Post by Logan on Jun 23, 2016 22:15:16 GMT -6
California Virtual Academies' attendance, enrollment records to be audited by state Controller
SACRAMENTO -- In a rare move, California's top education official has enlisted the state's highest-ranking accountant to conduct a sweeping audit of California Virtual Academies, a profitable but low-performing network of online charter schools that enrolls about 15,000 students across the state.
The audit is the first that Superintendent for Public Instruction Tom Torlakson has asked the state controller's Office to conduct since he took office in 2011. The request comes two months after this newspaper published an investigative series on K12 Inc., the publicly traded Virginia firm that operates the schools and reaps tens of millions of dollars annually in state funding.
In a statement Thursday, Torlakson said he has a duty to ensure that public money isn't being squandered and sought the probe into the California Virtual Academies because of "serious questions raised about a number of their practices." He said the audit would examine the relationship between the schools and the company and the "validity" of attendance, enrollment, dropout and graduation rates reported by the academies to the state.
This isn't the first time the company has come under fire in recent weeks.
Torlakson's request follows lawmakers' calls last month for the state auditor to examine for-profit charter schools operations and Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla's introduction earlier this month of legislation that would prohibit online charters from hiring for-profit companies like K12 for management or instructional services. The company is also being probed by Attorney General Kamala Harris, who launched an investigation of online charter schools last fall.
Read more: www.mercurynews.com/education/ci_30051007/california-virtual-academies-attendance-enrollment-records-be-audited
SACRAMENTO -- In a rare move, California's top education official has enlisted the state's highest-ranking accountant to conduct a sweeping audit of California Virtual Academies, a profitable but low-performing network of online charter schools that enrolls about 15,000 students across the state.
The audit is the first that Superintendent for Public Instruction Tom Torlakson has asked the state controller's Office to conduct since he took office in 2011. The request comes two months after this newspaper published an investigative series on K12 Inc., the publicly traded Virginia firm that operates the schools and reaps tens of millions of dollars annually in state funding.
In a statement Thursday, Torlakson said he has a duty to ensure that public money isn't being squandered and sought the probe into the California Virtual Academies because of "serious questions raised about a number of their practices." He said the audit would examine the relationship between the schools and the company and the "validity" of attendance, enrollment, dropout and graduation rates reported by the academies to the state.
This isn't the first time the company has come under fire in recent weeks.
Torlakson's request follows lawmakers' calls last month for the state auditor to examine for-profit charter schools operations and Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla's introduction earlier this month of legislation that would prohibit online charters from hiring for-profit companies like K12 for management or instructional services. The company is also being probed by Attorney General Kamala Harris, who launched an investigation of online charter schools last fall.
Read more: www.mercurynews.com/education/ci_30051007/california-virtual-academies-attendance-enrollment-records-be-audited