LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) — K12 Inc., a for-profit online charter school operator, and the 14 affiliated non-profit schools known as the California Virtual Academies (CAVA Schools), will settle a case involving allegations of false claims, Attorney General Kamala D. Harris has announced.
The defendants allegedly misled parents by urging them to enroll kids in K12 schools, using misleading advertisements about students’ academic progress, parent satisfaction and their graduates’ eligibility for University of California and California State University admission. Additionally, the schools purportedly inflated their student attendance numbers in order to collect more money from the state’s Department of Education.
“All children deserve, and are entitled under the law, to an equal education,” Harris said. “K12 and its schools misled parents and the state of California by claiming taxpayer dollars for questionable student attendance, misstating student success and parent satisfaction, and loading nonprofit charities with debt. As my office continues an industry-wide examination of for-profit academic institutions, this settlement ensures K12 and its schools are held accountable and make much-needed improvements.”
K12 agreed to provide roughly $160 million in debt relief to the non-profit schools it oversees and pay $8.5 million to settle all claims. It will also implement reforms to the way it conducts business.