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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Latest on the Ohio state auditor's findings against the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow (all times local):
2:30 p.m.
The Ohio Department of Education is pushing back against the state auditor's suggestions that it accepted "watered down" information from the state's then-largest online charter school.
Spokeswoman Brittany Halpin said Thursday that "no one has held the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow more accountable" for students' education than the Department of Education.
Republican Auditor Dave Yost questioned the department's role while releasing an audit Thursday that found ECOT inflated the amount of time students spent learning by failing to deduct the time students were inactive online. Yost has referred his findings to prosecutors.
Halpin says the Education Department has fought to recoup nearly $80 million in undeserved payments by ECOT. She says it's well-documented that the department "repeatedly questioned and subsequently rejected" portions of the data submitted by the now-shuttered e-school.
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10:08 a.m.
The state auditor says Ohio's then-largest online charter school inflated the amount of time students spent learning by failing to deduct the time students were inactive online.
An audit released by Republican Auditor Dave Yost Thursday also said the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow didn't document whether students were learning during times the company claimed for payment.
Yost says by misleading state regulators by withholding information the company may have broken the law. He referred his findings to state and federal prosecutors for review.
The audit also said private affiliates should repay $250,000 in taxpayer money it used for television ads attacking a state effort to recoup funding due to overstated attendance figures.
A message was left with an attorney representing ECOT.
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12:09 a.m.
The state auditor says Ohio's then-largest online charter school inflated the amount of time students spent learning by failing to deduct the time students were inactive online.
An audit released by Republican Auditor Dave Yost Thursday also said the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow didn't document whether students were learning during times the company claimed for payment.
Yost says by misleading state regulators by withholding information the company may have broken the law. He referred his findings to state and federal prosecutors for review.
The audit also said private affiliates should repay $250,000 in taxpayer money it used for television ads attacking a state effort to recoup funding due to overstated attendance figures.
A message was left with an attorney representing ECOT.
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