Charter association walks back K12 Inc. slap

When a charter school advocacy group learned earlier

this month that online school operator K12 Inc. had reached a big settlement with the state over claims it manipulated attendance records and overstated its students’ success, the organization responded by praising the state and slamming the company.

In a statement released July 8, California Charter Schools Association spokeswoman Emily Bertelli said the group “condemns the predatory and dishonest practices employed by K12 Inc.” and applauds Attorney

General Kamala Harris on a “thorough and wide-ranging investigation” that resulted in “a semblance of justice for all parties involved.”

Harris announced the $168.5 million settlement about three months after the Bay Area News Group published an investigation of K12, a publicly traded Virginia company that runs a profitable but low-performing network for “virtual” schools for about 15,000 students across the state.

But the advocacy group seems to have had a change of heart. Last week, the organization retracted the July 8 statement and replaced it with one that simply said it was “pleased” that a settlement has been reached.

Bertelli said only that “we needed to clarify our statement.” She would not elaborate.

Both statements call for the Legislature to change the law to prevent for-profit companies like K12 from operating or controlling California charter schools.

“We are hopeful that with continued engagement with legislators on this topic,” Bertelli said, the state can “ensure for the long term that California’s charter schools will be driven exclusively by nonprofit charter school operators.”