Teachers’ curriculum institute wins $12.2 million in $1.9 billion settlement with K-12 students

Updated May 11, 2018 12:13:56 An education company, Teach for America, is winning a $12 million settlement with former students after they were accused of plagiarism, a classroom aide’s alleged sexual misconduct and a teacher’s alleged bullying.

In the settlement, K-4 schools from Maryland to Massachusetts were given a choice to either accept the $6.3 million award or forfeit the $4 million that was set aside to reimburse students.

A judge ruled Wednesday that Teach for American is entitled to receive $12,000 per student for its role in teaching the curriculum, the most in the country, the American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement.

K-12 schools must be awarded money for “in-kind support services, including classroom space, classroom supplies, textbooks, transportation, books, computers, supplies and equipment, and staff,” the settlement says.

Kathy Schreiber, a spokeswoman for Teach for Americans, said the company “will continue to work with schools to provide support services that support students in the classroom and in our classrooms across the country.”

The lawsuit, filed in March 2016, alleged that teachers, administrators and counselors who worked with students at schools affiliated with Teach for AMERICA “failed to follow a policy of teaching the standards and curriculum in compliance with the federal standards, policies and standards of accountability and accountability to students, and in the best interest of the students.”

The company, based in North Carolina, had a turnover rate of 5 percent between 2015 and 2016, and a total of $19.2 billion in assets.

The settlement agreement said the settlement does not include the $1 billion in back pay the company received from Teach for Americains federal contract, but it covers those payments to teachers and other staff.

Teach for America has said it is working with the Education Department and the federal government to resolve the lawsuits.