69传媒

Map: Cyber Charters Have a New Champion in Betsy DeVos, But Struggles Continue

A Colorado cyber charter school with a 19 percent graduation rate. An Ohio virtual school that inflated student attendance by nearly 500 percent. A Pennsylvania cyber charter founder who siphoned off $8 million in public money, including $300,000 to buy himself an airplane. A Hawaii cyber charter founder who hired her nephew as the athletic director鈥攆or a school with no sports teams.

Cyber charters have long struggled with poor academic performance and financial mismanagement.

But under the Trump administration, they have scored a key ally with a big platform: U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. As one of the most vocal supporters of school choice鈥攊ncluding schools run by for-profit providers鈥擠eVos frequently touts virtual schooling as a vital option for students with a range of needs: those with disabilities, demanding athletic schedules or who live in rural areas. But DeVos also once had a financial stake in the expansion of online schooling, as an early investor in K12 Inc., the largest operator of cyber charters.

As part of an investigation into cyber charters published in 2016, Education Week reviewed hundreds of news stories and dozens of state audits and reports dating back to the early 2000s. A trend of widespread troubles emerged.

We鈥檝e plotted the stories on the interactive map below, which has been updated with coverage through 2017.

View the Full Package: Rewarding Failure: An Education Week Investigation of the Cyber Charter Industry

DISCLAIMER: In preparing the information included in this interactive map, the sought accounts from established news organizations and documents from state agencies that reported poor performance and/or mismanagement by full-time online charter schools. The list included here is representative, but not comprehensive.

Arizona

News Links:

鈼� Arizona Republic (12/10/2011)
鈼� Arizona Republic (12/13/2011)
鈼� Arizona Republic (12/13/2011)
鈼� Arizona Republic (12/15/2011)
鈼� Arizona Republic (5/14/2012)

State Audits & Reports:

鈼� (October 2007)

California

News Links:

鈼� San Diego Union-Tribune (11/10/2002)
鈼� East Bay Times (2/27/2015)
鈼� Buzzfeed (11/2/2015)
鈼� San Jose Mercury News (4/16/2016)
鈼� East Bay Times (4/18/2016)
鈼� The Humboldt Beacon (4/19/2016)
鈼� San Jose Mercury News (7/8/2016)
鈼� San Jose Mercury News (8/30/2016)
鈼� The Orange County Register (11/15/2016)
鈼� Bay Area News Group (10/09/2017)

State Audits & Reports:

鈼� (7/8/2016)

Colorado

News Links:

鈼� Denver Post (12/11/2006)
鈼� Denver Post (10/1/2011)
鈼� I-News Network/Education News Colorado (10/2/2011)
鈼� I-News Network/Rocky Mountain PBS (10/2/2011)
鈼� I-News Network/Education News Colorado (9/4/2013)
鈼� Chalkbeat (3/16/2015)

State Audits & Reports:

鈼� (November 2006)
鈼� (2007-2014)
鈼� Submitted by Office of Blended and Online Learning of the Colorado Department of Education to the state board and state House and Senate鈥檚 education committees (June 2014)

Florida

News Links:

鈼� Orlando Sentinel (8/14/2002)
鈼� Orlando Sentinel (8/28/2002)
鈼� New Times Broward-Palm Beach (12/29/2011)
鈼� Palm Beach Post (10/15/2015)
鈼� Sun-Sentinel (3/14/2016)
鈼� Tampa Bay Times (5/10/2016)

Georgia

News Links:

鈼� Atlanta Journal-Constitution (7/10/2009)
鈼� Atlanta Journal-Constitution (6/18/2010)
鈼� Atlanta Journal-Constitution (11/20/2012)
鈼� Atlanta Journal-Constitution (12/4/2012)
鈼� Atlanta Journal-Constitution (12/18/2015)
鈼� Atlanta Journal-Constitution (7/24/2016)
鈼� Atlanta Journal-Constitution (8/10/2016)

State Audits & Reports:

鈼� Conducted by Public Impact and the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, Commissioned by the State Charter 69传媒 Commission of Georgia (2015)
鈼� Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts Performance Audit Division (2016)

Hawaii

News Links:

鈼� Honolulu Star-Advertiser (12/5/2010)
鈼� Hawaii News Now (12/17/2013)
鈼� Honolulu Star-Advertiser (10/29/2015)

Idaho

News Links:

鈼� "Virtual school bailout OK鈥檇; Senate also says yes to changes for charter schools," Idaho Statesman (3/17/2004)*
鈼� Lewiston Morning Tribune (6/13/2004)
鈼� Lewiston Morning Tribune (7/11/2004)
鈼� Moscow-Pullman Daily News (4/6/2008)
鈼� Spokesman-Review (1/28/2016)

State Audits & Reports:

鈼� Idaho Department of Education / REL Northwest (January 2010)

Indiana

News Links:

鈼� Indianapolis Star (7/15/2012)
鈼� Evansville Courier & Press (6/4/2014)
鈼� Indianapolis Star (8/11/2014)
鈼� Evansville Courier & Press (6/17/2015)
鈼� Chalkbeat (9/7/2016)
鈼� Education Week (5/11/2017)
鈼� WFYI Indianapolis (9/27/2017)
鈼� Education Week (9/29/2017)
鈼� Chalkbeat Indiana (10/21/2017)

Maine

News Links:

鈼� Portland Press Herald (9/1/2012)
鈼� Portland Press Herald (3/15/2014)
鈼� Portland Press Herald (1/6/2016)

Massachusetts

News Links:

鈼� The Republican Newsroom/New England Center for Investigative Reporting (12/16/2012)
鈼� WBUR (10/1/2015)

Michigan

News Links:

鈼� "Offering more choices?; House education committee holds hearing on online charter schools," Pioneer (1/27/2012)*
鈼� Bridge Magazine (10/22/2015)
鈼� MLive (9/2/2016)

Minnesota

News Links:

鈼� Pioneer Press (12/21/2011)
鈼� Pioneer Press (4/27/2013)

State Audits & Reports:

鈼� Minnesota Office of the Attorney General (February 2011)

Nevada

News Links:

鈼� Las Vegas Review Journal (6/13/2014)
鈼� KSNV NBC Las Vegas (4/25/2016)
鈼� Las Vegas Review-Journal (11/08/2017)

New Mexico

News Links:

鈼� Albuquerque Journal (9/21/2012)
鈼� Albuquerque Journal (1/31/2013)
鈼� Albuquerque Journal (2/13/2013)
鈼� Santa Fe New Mexican (3/20/2013)
鈼� Santa Fe New Mexican (9/16/2016)

State Audits & Reports:

鈼� State of New Mexico Legislative Education Study Committee (6/25/2015)
鈼� New Mexico Public Education Department report to Legislative Finance Committee (1/18/2016)

North Carolina

News Links:

鈼� Charlotte Observer (5/4/2012)
鈼� Charlotte Observer (12/17/2014)
鈼� WUNC (1/7/2016)
鈼� News & Observer (9/1/2016)
鈼� WRAL (11/07/2017)

State Audits & Reports:

鈼� Public 69传媒 of North Carolina, State Board of Education (4/15/2014)

Ohio

News Links:

鈼� "Charter school owes state $48,000 for ineligible students," Associated Press (9/2/2003)*
鈼� Columbus Dispatch (7/26/2005)
鈼� Columbus Dispatch (4/4/2006)
鈼� Cleveland Plain Dealer/State Impact Ohio (9/30/2012)
鈼� Columbus Dispatch (11/19/2013)
鈼� Columbus Dispatch (3/1/2016)
鈼� New York Times (5/18/2016)
鈼� Columbus Dispatch (7/8/2016)
鈼� Columbus Dispatch (9/27/2016)
鈼� Columbus Dispatch (10/4/2016)
鈼� WOSU Public Media (09/29/2017)
鈼� Education Week (10/19/2017)
鈼� Columbus Dispatch (12/6/2017)

Oklahoma

News Links:

鈼� Tulsa World (8/13/2010)
鈼� The Oklahoman (3/1/2011)
鈼� The Oklahoman (12/30/2013)
鈼� Oklahoma Watch (7/11/2016)
鈼� Oklahoma Watch (7/14/2016)

Oregon

News Links:

鈼� "Oregon virtual charter school faces loss of funds," Associated Press (9/6/2006)*
鈼� Oregonian (6/24/2011)
鈼� Oregonian (2/1/2013)
鈼� Oregonian (1/21/2013)
鈼� Oregonian (9/12/2015)

State Audits & Reports:

鈼� Oregon State Board of Education Policy Brief (August 2007)

Pennsylvania

News Links:

鈼� Philadelphia Inquirer (9/7/2001)
鈼� The Morning Call (5/13/2002)
鈼� Philadelphia Daily News (11/27/2002)
鈼� "Court rules online school must close; Einstein Academy told to shut doors next month," Evening Sun (5/15/2003)*
鈼� Philadelphia Inquirer (2/3/2009)
鈼� Philadelphia Inquirer (8/5/2009)
鈼� The Morning Call (6/21/2012)
鈼� Beaver County Times (12/7/2012)
鈼� WHYY/Newsworks (1/21/2013)
鈼� WHYY/Newsworks (5/23/2013)
鈼� Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (8/24/2013)
鈼� Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (9/1/2013)
鈼� Philadelphia Inquirer (12/7/2013)
鈼� Associated Press (6/5/2014)
鈼� Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (8/24/2016)
鈼� Education Week (05/29/2017)

State Audits & Reports:

鈼� Pennsylvania Department of the Auditor General (May 2014)
鈼� Pennsylvania Department of the Auditor General (6/20/2012)
鈼� Pennsylvania Department of the Auditor General (September 2010)

South Carolina

News Links:

鈼� The 74 (11/07/2017)
鈼� The State (11/30/2017)

Tennessee

News Links:

鈼� The Commercial Appeal (2/12/2013)
鈼� "Virtual school hits bottom, gets reprieve," The Tennessean (8/25/2013)*
鈼� The Tennessean (6/12/2015)
鈼� WBIR (8/16/2016)

State Audits & Reports:

鈼� Tennessee Department of Education (2015)
鈼� Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury, Offices of Research and Education Accountability (March 2016)

Texas

News Links:

鈼� Dallas Morning News (11/7/2010)
鈼� Texas Observer (9/6/2011)
鈼� Texas Observer (10/10/2011)
鈼� Amarillo Globe-News (6/7/2012)

Utah

News Links:

鈼� Salt Lake Tribune (10/6/2007)
鈼� Salt Lake Tribune (5/27/2013)
鈼� Salt Lake Tribune (2/27/2014)
鈼� Salt Lake Tribune (5/9/2014)
鈼� KSL.com (12/26/2014)
鈼� KSL.com (10/1/2015)

State Audits & Reports:

鈼� Utah State Board of Education (2/7/2014)

Washington

News Links:

鈼� Inlander (09/07/2017)

View the Education Week collected. Please send additional accounts, reports, and responses that you believe merit inclusion to library@educationweek.org.

A previous version of this story was titled "Cyber Charters: Widespread Reports of Trouble."