Virtual "online" Schooling a Disaster!!!

Virtual "online" schooling may be big on the Republican privatization front, but like the hyped up advertising of private and charter school backers, it's all smoke and mirrors, betting on the insecurities of parents to rake in the profits. Some school districts don't even want local virtual schools included in their average student scores.

Wisconsin Virtual Academy's (WIVA) state test scores vary between grades but are generally lower than McFarland's, which is why the district separates them out when reporting its scores in the spring.

But the GOP privateers won't mention this or the following studies every parent thinking about "online" schooling should see. It's a wonder we're even trying this:

Online Charter Schools Have An “Overwhelming Negative Impact,” Study FindsMore than 200,000 students are enrolled in the online schools, but evidence suggests they are getting a very bad education in return.

Online charter schools, which enroll 200,000 students nationwide, have an “overwhelming negative impact” on the academic outcomes of students by almost every measure, according to a series of sweeping national reports released today by three different policy and research centers.

Stanford’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes, or CREDO, found that students at online charter schools saw dramatically worse outcomes than their counterparts at traditional, brick-and-mortar schools. 

Over the course of a year, cyber school students lost out on the equivalent of 180 days of learning in math and 72 days reading.

CREDO found that more than two-thirds of online charter schools had academic growth that was worse than traditional schools.

Watch out for these two:

The CREDO study found no particular correlation between how schools were managed and the outcomes of online charter students. The online charter sector is dominated two for-profit companies; K12 Inc., a publicly traded education company, and Connections Academy, which is owned by Pearson, the world’s largest education company. 

This should scare the daylights out of parents who already have kids online:

In its own report, Mathematica Policy Research found that online charters had dramatically higher student-to-teacher ratios than at brick and mortar schools; more than a third of the schools had more than 50 students to a class. Students at online charter schools received less live contact with teachers in a week than those at traditional schools did in a single school day. The schools lacked support staff like guidance counselors and tutors.

And a third report, by the Center on Reinventing Public Education at the University of Washington, found serious gaps in oversight and funding of online charters by states. The study was funded by the Walton Family Foundation, which has traditionally been highly supportive of charter school growth nationwide.

Online Charter School K12, Inc robbing taxpayers, doling out salaries in the millions.

Don't say we didn't warn you. 

Diane Ravitch supplied us with the ugly salaries below for the biggest con artists and the biggest educational failure yet by the privateers. Tightwad conservative voters who thought public school teachers were overpaid...well, they should be flaming on after seeing this taxpayer ripoff:

Executive Salaries at K12, Inc.: While teachers across the nation have salaries lower than those of other professions and often need to take a second job to make ends meet, the executives at Michael Milken’s cyber charter chain K12, Inc. are faring very well indeed.

Their schools have high student turnover and low graduation rates, but it is a very profitable business.

The chairman of the board and CEO made $4.2 million last year.

The former CEO made $4 million.

The executive vice-president and chief financial officer made $824,000.

The president and chief operating officer made $5.5 million.

The executive Vice President, secretary, and chief counsel made $1.1 million.

The executive Vice President and manager of school services made $854,000.

Numbers are rounded. Remember: It is all about the kids.

K12 Virtual School settles suit for misleading investors over performance. What about parents?

Many parents don’t know it, but they’re in the middle of the Wild West days of privatizing education. Anything and everything goes under the guise of giving parents "choices." Wow, sounds empowering, doesn't it.

The largest and most powerful online school is K12, is about to hide their massive failures by settling a lawsuit that exposes their parental con.

EdWeek: The for-profit education provider K12 Inc. has reached a tentative settlement in a class-action securities lawsuit brought by investors who said they were misled by the company's business practices and academic performance. The online schools provider has agreed to pay $6.75 million to plaintiffs, while company officials said they also continue to deny any claims of wrongdoing … other claims, focused on academic performance and school quality, will be voluntarily dismissed, according to a statement by the company.

See any red flags?

And that’s the problem. The investors in this case only wanted their money back, and were willing to settle the case and walk away. What about the problems they sighted in their lawsuit. What about the school systems and parents that bought into this scam? Will they be compensated or have their kids lost years returned to them?

I posted this audio from NPR just a short time back...



From an eSchool article, the facts not presented above:

The Times published numerous improper practices at K12’s virtual charter schools. After the article appeared, the price of K12 stock plunged.

The lawsuit, aimed at the country’s largest operator of full-time public virtual schools, alleges that:

• K12 engaged in improper and deceptive recruiting and sales strategies, aimed at enrolling students regardless of their ability to successfully complete the curriculum;

• K12 failed to disclose administrative pressure from upper management to pass students, despite poor or nonexistent academic performance, so as to maintain high enrollment levels and continued government funding; and

• According to various academic benchmarks, K12 students chronically underperformed their peers at traditional schools.

The complaint alleges that, as a result of these actions, K12’s statements regarding its academic performance, financial performance, and business and financial prospects were “materially false and misleading.”

The settlement means this story goes away. That’s at the heart of privatization.

Online Education Failure, Privatization not Working.

Just be keenly aware of how Scott Walker and legislative Republican describe the wonders of online schools. Those programs have been miserable failures. But common sense would tell you that.

Online education is specifically geared to children who have different needs. It's not for everyone. They are not another system of education like charter schools and private schools, although I don't consider them legitimate either, because Republicans have given them magical qualities and importance that just make education...happen.

The following NPR report should finally put the final nail in the coffin of this privatization scheme, known as cyber schools. Pass this along to every school board member you know, and every parent you know talking about this scam.

Public cyber schools are popping up across the country, even for the youngest students. Many are run by the same for-profit company, which has made a big business of online education. But student test scores are falling short.

You'll notice the parents who have bought into this will never be honest with themeselves. They will always like K12, despite the overall bad grades. They either won't admit how bad they are at their jobs, or they see something in their children those tests would never show. Big surprise.