The online for-profit corporation K12 wants to grow its business in Florida but school boards are opposing it. The online charters poach students and funding from public schools while providing a poor quality of education.
They do, however, have one big political advantage. They have the fervent support of former Governor Jeb Bush, who is a political powerhouse in the state.
Independent studies have found high dropout rates, low test scores, low graduation rates, and inflated billing at the virtual charters. K12 is under investigation in Florida. But it is so profitable that it is undeterred by little issues like poor results and the harmful effects on the entire structure of public education. These guys are corporate raiders of the public purse. A “school” that recruits only 10,000-15,000 students will draw $100 million in revenues while having no maintenance costs, no nurses, no social workers, no library, nothing like the fixed costs of real schools. And what profits!
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The money quote: “These people don’t just want to compete with us,” School Board member Diane Bauer told The Orlando Sentinel. “They want to replace the program we have.”
I think this point should be followed very closely. The reformers are looking to force a radical change on our society by replacing “real” schools with their cash cow virtual schools. This goal has noting to do with offering choice, because the ultimate goal is to lock everyone in to paying for virtual charters. And, as noted earlier in the article, the charters aren’t accountable to any local public organization. This is a recipe for total corruption.
What will society do about the home-computer-schooled children who become socially deficient adults who missed those critical wonder blunder years of kid to kid peer interaction? How will we pay for the mental health treatment needed for this seriously lost generation of virtual students who cannot function outside the laptop?
And slick recruitment. Nice bus, county fair booth and block party atmosphere seen in this video.
http://www.inewsnetwork.org/special-reports/online-k-12- schools/
There was an application by Connections Education for an online charter school here in New Mexico this year. The application was denied. I have heard (from a source close to the company) that they will be lobbying this year to get a couple rules changed.
Our Secretary-designate for Education (she hasn’t been confirmed because she doesn’t have any teaching experience, as required in the state’s constitution), Hannah Skandera, came from Florida and seems intent on a privatization push.
She worked for Jeb Bush, lead privatization advocate
Louisiana requires certain credentials for a state superintendent and they were waived. What did Louisiana get? John White, TFA and Broad graduate. Louisiana is in a mess of _______.