Taxpayer Funds Funneled to Politically-Connected Video Game Company

Despite low student engagement and lack of evidence that the game improves learning, North Carolina lawmakers have continued to allocate millions in public funds to a private company with ties to the state's Republican leadership. This investigation uncovers the web of political influence and potential conflicts of interest behind the state's investment in the Plasma Games educational platform.

Uncovering the Questionable Funding of a Struggling Educational Video Game

Persistent Funding Despite Lack of Demand

Since 2020, the North Carolina state legislature has committed $9.8 million to fund the Plasma Games educational video game platform in public schools across the state. This funding has continued even as state education officials have reported low student and teacher engagement with the game, and an inability to demonstrate its impact on student learning.Despite these concerns, lawmakers have repeatedly allocated additional funding for the program, including a proposed $3 million in the 2023 budget and another $1.8 million for the current fiscal year. This persistence in funding the program has raised questions about the political motivations and potential conflicts of interest behind the state's investment in Plasma Games.

Connections to Republican Leadership

A key factor in the continued funding of Plasma Games appears to be its connections to influential members of the North Carolina Republican Party. The wife of the state's Republican Supreme Court Chief Justice, Paul Newby, holds a substantial investment in the company. This raises concerns about the potential influence of the state's highest-ranking judicial official on the legislature's decisions regarding Plasma Games.Furthermore, the program has received persistent support from Republican budget writers in the state House of Representatives, including Rep. Jason Saine and Rep. John Torbett. Saine was involved in the initial push to fund Plasma Games in 2019, while Torbett later pressed state education officials to pay the company the full $48,000 annual fee per school district, despite low usage of the game.These political connections have led to accusations of cronyism and a lack of transparency in the state's funding decisions. Democratic lawmakers have expressed frustration over the lack of vetting and openness surrounding the Plasma Games contract, with House Minority Leader Robert Reives stating, "We're doing business with companies that don't have to put in bids, they automatically get these contracts, and we don't know who these businesses are."

Questionable Tactics to Boost Participation

In an effort to increase student and teacher engagement with the Plasma Games platform, the company has employed tactics that have raised concerns among state education officials. This includes offering school administrators and teachers the chance to win a free cruise if they could get 85% of their students to play the game and fill out a survey, as well as offering students the opportunity to win $1,000 scholarships for playing the game.These incentives have been criticized as potentially skewing the true interest and usage of the Plasma Games platform, making it difficult for state officials to accurately evaluate the program's effectiveness. Michael Maher, a deputy superintendent at the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, expressed concerns about these tactics, stating, "What we are seeing in essence with this program is that districts apply for it because the money is available, but people aren't using it and they are not using it in a meaningful way and we don't have a real way to evaluate whether or not it works."

Attempts to Shift Oversight

The state's continued funding of Plasma Games has also led to attempts to shift the program's oversight away from the Department of Public Instruction (DPI), which has raised further questions about the motivations behind the funding. In June, state House budget writers sought to move the program from DPI to the Department of Information Technology, a proposal that did not ultimately become law.This move was reportedly requested by Rep. Saine and legislative staff, despite the DPI's concerns about the program's lack of effectiveness and the department's role as a "good steward of taxpayer dollars." The proposed shift in oversight suggests a desire to distance the program from the scrutiny of the state's education agency, further fueling suspicions about the political interests driving the Plasma Games funding.

Expanding Beyond North Carolina

While the Plasma Games platform has struggled to gain traction in North Carolina, the company has sought to sell its educational gaming products to schools in several other states, including Alabama, Kansas, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. However, its efforts have not always been welcomed, with the governor of South Carolina vetoing a $1.5 million budget appropriation for the company in 2022, citing the need for a competitive grant process rather than a direct appropriation.The company's attempts to expand its reach beyond North Carolina highlight the broader context of the ongoing debate over the role of private companies in public education and the use of taxpayer funds to support educational technology initiatives. As the Plasma Games case demonstrates, these issues are often intertwined with questions of political influence, transparency, and the responsible stewardship of public resources.