California Gives For-Profit Charters the Boot, K12 Inc. Largely the Reason
On September 07, 2018, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a bill authored by Assemblyman Kevin McCarthy prohibiting for-profit charter schools in California, effective July 01, 2019. From the bill:
On and after July 1, 2019, a petitioner that submits a charter petition or a charter school that submits a charter renewal or material revision application shall not operate as, or be operated by, a for-profit corporation, a for-profit educational management organization, or a for-profit charter management organization. For purposes of this section, a for-profit educational management organization and a for-profit charter management organization are entities that manage or operate a charter school.
For-profit charter schools currently operating in California must convert to non-profit management prior to each school’s renewal deadline.
For-profit virtual charter operator, K12, has a shady, self-serving history in California, including draining a school of funding and presenting the appearance of no debt (and, therefore, the appearance of a successful school) by washing the school’s books via a creation called a “balanced budget credit.” Though in July 2016, California Attorney General Kamala Harris charged that K12 funneled $168.5M via the “balanced budget credits” game, K12 settled (without admitting guilt) for $8.5M– and was still allowed to operate in California.
McCarthy’s bill prohibiting for-profit charter schools in California was first introduced in February 2017; the first analysis of the bill (California Assembly, May 09, 2017) focuses on K12’s profiteering as justification for the legislation:
Appropriate use of taxpayer dollars? While current law explicitly authorizes a charter school to operate as a nonprofit corporation, statute is silent on whether a charter school is permitted to operate as a for-profit corporation. Because of the permissive nature of the Education Code and absent a clear prohibition, several charter schools are currently operating as for-profit corporations.The California Charter School Association indicates there are six for-profit charter schools in California. California Virtual Academies (CAVA) is California’s largest provider of online public K-12 education and a public charter school network that exists entirely online. Students take classes Continue reading: California Gives For-Profit Charters the Boot, K12 Inc. Largely the Reason | deutsch29
