NOBODY LIKES to be ripped off. Nobody shells out a ton of money for a service or product without a guarantee of customer satisfaction.

When we get less than what we paid for, watch out. We demand an explanation and full retribution.

Except with online charter schools.

We let them rip us off, no questions asked. Over the past decade, Ohioans have paid a billion-plus dollars for the services and products of the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow. 

The state’s largest online charter system rakes in at least $100 million of our tax dollars every year with no guarantee or accounting of delivered service or product quality. We pay for an educational system that may or may not be educating students.

ECOT’s academic standings and on-time graduation rates regularly rank below traditional public schools. But we bought the sales pitch about school choice.

We were told that publicly supported, privately run schools would eventually improve learning for all Ohio students. Didn’t happen.

Yes, there are a handful of stellar charters in the state, but they are not the norm. Not by a long shot.

Research on the educational effectiveness of online charter schools is especially bleak. And here’s the kicker: They get paid per student enrolled as a full-time participating learner like all public schools in Ohio.

ECOT bills the state for about 15,000 students.

This year the state tried to conduct a routine audit of ECOT to find out if taxpayers got what they paid for in school choice. Enrollment in publicly funded virtual schools is determined by students who fulfill the state’s minimum requirement of participation in at least five hours of “learning opportunities” a day.

That amounts to 920 hours of schooling each year. By law, online charters must keep daily records to verify that e-school students are actually doing the required class work.

Traditional public school teachers take student attendance every day. ECOT has to find other means, such as log-in durations, to measure how much time students are spending on school lessons.

By whatever method is deemed feasible, ECOT has to substantiate its claims with tangible evidence. There has to be something to demonstrate that taxpayers are getting their money’s worth in education at ECOT.

But the online giant seems to consider itself an exception to the rule and maintains that the usual enrollment mandates, which cover other public schools, do not apply to ECOT.

It argues that simply offering online learning opportunities, regardless of student engagement, should be enough to qualify for taxpayer dollars.

When attendance auditors at the Ohio Department of Education sought ECOT confirmation of student involvement in its computer-based offerings the online school sued to block them. A preliminary review by the state in March indicated that most ECOT students were only receiving about an hour of instruction a day.

That could explain the dismal academic achievement of e-school students in Ohio. The Columbus Dispatch opined that “online charter schools aren’t just doing a poor job of helping students catch up; [national studies suggest] their kids actually lose even more ground, compounding their education deficits.”

ECOT ranks among the worst performing schools in the state, yet we continue to shell out hundreds of millions to enrich ECOT’s founder William Lager. His moneymaker also maintains firm support among influential Republican politicians in Ohio.

Many have been ECOT graduation speakers, including Gov. John Kasich, State Auditor Dave Yost, Senate President Keith Faber, and Speaker of the House Cliff Rosenberger. Coincidently, all have accepted generous campaign donations from Mr. Lager which helped grease the way to ECOT’s rising profit margin.

Presently, the lucrative online charter business is trying to litigate itself out of public scrutiny. Political pals of the top GOP donor do not openly object.

As long as Mr. Lager helps them, they are willing to give him a blank check to get rich off the public dole. What a rip-off.

More importantly, what a profound injustice to our young. We are forfeiting their futures. Our complicity in this outrage — through uninterrupted funding — will haunt Ohio for years to come with illiterate and unskilled citizens.

Demand an explanation from silent officeholders. Insist they pursue a money back guarantee from ECOT. Express your indignation over the audacity of an online charter suing the ODE for doing its job on the public’s behalf.

Don’t allow greed to flourish, courtesy of political indifference, at the expense of our children’s learning. My fellow Ohioans we’ve been had.

Now is the time to raise hell about the money and potential we’ve wasted.

Marilou Johanek is a columnist for The Blade.

Contact her at: mjohanek@theblade.com.

First Published August 20, 2016, 4:00 a.m.