Teresa Burnett thumbs through a bookshelf in her living room that she uses to home educate on July 18, 2019.Įpic teachers get bonuses for recruiting students and families receive up to one thousand dollars per child. “For the homeschool community, the appeal has been the money,” explained Teresa Burnett, a homeschool parent from Shawnee. “So, if indeed what is being alleged and investigated is true, there isn’t a mechanism to be able to cross check-information and certify that what they report is accurate.”Įpic Charter Schools touts many benefits, but one reason for its popularity is financial incentives. “We do not have at the state level a list of homeschool students or private school students,” said Hofmeister. That makes it nearly impossible to weed out these so-called “ghost students” who are dually or falsely enrolled in homeschool or private school as well as a virtual charter school during routine audits. The education department has the data to easily keeps tabs on kids enrolled in public schools, including Epic, but it cannot track private or homeschooled students because they aren’t required to register with the state government. ![]() With over 20,000 students on the books last year, Epic is the largest virtual charter school in Oklahoma, and it appears to be exploiting a loophole in state law.Īll virtual charters are under the purview of a separate agency, the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board, but verifying enrollment falls to the State Dept. Unlike traditional public schools, they are run by private companies or non-profits, and student instruction and coursework happen online instead of in-person. Like traditional public schools, they are free to families and receive funding from the state based on student enrollment. Virtual charter schools are taxpayer-funded public schools. ![]() Because of the state’s dedication to privacy, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister says the alleged abuse would not have been preventable under current state law. Oklahoma investigators believe Epic Charter Schools embezzled money by inflating its enrollment with homeschool and private school students.
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