Bradenton Charter School

“Manatee charter school scheduled to close.” News 13 (FL), 4/21/2013

MANATEE COUNTY -- About 100 Manatee County students will need to find a new school for next year.

After 13 years, the Bradenton Charter School is closing.

Karen Carpenter Chair of the Manatee County School board said the school is closing because the school failed to meet standards particularly in the area of curriculum and governance.

But parents like Dana Russell say the school is a safe place for children to learn. Half of the kids have learning disabilities and many others have been bullied.

“If they go to public schools they are going to be lost. But here they get one on one. I believe they need this school,” said Russell.

The Manatee School Board is planning to discuss the future of the charter school during Monday’s school board meeting.

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“Parents oppose closing of Bradenton Charter School.”Herald-Tribune, 4/21/2013

... Problems listed in the report include an unstable governing board, no detailed curriculum, no assessment monitoring plan, no ESE or ESOL certified staff, no food sanitation policies and lack of documentation on staff members. Bradley explained that some areas of concern are the same from the school's last review five years ago...

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Excel Leadership Academy, f.k.a. Life Skills Center of Palm Beach

“Charter school has day in court today to fight closure by school board.” The Palm Beach Post, 5/13/2013

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“West Palm Beach charter school appeals closure decision.” The Palm Beach Post (FL), 3/27/2013

A West Palm Beach charter school that the Palm Beach School District is trying to close has appealed, arguing the school district has no right to shut its doors because the district didn’t do enough to help the school...

The school board voted 5-1 on March 6 to close Excel starting next school year. A district report recommending the closure cited 13 alleged failures by the school to comply with state rules and its charter contract with the school district. The alleged Excel failures ranged from academic problems such as not having all the required core subjects for a reading program to having “deteriorating financial conditions,” with a $38,000 deficit found by auditors.

Excel filed its appeal on Friday stating that it disputed the facts of each of the alleged failures cited by the district “in whole or in part.” The appeal also argued that the school district is obligated to provide support and services to charter schools under state law and additional support to low performing charter schools under the district’s own policies...

District Senior Counsel Bruce Harris said the district does not comment on pending litigation. He said the state would set a date for the appeal hearing within 60 days.

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“Palm Beach County saves two charter schools, closes one.” Sun Sentinel (FL), 3/6/2013

... But after hours of emotional testimony from more than 50 parents, students and school staff, the board voted to close only Excel Leadership Academy, a high school in West Palm Beach...

The school was slated for closure in part for receiving two “F” grades since 2009. Teachers were not adhering to the correct state benchmarks and using outdated requirements...

Meanwhile, district officials said Excel Leadership Academy is in a state of financial emergency, struggling with declining enrollment and failure to provide an adequate reading curriculum to students. The school board voted 4-2 to not renew the school’s contract, set to expire in June.

“These are basic compliance issues,” said board member Chuck Shaw. He said rejecting the renewal would still give the school an opportunity to overcome its financial challenges and reapply another year...”

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Imagine School of North Port

“Imagine School fight ends; principal to leave.” Herald-Tribune (FL), 5/9/2013

NORTH PORT - The agreement came at 1 a.m. Thursday for the two sides fighting for Imagine School at North Port after nearly 16 hours of talks...

It was an ending to the charter's contentious legal fight, which began in February when the North Port school tried to fire its parent company and become independent...

In February, Matthews and the local officials complained about paying hefty management fees with public tax dollars every year to the nonprofit company. The board voted to break off from Imagine Schools — one of the largest charter school companies in the nation — and run its own school, a move that the corporation viewed as a coup détat.

Almost immediately, Imagine Schools sued Matthews and the local board for more than $15,000 in Sarasota County Circuit Court and accused them of several charges, including breach of contract.

The high-profile legal battle was fused by multiple court hearings, back-and-forth contradictory emails to parents and a petition to support Matthews that supporters passed around the school parking lots...

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“All eyes on charter fallout.” WWSB ABC 7 (FL), 3/13/2013

SARASOTA COUNTY - Tuesday a judge ruled the principal of Imagine School in North Port could keep his job. However, it looks as though it will be a long fight over the future of the school.

Wednesday we talked to school board and legal experts who say the case moving forward may just impact the future of charter schools across the country.

The future of a local independent charter school and educating more than 1,000 children in it was in a court room this week. "It is not a healthy situation." The judge now suggesting the local school district get more involved. Sarasota County School Board member Caroline Zucker says it's a gray area. "There is no clear cut understanding of who owns what and who is responsible for what."

The fight between the Imagine parent company and the local governing board it appointed will likely continue through the court system. It may also have a bigger impact then just here...

As officials get ready for the upcoming year at Imagine School at North Port, its legal team will prepare for court...

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“North Port charter school breaks off from Imagine Schools.” Herald-Tribune (FL), 2/19/2013

... The drama comes after the local charter school's governing board voted unanimously last week to end its management contract with Imagine Schools, its out-of-state parent company.

“It looks like we're going to war with our former management company,” said principal Justin Matthews, who has led the school since it opened in 2008...

Matthews announced that the school's new name would be Sarasota Preparatory School...

But Imagine Schools isn't willing to let go so easily.

Within hours, the Virginia nonprofit had filed a lawsuit seeking more than $15,000 in Sarasota County Circuit Court.

The complaint says Matthews and the North Port school defamed Imagine Schools with their comments to parents, the School Board and the public.

Imagine Schools also alleges that Matthews violated his non-compete contract when he abandoned his post at Imagine School at North Port and created a rival institution...

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“Imagine School, North Point students arrested after gun found on campus.” WPTV (FL), 1/302013

NORTH PORT, Fla. (AP) -- Police arrested two students at school in North Port after a gun was found on campus.

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune ( http://bit.ly/WPsZ6q0 reports officials were tipped off about the 9 mm handgun when a student told a teacher Tuesday afternoon at Imagine School...

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Lee Alternative Charter High School

“Lee Alternative Charter shuts down in Lehigh.” Lehigh Acres Citizen (FL), 1/9/2013

Most of the 149 students at the Lee Alternative Charter School, off of Taylor Lane in Lehigh Acres, are in classes in other schools in Fort Myers this week.

The students and their parents were forced to find other schools because the Lehigh school, which was owned by Richard Milburn Academy Schools of Southwest Florida, was forced to close due to financial problems.

It is the third charter school that is a part of the Milburn Academy of Schools that has been forced to close its doors over the past six months.

The school was located in what had been a multi-screened movie theater and later a church. The building was built about a dozen years ago...

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University Preparatory Academy (Florida)

“Pinellas: Students are leaving new charter school voluntarily.” Tampa Bay Times (FL), 9/11/2013

... Dot Clark, the partnership schools coordinator for Pinellas, said that 23 children had been withdrawn from University Prep since the school year started.

She interviewed 10 or 11 parents. "There was no one who said they were told to leave," Clark said.

Instead, some parents felt their child was being bullied. Some just wanted to go back to their home schools. Others were concerned that some textbooks had not been purchased yet and were concerned their children were going to fall behind, Clark said...

The district is also aware that some of the class sizes at University Prep are too large, with 30 or more students. Clark said she spoke with the principal, who is working to separate some classrooms.

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Einstein Montessori School

“Another failed Orlando charter 'a disaster' for students, teachers.” Orlando Sentinel (FL), 3/4/2013

It was clear to teachers at the Einstein Montessori School in Orlando that something was very wrong when school opened for business last fall.

There were no computers for student use. And although the school focused on students with dyslexia, there were no reading texts.

Teachers said there was no set curriculum and no library.

"It was a disaster," said Brittany Clifton, a first-year math teacher who took on additional duties as principal for several months. She said students weren't getting what they needed. "It should have been shut down before the end of the semester."

The charter school closed in February, two months after Orange County Public Schools warned the privately run public school that it was violating state law and its own contract with the district. It had about 40 students in grades three to eight...

At Einstein, teachers said their training was haphazard, paychecks were late from the start and payments meant to compensate them for a lack of health insurance stopped after a single check. Three teachers who left in December and January were never paid several thousand dollars they were owed, they told Orange County Public Schools officials.

Things were also falling apart in the classroom.

The principal quit to save on salaries, and two of the five teachers were forced out, former teachers said. Further defections left a revolving door of substitute instructors, according to former teachers and the Einstein Montessori board chair, Rebecca Simmons...

When approved by the district in 2010, the school's application promised an accelerated, innovative curriculum for students with dyslexia. It delivered far less, teachers said.

"The students never had any grade-level materials," said Jill Nicholson, who taught the specialized reading program for dyslexic students, known as LiPS, on which the school was based.

"We were all first-year teachers and we didn't know what we were doing," she said. "It was more like a baby-sitting service."

Computers weren't set up until a few weeks before the school closed. A promised partnership with dyslexia experts at the University of Central Florida never materialized.

And parents weren't informed what was going on...

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NorthStar High School

“Sentinel Watchdog: Failed charter school paid principal's husband $460K.” Orlando Sentinel (FL), 12/1/2012

The failed Orange County charter school that gave its principal a payout of $519,000 in taxpayer dollars after closing in June also paid her husband more than $460,000 during a five-year period, audits show.

The payments to Steven A. Young, which averaged more than $80,000 a year, were for performing "certain management services," according to annual audits paid for by the school. The total included about $41,000 for services to be performed after the school closed, according to one of the audits.

Young, husband of NorthStar High School Principal Kelly Young, helped establish the charter school 11 years ago and was its first board president. He resigned from the NorthStar board in August 2008, the same month he was arraigned on charges of soliciting prostitutes while on duty as an Orange County sheriff's commander. He was ultimately adjudicated guilty of three charges and lost his law-enforcement job. He is now a divorce attorney.

The payments to Steven Young appear to violate state law prohibiting public officers and employees from doing business with family members, according to legal and charter-school experts. The law states that no employee or officer may purchase services "from any business entity of which the officer or employee or the officer's or employee's spouse or child is an officer, partner, director, or proprietor."...

Between 2010 and 2012, the school also paid at least two of its five board members a total of $48,000 to do clerical and administrative work for the school. Those payments also appear to violate state law and conflict with NorthStar's contract with Orange County schools, district officials say...

Under Florida law, charter schools are run by independent governing boards. Although the schools use public money, state and district officials have little to no control over how the money is spent. According to an August report by the state auditor general, a third of state charter schools had accounting problems, legal violations or other problems in their 2011 audits...

According to former teachers, the school should have been shut down years ago.

Some classes were taught by uncertified teachers, several former staffers said. Scott Simmons, who taught history and art at the school from 2002 to 2007, provided a document showing that the school submitted class schedules that made it appear that only certified teachers were being used. It showed Simmons teaching health, a class he never taught.

The school had inadequate books, overcrowded classrooms, no library and a cafeteria without food service.

Simmons also said the principal routinely forced out troublesome students after they were counted for funding purposes...

Simmons said he reported problems, including cheating on a Stanford Achievement standardized test, to the administrator who oversaw charter schools for Orange County in 2006, but the complaints never led anywhere. The school's charter was renewed in 2007. The Orange County school district was poised to close down the school for poor academic performance and other issues when the NorthStar board voluntarily closed the school this year...

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“Principal's Golden Parachute Infuriates Lawmakers.” Associated Press, 10/28/2012

A failed Florida charter school's principal is getting a $519,000 departure payment, and that has some state lawmakers outraged.

An evaluation by the Orange County School District shows NorthStar High School's directors paid Principal Kelly Young more than twice as much as they spent on teachers and students in the 2011-12 school year.

The Orlando Sentinel reported that Young received $824,000 in taxpayer funds. That includes the departure payment but not money she's still getting for winding down the school's operations. Meanwhile, the school spent $366,042 on instruction, including teacher salaries last year...

"I have never seen an act that egregious in 15 years of working with charters," said Rep. John Legg, a Port Richey Republican who's a charter school business administrator.

A recording on Friday said the phone number listed for the school had been disconnected.

While Young was getting a handsome salary, the school, made up of concrete portables, lacked computers, a library or a cafeteria for some 180 mostly at-risk and underprivileged students...

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“$500,000 payout to charter principal sparks outrage, call for probe.” Orlando Sentinel (FL), 10/24/2012 

The principal of a failed Orange County charter school took home a check for more than $500,000 as the school closed down in June and is still being paid thousands of dollars a month to wrap up the school's affairs.

The check for $519,453.36 in taxpayer money was cut to Kelly Young, principal of NorthStar High School, two days after the Orange County School Board accepted the school's plan to close in lieu of being shut down for poor performance.

The payment, which was authorized by the charter school's independent board, appears to be legal...

Young's payout was based on a contract that called for her to be paid about $305,000 per year through 2014, even though the school's contract was up for renewal in 2012. She was paid 85 percent of her remaining contract.

Her yearly pay and bonuses to run the school, which served about 180 largely at-risk students in east Orange County, was higher than that of Barbara Jenkins, superintendent of the 181,000-student Orange County Public Schools...

Because charter schools do not have to report their principals' salaries in Florida, it is unclear how many might have contracts or salaries similar to Young's...

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“Struggling NorthStar charter in Orlando is closing.” Orlando Sentinel (FL), 3/2/2012 

NorthStar High School in Orlando will close at the end of the school year, a move Orange County school administrators recommended because of declining student achievement.

The charter school's principal said it has decided to shut down voluntarily.

Orange staff recommended NorthStar not be renewed when its current contract ends this year because student test scores and graduation rates have dropped since 2008 and the school's grade has not been better than a D...

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Stars Middle School

“Former Stars Middle School employee accused of molesting a minor.” WTXL ABC 27 (FL), 11/28/2012

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Tallahassee police say that a former employee of a local middle school, accused of molesting a minor, may have had inappropriate contact with other children.

The woman, Rosa Lee Stephens, is listed as an employee of Stars Middle School in a police report. However, the assistant principal of the school, Mr. Ahmet Temel, says that Stephens hasn't worked there since October 1... [please see below]

Stephens is charged with Lewd and Lascivious Molestation of a Minor. She is in the Leon County Jail with a $25,000 bond. Police are concerned that she may have had inappropriate contact with other children...

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The charter school administrator denies Stephens was an employee at the time of her arrest, but the arrest document clearly shows her employer as "Stars Middle School”  https://twitter.com/CASILIPS/status/274423264493854721/photo/1

More about Florida Gulen charter schools HERE.

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“9 Investigates lawmakers' connections with charter schools.”

“9 Investigates lawmakers' connections with charter schools.” WFTV (FL), 11/14/2012

ORLANDO, Fla. — Over the past five years, the number of charter schools in Central Florida has climbed. These "nontraditional" public schools receive taxpayer money -- and 9 Investigates' George Spencer found some of the same lawmakers who are writing the rules for charter schools are also benefiting from them.

Dayspring Academy Charter School in Port Richie is thriving, as evidenced by the "Another 'A' Rating" banner on its website. Last March, its business administrator, John Legg, made a special request to change admission rules...

The school board did deny the request. But that didn't matter in the end as Legg, was also a powerful state representative, and the legislature soon changed laws to allow what Legg proposed.

"We, as taxpayers, need to be suspect about the motivation for pouring so many resources into charter schools," said Orange Countypublic school parent Linda Kobert...

9 Investigates asked Florida Sen. David Simmons about the concerns, and he said conflict of interest changes are already in the works...

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“Charter school companies, online learning outfits try to wield influence in Tallahassee.”

“Charter school companies, online learning outfits try to wield influence in Tallahassee.” Miami Herald (FL), 10/22/2012

In the looming battle for public education dollars, Jon Hage has launched a pre-emptive strike.

His school management company, Charter Schools USA, has doled out more than $205,000 in contributions to political candidates and organizations this election cycle, state records show. That's more than triple what the Fort Lauderdale-based company spent on political campaigns in 2010, and seven times what it spent in 2008.

"If we don't support our friends in Tallahassee, they are left out there to take the enemy's bullet," Hage said.

For-profit education companies are becoming serious players in lobbying the Florida Legislature. In the current election cycle, charter school companies, school management firms, online learning outfits and for-profit colleges have lavished more than $1.8 million to statehouse candidates, electioneering organizations and political parties, according to a Miami Herald review of Florida campaign finance data.

Most of the money went to Republicans, whose support of charter schools, vouchers, online education and private colleges has put public education dollars in private-sector pockets...

This season's top private contributors included Academica Management, a Miami-based charter school company, and its construction arm, School Development LLC. The companies and their high-level executives gave more than $220,000 in the current election cycle, including $60,000 in contributions to the Republican Party of Florida...

Thousands of dollars also came in from education companies in Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Kansas...

Tom Cerra, who lobbies for the Miami-Dade school system, said the for-profit companies are positioning themselves to push through an ambitious agenda...

The charter-school lobby will fight for a share of the lucrative construction dollars allocated to traditional school districts, something it failed to accomplish last year...

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"Build a charter school, get a green card"

“The new U.S.visa rush: Build a charter school, get a green card.” Reuters, 10/12/2012

It's been a turbulent period for charter schools in the United States, with financial analysts raising concerns about their stability and regulators in several states shutting down schools for poor performance.

The volatility has made it tough for startup schools to get financing.

But an unlikely source of new capital has emerged to fill the gap: foreign investors.

Wealthy individuals from as far away as China, Nigeria, Russia and Australia are spending tens of millions of dollars to build classrooms, libraries, basketball courts and science labs for American charter schools...

And in Florida, state business development officials say foreign investment in charter schools is poised to triple next year, to $90 million.

The reason? Under a federal program known as EB-5, wealthy foreigners can in effect buy U.S. immigration visas for themselves and their families by investing at least $500,000 in certain development projects. In the past two decades, much of the investment has gone into commercial real-estate projects, like luxury hotels, ski resorts and even gas stations.

Lately, however, enterprising brokers have seen a golden opportunity to match cash-starved charter schools with cash-flush foreigners in investment deals that benefit both...

... Last month, Fitch Ratings warned it was likely to downgrade bonds backed by charter schools because the sector is volatile and the schools are highly leveraged. Such risks mean charter-school debt is typically considered speculative, rather than investment grade, said Eric Kim, a director at Fitch Ratings.

Meanwhile, the IRS has signaled it plans closer scrutiny of charter schools' tax-exempt status if they rely on for-profit management companies to provide their classroom space and run their academic programs, Hall said. He sent his clients a long memo this summer warning that the stepped-up IRS oversight could put some at "significant risk."

If that weren't enough to make investors wary, several well-known charter schools have run into significant legal and fiscal hurdles in recent months...

All told, about 15 percent of the 6,700 charter schools that have been launched in the United States in the past two decades have since closed, primarily because of financial troubles, according to the Center for Education Reform, which supports charter schools...

An investor forum in Chinalast spring, for instance, touted U.S. charter schools as a nearly fool-proof investment because they can count on a steady stream of government funding to stay afloat, according to a transcript posted on a Chinese website...

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Advantage Academy of Hillsborough

“Plant City charter school principal with multiple DUIs steps down.” The Tampa Tribune (FL), 10/18/2012

TAMPA -- A charter school principal with a history of drunken driving arrests has resigned, and the operators of the school will change a key part of their hiring process in the wake of a Tampa Tribune investigation.

Todd Haughey resigned his job at Advantage Academy of Hillsborough after it was learned he had four DUI convictions in Indiana and Ohio between 1987 and 2002.

Those legal problems were discovered by the Tribune after the 44-year-old's arrest this month in St. Petersburg on a drunken driving charge.

... The board and Charter School Associates, operator of the school, say they were unaware of the incidents until a reporter inquired about them...

From now on, the operator of the charter school will change the forms it gives prospective employees to fill out. Charter schools are privately run but publicly funded.

Current forms ask applicants if they have been convicted of a crime in the past seven years. People applying for a job in the Hillsborough County School District, meanwhile, are asked if they have ever been convicted of a crime...

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Manatee School of Arts & Sciences

“Manatee school's offer raises eyebrows.” FOX 13 News, 10/9/2012 -

Sure, most kids love video games, but you don't see many schools encouraging them, much less buying them for students.

But that's just what a charter school in Manatee County is doing. Over the last two years, enrollment at the Manatee School of Arts and Sciences has dropped by nearly 40 percent.

So six weeks into the new school year, they ran an ad in the Bradenton Herald, offering what some call a bribe -- switch schools by Thursday and get a free Nintendo DS, one of the most popular gaming devices for kids...

[Julie Aranibar, a Manatee County School Board Member] sits on the Charter Review Committee, and says the offer's timing is suspicious, enticing kids to switch before Monday, when final student counts determine how much money schools get from the state...

The school's principal did not return FOX 13's calls Tuesday.

State officials say some schools have offered students incentives – including cash -- to do better on tests like the FCAT, but not for boosting enrollment.

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Eagle Charter Academy

“Financial problems close three charter schools in Broward.” The Miami Herald (FL), 9/14/2012

Parents, students and teachers are unexpectedly scrambling to find a new school.

The abrupt end was punctuated by locked doors and silence at one school, and with a chaotic gathering of parents and students at another.

But the story at three Broward charter schools was essentially the same on Friday: financial problems had led to closure, leaving parents and students to unexpectedly scramble to find a new place to enroll.

“We should have had way more time to look for other schools for our kids,” said Nicole Williams, whose son Alfonso was a 10th-grader at Eagle Charter Academy in Lauderdale Lakes, one of the three schools now closed. Also closing this week were the nearby SMART Charter School (run by the same company as Eagle Charter), and Touchdowns4life Charter School in Tamarac, which was founded by former Miami Dolphins running back Terry Kirby.

Williams said the school sent her a notification letter on Wednesday...

Broward school district officials said Eagle and SMART shut down because of shrinking enrollment, and district spokeswoman Tracy Clark said Touchdowns4life’s closure was due to “funding” issues — likely also enrollment-related, since charter schools are funded almost entirely based on the number of students who attend...

Annual audits for all three schools show deep financial troubles...

The parent company of Eagle and SMART, according to the most recent audit, owed a $1.2 million debt to the IRS for unpaid payroll taxes...

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“Three Broward County charter schools abruptly close.”Sun Sentinel (FL), 9/14/2012

Three Broward County charter schools abruptly closed this week, leaving parents scrambling and exposing a potential dark side to schools designed to be appealing alternatives to traditional public schools.

Touchdowns4Life, a financially troubled school in Tamarac founded by former Miami Dolphins running back Terry Kirby, closed its doors Tuesday. On Wednesday, Eagle Charter Academy and SMART Charter School, both operated by the same company, informed parents they would close their doors and gave parents until Friday to pick up student records...

The sudden closure of the three schools has also raised questions about who oversees them. Neither parents nor the school district, which contracts with the schools, had prior warning, said district spokeswoman Tracy Clark.

In the case of Eagle Charter Academy, its Board of Trustees was also left in the dark.

Some Eagle Charter parents said Friday the curriculum was disorganized this year and their students were doing little or no work...

Angelia Millender, who chaired the Eagle Charter board, which met about two or three times a year, said she didn't get into the daily operations of the school.

She said it didn't even have the authority to hire or fire the principal, which was the responsibility of TechEdventures, a private charter school company, which operated Eagle Academy and SMART Charter School...

... "If (problems) were happening, maybe they were telling someone. They weren't telling board members."

TechEdventures founder and CEO Edward Miller couldn't be reached for comment, despite an attempt by phone...

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“3 Broward Charter Schools Close Their Doors.” NBC Miami (FL), 9/14/2012

Three Broward charter schools closed their doors to students Friday, a day after the school board was notified of the closures...

Eagle Charter Academy has been in the news recently amid allegations former dean Jeffrey London molested at least three boys over an 18-year period. London has pleaded not guilty.

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Florida virtual schools provider K12 (43 school districts)

“State Investigating Virtual Schools Provider K12.” Florida Center for Investigative Reporting (FL), 9/11/2012

The Florida Department of Education has launched an investigation of K12, the nation’s largest online educator, over allegations the company uses uncertified teachers and has asked employees to help cover up the practice.

K12 officials asked state-certified teachers to sign class rosters that included students they hadn’t taught, according to documents that are part of the investigation.

In one case, a K12 manager instructed a certified teacher to sign a class roster of more than 100 students. She only recognized seven names on that list...

The state investigation started in January, when a former K12 employee forwarded a series of emails to Seminole County Public Schools officials...

After reading these emails, Seminole County officials followed up with a survey of parents whose kids were enrolled in K12 classes. Parents were given a list of teachers who reportedly instructed their children.

More than one-third of parents said the listed teacher did not teach their child.

Only 36 percent of parents said their child’s teacher was the one K12 had listed. The rest could not be reached or said they couldn’t remember.

The survey and emails prompted Seminole County officials to request that the Department of Education investigate. They warned the state that the problems they uncovered with K12 may be widespread...

K12 has a financial incentive to skirt Florida’s law requiring the use of certified teachers. Simply, K12 can pay uncertified teachers less than certified teachers while collecting the same amount per student from state public school districts, increasing profits for shareholders.

Founded in 2000 by William Bennett, a former U.S. education secretary under President Ronald Reagan, K12 is an $864 million publicly traded company whose stock price has more than doubled in the last year.

In recent years, K12 has increased profits while student performance has suffered, raising questions about whether the for-profit virtual schools provider is making money at the expense of academics.

A July 2012 study by the National Education Policy Center at the University of Colorado found that students at K12 schools fell further behind in reading and math scores than pupils in traditional schools.

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Touchdowns4Life Charter Middle School

“Financial problems close three charter schools in Broward.” The Miami Herald (FL), 9/14/2012

Parents, students and teachers are unexpectedly scrambling to find a new school.

The abrupt end was punctuated by locked doors and silence at one school, and with a chaotic gathering of parents and students at another.

But the story at three Broward charter schools was essentially the same on Friday: financial problems had led to closure, leaving parents and students to unexpectedly scramble to find a new place to enroll.

“We should have had way more time to look for other schools for our kids,” said Nicole Williams, whose son Alfonso was a 10th-grader at Eagle Charter Academy in Lauderdale Lakes, one of the three schools now closed. Also closing this week were the nearby SMART Charter School (run by the same company as Eagle Charter), and Touchdowns4life Charter School in Tamarac, which was founded by former Miami Dolphins running back Terry Kirby.

Williams said the school sent her a notification letter on Wednesday...

... district spokeswoman Tracy Clark said Touchdowns4life’s closure was due to “funding” issues — likely also enrollment-related, since charter schools are funded almost entirely based on the number of students who attend.

Annual audits for all three schools show deep financial troubles. A June 2011 audit of Touchdowns4life showed the school was nearly $24,000 behind on its rent, was accused of owing $20,000 to the company that supplied its computer equipment, and had been charged more than $4,000 in bank overdraft fees...

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“Broward Charter Schools Closures Reveal Larger Issues.” CBS Miami (FL), 9/16/2012

... CBS 4 spoke to a former teacher at Touchdowns on Saturday.

Bibiana Ortiz spent 15 years teaching at traditional Broward county public schools and it was her first experience with a charter school.

“I wondered why parents were dropping their kids off when there were only two teachers and three classrooms,” she says.

“The math and history teacher was let go on the ninth day.  The principal was let go and myself and one other teacher were left to carry the whole weight.  They didn’t have p.e. and recess was in the parking lot.  We didn’t have supplies or books and we haven’t gotten paid.”...

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“Charter school founded by ex-Dolphin warding off eviction.” Sun Sentinel (FL), 8/16/2011

TAMARAC — A charter school founded by former Miami Dolphins running back Terry Kirby is facing eviction from a strip mall just days before the start of a new school year.

Broward County Judge Robert W. Lee signed an order dated last Friday against the Touchdowns4Life charter middle school, authorizing the school's eviction from 10044 W. McNab Road.

According to the Broward School District, the school reached an agreement with its landlord on Tuesday to ward off the eviction. The landlord could not be reached to confirm the agreement.

Court documents show the school was behind on its rent in the sum of $39,950.20 as of July 12. Rent for July alone was $7,085, although it wasn't clear from the documents whether that included any penalties or fees...

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