Nearly $600 Million Dollars Went from Local School Districts to ECOT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date: June 06, 2018 Contact: Katherine Liming – 419-956-8196, liming@innovationohio.org
Nearly $600 Million Dollars Went from Local School Districts to ECOT
The Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow (ECOT) scandal grows bigger as new data shows that $591 million of taxpayer money went to the online charter school over local school districts. Today, Innovation Ohio (IO) released new data that shows the district-by-district breakdown of money each Ohio school district lost to ECOT since 2012.
“We are trying to figure out the scope and scale of this thing,” said Stephen Dyer, IO’s Education Policy Fellow, “and today we are releasing how much has been lost to ECOT in the past six years.”
This is another piece of the growing ECOT scandal that has effected taxpayers in every corner of the state. The numbers show that all but six of Ohio’s 613 school districts lost state funding to ECOT.
In a press conference, Dyer announced the launch of the website innovationohio.org/ecot, which aims to tell the full story of the ECOT scandal. On the website, viewers can see the taxpayer money their individual district lost to ECOT over the years.
Dyer was joined by local schools officials from across the state that gave testimony to the devastation ECOT has brought to their localities.
“Maple Heights has been able to stay away from asking for new tax dollars since 2003, but are rapidly approaching the time when we will have to go back to the tax payers,” said Robert Applebaum, treasurer of Maple Heights City Schools. “With an additional $3 million paid as restitution that ECOT owes us, we would be in a position not to go back to the tax payers for several more years.”
The press conference not only focused on ECOT’s impact on Ohio school districts, but also the impact it had on the children in these schools and ECOT’s own students.
“When the smoke cleared we were advised of half a dozen students that had still not come to us to register or registered in another school,” said George Wood, superintendent of Federal Hocking Local Schools. “In each case, after reaching out to the family, we found that these students had not been logged on to ECOT in recent memory and were vastly credit deficient. None of them returned to school.”
“Schools need to be for kids, not for profit,” said Richard Murray, executive director of Coalition of Rural and Appalachian Schools.
To see the money your school district lost to ECOT since 2012, visit innovationohio.org/ecot.
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For more information:
Full press conference can be viewed on our Facebook page
ECOT Campaign Contributions
ECOT’s Offer of Hush Money to Employees Prompts Call for Reform
- “Non-Disparagement. You agree that you have not and will not make statements to anyone that are in any way disparaging or negative toward ECOT, including disparaging remarks about individuals associated with ECOT or the services it provides.”
- “Waiver & Release of Employment Claims. You, for yourself and your successors, assigns, heirs, agents and legal representatives, knowingly and voluntarily agree to waive and release ECOT, including its directors, officers, employees, representatives and agents, and its related, affiliate, and associated companies (including without limitation the Educational Service Center of Lake Erie West and Altair Learning Management) (collectively, ‘Released Parties’), from any and all claims, causes of action, and liabilities of any kind, known or unknown, in law or in equity, that you had or have as of the effective date of this Agreement, and that are in any way connected with or arise out of your employment or the termination of your employment with ECOT, including but not limited to claims, causes of action and liabilities….”
ECOT and its Hush Money
Education Update – April 27
ECOT Chickens Come Home to Roost
Now that a courageous whistleblower has come forward to reveal compelling evidence that the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow engaged in a scheme to defraud Ohio taxpayers out of millions of dollars to educate children they never really had, it’s clear the rats are running fast from the former e-school giant. However, their past is riddled with examples of protection granted by powerful Ohio politicians, including ones now talking “tough” about ECOT. The issue has been bounced upon by statewide candidates, while those who benefited from millions of dollars worth of ECOT-related campaign contributions are ducking for cover. The reason is because now that it’s pretty clear that ECOT officials tried to subvert the system to keep getting paid for kids they didn’t really educate, criminal investigations may soon begin. And that’s bad for many politicians because this same whistleblower contacted them on several occasions and was met with inaction. This issue is dangerous for so many politicians because so many politicians took so many greenbacks from ECOT officials, especially the school’s founder, William Lager. Now that Lager may be facing serious legal entanglements, politicians who spoke at their graduations, or took honorary degrees from school officials are paying for their unwillingness to hold this school to account for 18 years. ECOT was caught overcharging the state in its first year of existence. Only 109 of more than 3,700 graduates from 2010 have college degrees today. But ECOT was allowed to continue defrauding taxpayers and, worst of all, the children and parents who were fooled into thinking ECOT was an educational operation rather than what it really was: A $1 billion taxpayer boondoggle. And now newspaper editorial boards are pointing out the obvious: ECOT is now politically radioactive. As the Toledo Blade said this morning:Ohio’s student reimbursement money is as sacred as any taxpayer money can be. It is a duty of lawmakers to make sure that it is distributed scandal-free and with strict regard to fairness and honesty. The state of Ohio failed miserably in that regard with ECOT, and the children of Ohio are the victims.Sign up to get our Education updates in your inbox
How the ECOT Scandal Turned Potentially Criminal
Alternatives to GOP Education Takeover Proposal
Free, or greatly reduced Community College tuition
More than 30,000 students in Tennessee and 7,000 in Oregon have attended free community college in those states, which are two of four that offer free community college to students of various ages. Other states like Arkansas and Louisiana have grant programs that assist with students seeking specific degrees or perform well academically. Generally, these programs are grants that are so-called “last in” grants, meaning it requires students to apply for all other needs-based grants. Some have income caps. But in Tennessee, which has about half of Ohio’s population, the program cost $12 million a year to cover new high school graduates. This year, they added all adults to the grant program at a cost of $10 million. Even doubling that amount would mean the cost to Ohio would be less than what the state spends on printing services at the Department of Administrative Services.School-Industry Partnerships
Ohio already has STEM schools, which are funded like charter schools, but which focus on the technology-related fields people who support HB 512 claim Ohio is lacking. Investing in more STEM schools, but with an eye toward partnering with certain industries, could be replicated around the state. Though their funding model would have to change so it wouldn’t have a detrimental impact on local school districts. In Arkansas, one of that state’s high schools started a Power Business Academy, which partnered with local businesses to teach skills necessary for workforce success. The result was a much better relationship between the education and business sectors in Ozark City, as well as better opportunities for their graduates. Upscaling similar opportunities in our state could help accelerate the partnerships necessary for similar success.Breaking down silos
One of the familiar refrains from HB 512 supporters is there are too many silos among the Department of Education, Department of High Education and Governor’s Office of Workforce Development. And the only way to break them down is to merge them into one, unaccountable mega-bureaucracy. However, breaking down silos doesn’t require such a radical change in the way Ohio delivers education and training. For example, a representative of the Board of Regents and Office of Workforce Development could take part in standards writing at ODE. Likewise, ODE representatives could be in on any changes the Board of Regents wants to make in curriculum or degree requirements. And the Office of Workforce Development could assist ODE’s development of vocational education options, as well as BOR’s curriculum and degree development. None of these options would require a radical restructuring that robs millions of Ohioans of their voices in education policy development. Yet it would lead to better, more coordinated approaches to improving college workforce readiness of Ohio students. There are certainly many ideas about achieving HB 512’s goals without continuing down its democratically destructive path. These are three that represent a good step forward. Nobody wants HB 512. But they do recognize that our students deserve to be as prepared for the workforce as possible. That begins with a strong education system that encourages critical thinking, creativity and broad competence in many subjects and skills. HB 512 proponents have yet to explain how any of their radical changes will ensure that for our students. While it would ensure better outcomes for the adults who want to take over Ohio education, the kids who would bear the brunt of this obvious power grab would not benefit. However, investments in these three ideas would have profound impacts on our students and young people. Instead of figuring out how to give more power to unaccountable bureaucrats, Ohio’s legislature should adopt these common sense solutions that wouldn’t represent a radical power grab by truculent politicians.IO Testimony: Education Policy Fellow Stephen Dyer on HB512
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