The special report, “Rewarding Failure,” starts off by saying, “With growing evidence that the nation’s cyber charter schools are plagued by serious academic and management problems, Education Week conducted a months-long investigation into what is happening in this niche sector of K-12 schooling…” and found that:

• “Collectively, online charters receive more than a billion dollars in taxpayer money each year.”
• “Online charters serve more than 200,00 students across 26 states; many are run by for-profit companies.”
• “Stanford researchers say cyber charters have an ‘overwhelmingly negative impact’ on student learning.”

All on its own, highly touted K12 Inc. has:

1. Hired 321 lobbyists over 14 years;
2. Incurred lobbying expenditures of $10,585,177 since 2000;
3. Donated $2,124,002 to candidates, party committees, PACs, and ballot measures.

Not far behind in spending your money is Connections Education which:

1. Hired 212 lobbyists over 13 years;
2. Incurred lobbying expenditures of $3,784,818 since 2002;
3. Donated $62,500 to candidates, party committees, PACs, and ballot measures.

The report goes on to say that, despite their poor academic results, “Online charter advocates counter that the schools provide a safe haven for students who would not otherwise succeed in regular public schools and offer flexibility that some students and parents want. They argue that cyber charters should not be evaluated by the same measures as regular public schools.”

What measures one would wonder then, even as your tax dollars continue down the charter school drain…