should never be considered a partisan issue.

There is no excuse for allowing this $1 billion charter school fraud to continue for 18 years. Concerns were raised about the cozy relationship between charter school boards and their management companies in 2002, and our elected officials looked the other way to protect their campaign coffers.

If Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow’s structural setup had been the same since 2000, why is Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine finally taking legal action against William Lager? If it’s illegal now for Lager to direct taxpayer money to his companies, why wasn’t that problem handled years ago?

It’s nice to see that DeWine recently donated $12,533 in Lager contributions to charity, but sadly, he continues to take campaign cash from for-profit charter school companies.

On Aug. 31, his campaign received $10,000 from J. C. Huizenga, a member of the board of directors of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy “think tank.”

Huizenga is also one of the major funders of All Children Matter Inc., which still owes Ohio a $5.3 million election fine. The unpaid fine dates back to 2008, when All Children Matter – a group that lobbied for school-choice legislation and was run by Betsy DeVos – broke Ohio election law by funneling $870,000 in contributions through its nationwide PAC to its Ohio affiliate, according to the Ohio Elections Commission.

Huizenga’s company, National Heritage Academies, is affiliated with the American Legislative Exchange Council and sits on its Education Task Force. Through ALEC, corporations, ideologues and their politician allies follow an aggressive agenda to legalize spending public tax dollars to subsidize private K-12 education such as charter schools.

It’s time for Ohio voters to elect pro-public education candidates in November. Our children are counting on us.

Jeanne Melvin, Columbus

Huizenga’s charter chain, National Heritage Academies, operates for profit. He is a close associate of Betsy DeVos.

Categories Corruption, For-Profit, Ohio, Virtual Charter Schools

Carol Burris: Is California’s Ban on For-Profit Charters Real or A Hoax?

By dianeravitch
September 19, 2018 //
9

When the California Charter Schools Association celebrates the passage of a bill banning for-profit charters, it raises questions about how much the law matters.

Carol Burris has closely studied waste, fraud, and abuse in California’s charter sector. Her report, “Charters and Consequesnces” is must reading for anyone who wants to see how non-profits facilitate corrupt practice when there is neither accountability, transparency, nor oversight.

This is her review of the ban on for-profit charters, which affects a tiny number of charters in the state. Those few for-profits, she predicts, will find a way to work around the new law.

California charter law needs to be reformed, from top to bottom, to protect children and taxpayers, as well as to stop the charter raid on state funding that is intended for public schools.

Categories Accountability, California, Charter Schools, Education Industry, For-Profit, Privatization, Virtual Charter Schools

Jan Resseger: Who Allowed ECOT to Scam Ohio Taxpayers of $1 Billion Over 17 Years?

By dianeravitch
September 15, 2018 //
3

Jan Resseger nails the politicians who are responsible for ignoring the ECOT scam. The $1 billion that ECOT took to produce inferior education (or none at all) was purchased with campaign contributions, 92% of it to Republicans.

As it happens, the guilty politicians are running for state office this November. In only a few weeks, they will be judged by the voters.

Jon Husted, the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor; Keith Faber, the Republican candidate for state auditor; Mike DeWine, the Republican candidate for governor; and Dave Yost, the Republican candidate for attorney general.

Will the voters in Ohio remember in November who skimmed millions from their public schools to enrich the owner of ECOT?

Categories Education Reform, For-Profit, Fraud, Ohio, Virtual Charter Schools

Bill Phillis: Who Should Be Held Accountable for the ECOT Fiasco?

By dianeravitch
September 13, 2018 //
9

Bill Phillis is a retired deputy State Superintendent of Schools in Ohio and a passionate advocate of public schools, equity and accountability.

He launched the Ohio Coalition for Equity and Adequacy of School Funding. You should subscribe to his email list.

ECOT (Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow) wasted $1 billion of taxpayers’ money, diverted funding from real public schools, and was endorsed by Ohio’s most prominent Republican elected officials. Betsy Dezvos wants more virtual charters, which have an abysmal track record.

He writes:


The ECOT scandal could have been stopped many times since its beginning

After ECOT ripped off a billion dollars from Ohio school districts and collected a couple hundred million from the federal government during a 17-year run, the corrupt operation was finally exposed. How did this business enterprise feed illegally at the public tax trough in plain sight without being held accountable? That critical question is being debated in the final days before the November 2018 election. Candidates are debating who is to blame.

One person said; don’t blame Bill Lager-he is a businessman trying to make a buck. Lager used millions of tax dollars gobbled up from the public trough to buy political favors. Public officials turned a blind eye to the corruption.

Who should have been watching ECOT and other bad actors in the charter industry?

State Board of Education
Ohio Department of Education
State Superintendents
State Auditors
State Attorney Generals
Governors
Legislators
Private watchdog groups

Over the years state officials have shut down small charter operations-the kind that had meager political campaign budgets. But ECOT wasn’t on their radar.

The ECOT scandal should prompt state officials of all political stripes to put the spotlight on the other big time charter operators such as K12 Inc., Imagine Schools, Gulen Islamic charters, Accel, etc.

“The whole people must take upon themselves the education of the whole people and be willing to bear the expenses of it. There should not be a district of one mile square, without a school in it, not founded by a charitable individual, but maintained at the public expense of the people themselves.”
– John Adams, September 10, 1785

William L. Phillis | Ohio Coalition for Equity & Adequacy of School Funding | 614.228.6540 | ohioeanda@sbcglobal.net| http://www.ohiocoalition.org

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, For-Profit, Fraud, Funding, Ohio, Privatization, Virtual Charter Schools

Denis Smith: Can You Identify the MISSING WORD in Ohio’s Online Charter School Commercials?

By dianeravitch
September 7, 2018 //
6

Denis Smith reminds us of the old Groucho Marx television shows. If you said the “magic word,” a duck would descend and you would win a prize.

He provides readers with commercials for “online public schools,” “tuition free” and invites you to guess which is the missing word?

In the wake of the great ECOT scandal, there is one word that dare not be mentioned.

There is no prize for the right guess.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Ohio, Privatization, Virtual Charter Schools

California Legislature Passes Ban on For-Profit Charters: Will Governor Brown Sign It?

By dianeravitch
August 26, 2018 //
14

The California Legislature passed a bill banning for-profit charters. The sponsor is Assemblymember Kevin McCarty of Sacramento. The bill is aimed primarily at the virtual charter school run by for-profit K12 Inc.

Last time such a bill was passed, Governor Brown vetoed it. Having opened two charters when he was mayor of Oakland, he is very protective of them. This is a stain on his otherwise progressive record.

Even the California Charter Schools Association has endorsed this bill.

The San Jose Mercury News ran a powerful expose of K12 Inc. in 2016.

“SACRAMENTO — For-profit companies will be banned from running charter schools in California if Gov. Jerry Brown signs a hard-fought bill that won final approval from the state Legislature on Thursday.

“The proposal is the latest of several attempts to crack down on what critics say amounts to profiteering at the expense of children and taxpayers, the subject of a 2016 investigation by this news organization. Its passage came only after proponents were able to forge agreement between two groups that are almost always at odds: teachers unions and the trade association representing charter schools.

“The exposé in the Mercury News highlighted the need for reform,” said the bill’s author, Assemblyman Kevin McCarty, a Sacramento Democrat who serves on the education committee.

“That investigation zeroed in on K12 Inc., a for-profit operation based in Virginia and traded on Wall Street that manages publicly funded charter schools in California and other states. The K12-run network California Virtual Academies, the largest of its kind in the state with an enrollment of roughly 15,000, graduated fewer than half of its high school students, the news organization reported, and some teachers said they were pressured to inflate grades and enrollment records.

”This news organization’s probe also found that children who logged onto the company’s software for as little as one minute per day were counted as “present” for the purposes of calculating the amount of taxpayer funding the company would receive from California.

“As with policies from immigration enforcement to fuel standards, the Legislature’s approval of a for-profit charter school ban is at odds with the policies of the Trump administration. U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is not only a vocal supporter of for-profit education, but her husband disclosed they were early investors in K12 Inc.

“Assembly Bill 406 would change California’s charter school law to prohibit for-profit corporations and for-profit educational management organizations from running the state’s taxpayer-funded and independently run schools — even if the schools themselves are technically nonprofits.

LCalifornia currently has about 35 such charter schools, according to McCarty’s office. In 2016 K12 settled a lawsuit with the state for $168.5 million over claims that it manipulated attendance records and other measures of student success.”

Governor Brown has until September 30 to sign or veto the bill.

Jesse Calefati’s reporting for the San Jose Mercury News is education journalism at its finest, independent and owing nothing to philanthropists or investors.

Categories California, Education Reform, For-Profit, K12 Inc., Virtual Charter Schools
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