The Internet offers great opportunities in education. Online schools provide flexible schedules, expanded class offerings and an alternative for students who struggle in traditional school settings.

But there are pitfalls, as a recent investigative report by Education News Colorado and the I-News Network has revealed.

The system of online K-12 schools in Colorado -- offered by GOAL Academy, Hope Online, Insight School of Colorado and other such programs -- has become big business, but it's failing many of the thousands of students who have signed up. The report shows that for every online student who graduates, three drop out. Half of the students who enter online programs in Colorado return to a brick-and-mortar school within a year, though the taxpayer money that follows them to online schools stays there. The online schools are expected to get $100 million in taxpayer money this year.

But the report suggests an even more troubling side of the story.

Some officials of online schools appear to have benefited from political connections, and the programs they operate have almost completely escaped the kind of government oversight that was called for in a state audit five years ago. A former principal of Insight School in the Julesburg school district alleged that Insight "received millions of dollars in