The CEO of an online educational gaming company has donated more than $40,000 combined to the North Carolina Republican Party and the North Carolina Republican Senate Caucus, during the same period his company Plasma Games received $6.3 million from the past two state budgets. I received it.
Plasma Games aims to teach middle school and high school science standards through an online platform and classroom materials. Hunter Moore, the company's founder and CEO, said the donations are unrelated to state appropriations.
“The donations I made have nothing to do with our business,” Moore told WUNC.
Moore came up with the science-based game while pursuing his MBA at UNC-Chapel Hill and received a state contract to pilot it in fall 2020. Moore said at the time that he presented his business model to Democratic and Republican politicians. He says he has garnered bipartisan support.
But a standalone bill in 2019 for a plasma gaming pilot program failed to get a full vote in the General Assembly, and the company never made a bid for a state contract. Instead, lawmakers passed funding for plasma gaming as a line item in the hundreds of pages of state budget.
In the two most recent state budgets, 2021 and 2023, Plasma Gaming received $2.5 million and $4.8 million, respectively, in grants to public schools for the use of online platforms and materials.
According to Open Secrets, in October 2022, with federal funding for testing programs running dry and before state funds are allocated, Moore gave $35,000 to the North Carolina Republican Party and another $5,600 to the North Carolina Republican Party. Donated to the Senate Caucus.
Prior to these large donations, Moore had made infrequent and small donations to Republicans, including $700 to North Carolina Supreme Court nominee Paul Newby in 2019 and to Dan Forest in the 2020 gubernatorial race. He had donated a total of $450.
State education officials report plasma gaming funds went unused
Last week, state education officials reported that public schools are using little of the grant money they receive to license students to log into games, but Plasma Games has received more funding than it has allocated for the program in 2018. The company is seeking full payment of the $4.8 million it incurred. The last national budget.
The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) said in a draft report to the General Assembly that of the 22 school districts that received grants for plasma gaming access in fall 2023, 69% of the student licenses purchased were never used by students. It is reported that it was not.
“We're paying for programs that students aren't using,” Assistant State Superintendent Michael Maher told the State Board of Education last Thursday.
Maher said the public schools that participated in the grant program have not provided evidence of improved student achievement or increased student interest in STEM career fields, which is Plasma Games' stated goal. said.
DPI reports that as of January, $1.25 million in state funds had already been paid to Plasma Games for unused student licenses.
Maher told the state commission that he met with Plasma Games CEO Hunter Moore about the deal. Mr. Maher said that at that meeting, Mr. Moore insisted that DPI should pay Plasma Games the full amount of funds allocated to the company in the national budget.
“We had a meeting with vendors and legislators, and virtually everything was stated that we do not meet the requirements of the law, which I think we do,” Maher said. he said.
DPI provided WUNC with confirmation of the meeting in the form of a screenshot of Mr. Maher's calendar showing that Rep. John Torbett (R-Gaston), chairman of the House Education Appropriations Committee, attended the meeting.
“I've heard that the funding model has since changed,” Maher told the state commission, explaining that Plasma Games expects to receive more funding than it received.
“Good luck then,” replied board vice-chairman Alan Duncan.
“It was frustrating for both the department and the board that resources were locked in such a direct way at a time when they were sorely needed,” Duncan added. “Whatever the reason, our district has not actively voted to accept this particular approach.”
Most districts that participated in the pilot program did not apply again for future grants.
Moore told WUNC that public school teachers are using the Plasma Gaming platform “four times more” to support classroom materials than state education officials report, but that usage is lower than student logins. He said it was not reflected.
Moore said half of the teachers who use plasma games in their classrooms also use offline materials such as printable readings and homework. Moore also noted that DPI's report on student logins only accounts for one of two semesters in the 2023-2024 school year, and Plasma Gaming did not apply for the grant. The company said it also provides services to teachers in the same school districts.