K12 Corp

---pub cit<p dir="ltr" open="" sans="sans" helvetica="helvetica" arial="arial" font-size="" px="px" background-color="" rgb="rgb" line-height="" style="margin: 0pt 0px; font-family: "open sans", helvetica, arial; font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Betsy DeVos<p dir="ltr" open="" sans="sans" helvetica="helvetica" arial="arial" font-size="" px="px" background-color="" rgb="rgb" line-height="" style="margin: 0pt 0px; font-family: "open sans", helvetica, arial; font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p dir="ltr" open="" sans="sans" helvetica="helvetica" arial="arial" font-size="" px="px" background-color="" rgb="rgb" line-height="" style="margin: 0pt 0px; font-family: "open sans", helvetica, arial; font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Trump's Pick for: Education Secretary

Corporate Connections: Amway, WindquestBetsy DeVos is the daughter of a wealthy western Michigan industrialist and is married to Amway heir Richard Devos. They have an estimated net worth of more than $5 billion. Members of the DeVos family have been among the foremost funders of right-wing politicians and ideological causes since the 1970s. Aside from extensive contributions to candidates and Republican Party committees, they have concentrated their giving to groups promoting free-market economics. Other contributions have gone to groups opposing campaign finance laws or working on social values issues, such as opposing gay marriage. DeVos’ greatest personal focus has been on education, such as seeking to expand charter schools, permit parents to use public funds as vouchers toward private school tuition and advocating related proposals to steer funding away from traditional public schools.<ul style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10.5px 25px; font-family: "open sans", helvetica, arial; font-size: 14px;"><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 21px;">Betsy DeVos is chair of the Windquest Group, an investment firm in manufacturing, technology, clean energy and in other investment firms. Windquest has indirectly invested in Social Finance Inc. (SoFI), which profits by helping individuals negotiate the terms of their student loans. SoFi’s prospects could be hindered if proposals to lower the rates on federally issued student loans were approved.
</li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 21px;">The DeVos family has given an estimated $200 million to conservative causes, Mother Jones estimates. These include gifts to the Heritage Foundation, groups operated by right-wing billionaires Charles and David Koch, and various groups hostile to campaign finance laws.
</li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 21px;">The DeVos-funded Mackinac Public Policy Center teamed with Koch brothers and the American Legislative Exchange Council in support of “right to work” legislation that was approved in Michigan in 2012.
</li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 21px;">All Children Matter, an advocacy group that DeVos founded, still owes the state of Ohio $5.3 million stemming from a fine for election law violations it was found to have committed in 2008.
</li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 21px;">The DeVoses spent $2 million in 2000 on a Michigan referendum that would have permitted students to use public funds a vouchers toward private school tuition. The proposal failed.
</li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 21px;">A group financed by DeVos successfully opposed legislation “that would have prevented failing schools from expanding or replicating.” The proposed legislation responded to a federal finding that Michigan suffered from “an unreasonably high” percentage of poorly performing charter schools.
</li><li style="line-height: 21px;">Financial disclosures released during Richard DeVos’s failed run for governor of Michigan in 2006 revealed that the couple were investors in K12 Inc., a controversial for-profit company that operates online charter schools. The disclosure did not indicate the size of the DeVoses’ investment.
</li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 21px;">With respect to the family’s extensive giving to conservative candidates and causes, Betsy DeVos wrote in 1997: "[M]y family is the largest single contributor of soft money to the national Republican party ... I have decided, however, to stop taking offense at the suggestion that we are buying influence. Now, I simply concede the point. We expect to foster a conservative governing philosophy consisting of limited government and respect for traditional American virtues. We expect a return on our investment; we expect a good and honest government. Furthermore, we expect the Republican party to use the money to promote these policies, and yes, to win elections."</li></ul><h1 class="title" id="page-title" style="margin: 0px; line-height: 1.25em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></h1><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/education/ci_29777973/is-california-online-school-cashing-failure" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">http://www.mercurynews.com/education/ci_29777973/is-california-online-school-cashing-failure</a></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">k12  is the nation's largest player in the online school market. In California, it manages four times as many schools as its closest competitor, filling a small but unique niche among the state's roughly 1,200 charter schools. And despite a dismal record of academic achievement in California and several other states -- including Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee -- the business regularly reports healthy profits.</div>"This company has shown an inordinate level of failure, yet it's continually given lifelines by policymakers who have irresponsibly ignored what's going on," said Luis Huerta, a Columbia University associate professor of education and public policy who is one of the nation's leading experts on online education.<p class="subhead" style="margin: 20px 0px 8px; text-transform: uppercase; -webkit-user-select: text; font-stretch: normal !important; line-height: 1.76em !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">TAKING A CLOSER LOOKK12 was launched in 2000 by Ronald Packard, a former Goldman Sachs banker, and William Bennett, U.S. secretary of education under President Ronald Reagan, with seed money from Oracle chief executive Larry Ellison and disgraced junk bond king Michael Milken.The company opened its first California Virtual Academies in San Diego, Kern and Tuolumne counties 14 years ago and has watched enrollment in the 17 schools it operates grow from several hundred students in 2002 to more than 15,000 today. Under state law, each academy may enroll students who live in adjoining counties. That means California children who live almost anywhere south of Humboldt County can sign up for one of K12's schools.To understand how the network of online academies operates, this newspaper reviewed hundreds of pages of education and tax records, examined complaints filed with public agencies and lawsuits, and interviewed dozens of parents, teachers and students affiliated, or once affiliated, with the schools. The investigation found:• Students who spend as little as one minute during a school day logged on to K12's school software may be counted as present in records used to calculate the amount of funding the schools get from the state.• About half of the schools' students are not proficient in reading, and only a third are proficient in math -- levels that fall far below statewide averages.• School districts that are supposed to oversee the company's schools have a strong financial incentive to turn a blind eye to problems: They get a cut of the academies' revenue, which largely comes from state coffers.• Michael Kirst, president of the State Board of Education, worked for K12 as a consultant before Gov. Jerry Brown appointed him to the post in 2011. In March 2015, the board voted against shuttering a school run by the company that California Department of Education staff said should close because it was in financial disarray, marking the only time such a recommendation has been ignored.K12 repeatedly declined this newspaper's requests to interview its executives about its California schools' academic programs and finances, citing an ongoing investigation by Attorney General Kamala Harris into California's for-profit online schools. In a series of emails, however, K12 spokesman Mike Kraft defended the schools' academic performance, arguing that "they will not have the same test scores as schools in high-funded districts with favorable demographics.""Many families choose online schools because they are fleeing a school or situation that wasn't working for their child," wrote Kraft, K12's vice president for finance and communications. "Their academic performance expectations should be put into context...A school that requires such little contact with teachers might be appropriate for students at the graduate level," he said, "but it's surely not appropriate for students in kindergarten through 12th grade."Kraft confirmed that the company's schools do not require "live attendance." Instead, he said, teachers work with students to develop a program that fits their individual needs.A scathing report published in October by Stanford University's Center for Research on Education Outcomes, or CREDO, found that most online charter students across the country had far weaker academic growth than their peers in brick-and-mortar public schools.Each 180-day school year, students are supposed to gain an equivalent number of days of learning in each of their core subjects as measured by standardized state tests. Instead, online charter students nationwide are advancing the equivalent of only 108 days in reading compared with their peers. And they're not advancing at all in math.The students are learning so little in that subject that it's as if they hadn't attended a single math class all year. And in California, the Stanford report shows, the students attending online schools such as those operated by K12 and other smaller companies are falling 58 days of math instruction behind their peers rather than advancing 180 days.<p class="subhead" style="margin: 20px 0px 8px; text-transform: uppercase; -webkit-user-select: text; font-stretch: normal !important; line-height: 1.76em !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">'SHOCKING' NUMBERS"Some of these numbers are pretty shocking," said James Woodworth, a senior research analyst at CREDO who noted that these learning deficits are the largest the group has ever recorded in any of its research on different types of charter schools over the past 15 years.Nationally, 70 percent of students enrolled in online charters attend schools managed by for-profit companies such as K12 and its leading competitor, Connections Academy, while 30 percent attend charters that are independent or run by nonprofits....<div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">diane ravitz kpfa sun show 9 am 5/29/16</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">jerry brown veto; mil academy oakland mayor</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">ca virt academy: push out low score but $ stays for year</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</div> This year, ALEC has a <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/ALEC_Staff" target="blank" style="text-decoration: none; outline: none; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 24px; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important;">new executive director</a>, Lisa Britton Nelson, who is a former lobbyist for<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Visa" target="blank" style="text-decoration: none; outline: none; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 24px; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important;">Visa</a> and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/AOL" target="blank" style="text-decoration: none; outline: none; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 24px; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important;">AOL Time Warner</a> -- both of which have had <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/ALEC_Corporations" target="blank" style="text-decoration: none; outline: none; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 24px; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important;">ties to ALEC</a> -- and also worked with Newt Gingrich and GOPAC. Several new companies also <a href="http://www.noodls.com/view/4EE2771DC0D3F0CD480EBD83F8481D462B82F5E3?5053xxx1406302284" target="blank" style="text-decoration: none; outline: none; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 24px; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important;">recently joined</a> its "Private Enterprise Advisory Council": NetChoice, the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/National_Federation_of_Independent_Business" target="blank" style="text-decoration: none; outline: none; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 24px; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important;">National Federation of Independent Business</a>, and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/K12_Inc." target="blank" style="text-decoration: none; outline: none; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 24px; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important;">K12 Inc.</a><h2 style="border: 0px; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.25; color: rgb(74, 74, 74); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Changing Laws Providing for Public Education</h2><ul style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em 2em; padding: 0px; color: rgb(74, 74, 74); line-height: 24px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The "<a href="http://www.donotlink.com/pZD" target="blank" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important; outline: none; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Affordable Baccalaureate Degree Act</a>" would enrich companies invested in online college degree programs and materials -- like Pearson (whose subsidiary Connections Education has been a prominent member of ALEC's Education Task Force), which sells the LearningStudio platform used by many universities like Arizona State University's<a href="https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&gl=us&tbm=nws&authuser=0&q=asu+online+degrees&oq=asu+online+degrees&gs_l=news-cc.3..43j43i53.2275.3814.0.4054.2.2.0.0.0.0.91.161.2.2.0...0.0...1ac.1j2.OwEDZDWs2bw" target="blank" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important; outline: none; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">popular and much-hyped</a> online degree program. It would "require all pubic [sic] four-year universities to offer bachelor's degrees costing no more than $10,000, total, for four years of tuition, fees, and books. The Act would require that ten percent of all public, four-year university degrees awarded reach this price-point within four years of passage of this act." The bill instructs universities to focus on online and blended learning "to achieve this price-point."</li><li style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
</li><li style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The "<a href="http://www.donotlink.com/pZD" target="blank" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important; outline: none; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Public Charter Schools Act</a>" would expand on ALEC's pre-existing "<a href="http://alecexposed.org/w/images/5/57/2D4-Next_Generation_Charter_Schools_Act_Exposed.pdf" target="blank" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important; outline: none; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Next Generation Charter Schools Act</a>" and enrich ALEC members like <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/K12" target="blank" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important; outline: none; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">K12, Inc.</a>, the nation's largest provider of online charter schools or cyber schools. It would allow privately-operated charter schools to continue taking public funds, but without public accountability. The bill would give charter schools carte blanche to operate without being "subject to the state's education statutes or any state or local rule, regulation, policy, or procedure relating to non-charter public schools within an applicable local school district..."</li><li style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
</li><li style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The related "<a href="http://www.donotlink.com/pZD" target="blank" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important; outline: none; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Public Charter Schools Funding Act</a>" restates charters' autonomy from the rule of law and democratically-elected school boards while still giving each charter school "one hundred percent" of the state and federal education funding "calculated pursuant to the state's funding formula for school districts."</li></ul>Ronald J. Packard is the CEO of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/K12_Inc." title="K12 Inc." style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">K12 Inc.</a>, a $848.2 million for-profit online school company headquartered in Herndon, Virginia. From 2009 to 2013, Packard received compensation of over $19.48 million from the company.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_note-1" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[1]</a> In 2013, he owned over 2 percent of K12,<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_note-2" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[2]</a> which had a market cap of around $1.25 billion in September 2013.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_note-3" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[3]</a>Ronald J. Packard has been K12's CEO or executive chairman since 2000.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_note-4" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[4]</a> He co-founded K12 with former Reagan education secretary <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/William_Bennett" title="William Bennett" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">William J. Bennett</a> in 2000 after they secured an initial $10 million investment from his boss at Knowledge Learning and convicted junk bond king <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Michael_Milken" title="Michael Milken" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Michael Milken</a>. The duo also received financial support from Larry Ellison of Oracle.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_note-WSJ-5" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[5]</a>He also closed a $20 million venture capital funding drive for K12 in 2003 with Constellation Ventures,<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_note-6" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[6]</a> an affiliate of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Bear_Stearns" title="Bear Stearns" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Bear Stearns</a> Asset Management, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_note-7" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[7]</a> one of the Bear Stearns internal hedge funds that blew up in 2007<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_note-8" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[8]</a> and contributed to the need for a government-backed bailout of the investment bank by <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/JP_Morgan" title="JP Morgan" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">JP Morgan</a>.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_note-9" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[9]</a> Packard has also teamed up with investment banker Michael Moe, who helped take K12 public.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_note-10" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[10]</a> According to The Nation, "Moe has worked for almost fifteen years at converting the K-12 education system into a cash cow for Wall Street."<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_note-11" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[11]</a>Packard, born in 1963, grew up in Thousand Oaks, California, the son of a radar and weapon systems engineer for Hughes Aircraft, where he worked as a summer engineer.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_note-interview-12" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[12]</a> He then worked in the mergers and acquisitions operation of Goldman Sachs from 1986 to 1988, and at McKinsey and Company from 1989 to 1993.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_note-13" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[13]</a>After leaving McKinsey, Packard went to Chile to work on getting government permits for some investors who had "bought title to a large forest."<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_note-interview-12" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[12]</a> He was then picked up by Milken’s education investment holding firm, Knowledge Universe Learning Group, which appointed him partner, vice president and chief executive (1997-2000);<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_note-14" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[14]</a> and then by Knowledge Schools, a chain of preschools.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_note-15" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[15]</a> Packard also served as a director at LearnNow Inc. (which was bought out by Edison in 2001), and Academy 123 Inc. (2004-2006; now owned by Discovery Communications).<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_note-16" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[16]</a>Packard was a defendant in a 2012-2013 securities class action suit over his alleged misstatements to investors on student achievement at K12 schools.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_note-17" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[17]</a> The suit claimed that Packard and the company boosted K12's enrollment and revenues through "fraudulent devices, schemes, artifices and deceptive acts, practices, and course of business includ[ing] the knowing and/or reckless suppression and concealment of information regarding K12's excessive churn rates, the poor academic performance of its schools compared with brick and mortar schools, improper practices at several of its schools nation-wide, and enrollment inflation."<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_note-18" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[18]</a> In March 2013, the parties agreed to settle the suit in return for a payment of $6.75 million by K12's insurance carriers, and the lead plaintiff agreed to withdraw his accusations.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_note-19" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[19]</a> The settlement was approved by the court on July 25, 2013.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_note-20" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[20]</a>Packard has agitated for the adoption of online schools for over a decade, including by addressing a "standing room only crowd" of the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Legislative_Exchange_Council" title="American Legislative Exchange Council" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">American Legislative Exchange Council</a>'s <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Education_Task_Force" title="Education Task Force" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Education Task Force</a> in December 2002.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_note-21" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[21]</a> Packard was flanked at the talk by Jeanne Allen from the Center for Education Reform, who has continued to defend K12 from evidence that it lags behind traditional public schools.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_note-22" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[22]</a>Packard is also a member of Digital Learning Council,<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_note-23" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[23]</a> a project of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Jeb_Bush" title="Jeb Bush" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Jeb Bush</a>'s <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Foundation_for_Excellence_in_Education" title="Foundation for Excellence in Education" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Foundation for Excellence in Education</a>, which is funded by leading pro-school privatization interests such as the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Broad_Foundation" title="Broad Foundation" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Broad</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Gates_Foundation" title="Gates Foundation" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Gates</a> and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Walton_Family_Foundation" title="Walton Family Foundation" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Walton Foundations</a>.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_note-24" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[24]</a> Bush has said that promoting digital learning, Packard's bread and butter, is at the top of his education reform list because of its capacity "to disrupt the public education system."<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_note-25" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[25]</a>According to The Wall Street Journal, "a large part of Mr. Packard's job is dealing with political issues."<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_note-26" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[26]</a> "We understand the politics of education pretty well," Packard has told investors.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_note-27" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[27]</a> He has called lobbying a "core competency" at K12 Inc.,<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_note-SaulNYT-28" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[28]</a> and was himself listed as a registered lobbyist to the New York City government from 2007 to 2010.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_note-29" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[29]</a> The New York Times has called for-profit education companies "a lobbying juggernaut in state capitals."<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_note-SaulNYT-28" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[28]</a>Packard has also dabbled in electoral politics, serving in 2004 on the finance committee for Illinois Senate candidate Jack Ryan (along with <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/William_Bennett" title="William Bennett" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">William Bennett</a> and then-<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Goldman_Sachs" title="Goldman Sachs" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Goldman Sachs</a> CEO <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Henry_Paulson" title="Henry Paulson" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Henry Paulson</a>),<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_note-30" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[30]</a> a former Goldman Sachs banker who ran against Barack Obama before withdrawing his candidacy after damaging allegations surfaced.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_note-31" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[31]</a> Packard and K12's public affairs director Bryan W. Flood also donated to the 2006 campaign of Wisconsin state assembly education chair Rep. Brett Davis (R), who authored a bill benefitting Wisconsin virtual schools, including K12.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_note-32" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[32]</a><div id="toc" class="toc" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 7px; display: table; zoom: 1; line-height: 19.2px; background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249);"><div id="toctitle" style="direction: ltr; text-align: center;"><h2 style="margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border: none; display: inline; background-image: none;">Contents</h2>  [<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#" class="internal" id="togglelink" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">hide</a>] </div><ul style="line-height: 1.5em; list-style-type: none; margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#Resources_and_Articles" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">1 Resources and Articles</a><ul style="line-height: 1.5em; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#Related_SourceWatch_Articles" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">1.1 Related SourceWatch Articles</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#Related_PRWatch_Articles" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">1.2 Related PRWatch Articles</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#External_Articles" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">1.3 External Articles</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#References" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">1.4 References</a></li></ul></li></ul></div><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 19.2px; background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Resources and Articles</h2><h3 style="margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; line-height: 19.2px; background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Related SourceWatch Articles</h3><ul style="line-height: 19.2px; margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" png="png" base64="base64" ivborw0kggoaaaansuheugaaaauaaaanaqmaaabb8jblaaaablbmvex="iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAUAAAANAQMAAABb8jbLAAAABlBMVEX" auow5qsojaaaaaxrstlmaqobyzgaaabnjrefucb1jyeabbqw="AUow5QSOjAAAAAXRSTlMAQObYZgAAABNJREFUCB1jYEABBQw" wlcagqeagpidyt0ivcsaaaaasuvork5cyii="); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/K12_Inc." title="K12 Inc." style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">K12 Inc.</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Connections_Academy" title="Connections Academy" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Connections Academy</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/William_Bennett" title="William Bennett" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">William Bennett</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Goldman_Sachs" title="Goldman Sachs" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Goldman Sachs</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Michael_Milken" title="Michael Milken" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Michael Milken</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Legislative_Exchange_Council" title="American Legislative Exchange Council" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">American Legislative Exchange Council</a> (ALEC)<ul style="line-height: 1.5em; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAUAAAANAQMAAABb8jbLAAAABlBMVEX///8AUow5QSOjAAAAAXRSTlMAQObYZgAAABNJREFUCB1jYEABBQw/wLCAgQEAGpIDyT0IVcsAAAAASUVORK5CYII=);"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Education_Task_Force" title="Education Task Force" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Education Task Force</a></li></ul></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Foundation_for_Excellence_in_Education" title="Foundation for Excellence in Education" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Foundation for Excellence in Education</a></li></ul><h3 style="margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; line-height: 19.2px; background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Related PRWatch Articles</h3><ul style="line-height: 19.2px; margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" png="png" base64="base64" ivborw0kggoaaaansuheugaaaauaaaanaqmaaabb8jblaaaablbmvex="iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAUAAAANAQMAAABb8jbLAAAABlBMVEX" auow5qsojaaaaaxrstlmaqobyzgaaabnjrefucb1jyeabbqw="AUow5QSOjAAAAAXRSTlMAQObYZgAAABNJREFUCB1jYEABBQw" wlcagqeagpidyt0ivcsaaaaasuvork5cyii="); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Mary Bottari, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/10/12257/junk-bonds-junk-schools-cyber-schools-fleece-taxpayers-phantom-students-and-faili" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">From Junk Bonds to Junk Schools: Cyber Schools Fleece Taxpayers for Phantom Students and Failing Grades</a>, PRWatch, October 2, 2013.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Lisa Graves, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/08/12212/alecexposed-list-corporations-and-special-interests-underwrote-alecs-40th-anniver" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">ALECexposed: List of Corporations and Special Interests that Underwrote ALEC's 40th Anniversary Meeting</a>, PRWatch, August 15, 2013.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Brendan Fischer, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/07/12175/cashing-kids139-alec-bills-2013-promote-private-profit-education-model" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Cashing in on Kids: 139 ALEC Bills in 2013 Promote a Private, For-Profit Education Model</a>, PRWatch, July 16, 2013.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Lisa Graves, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/11/11883/taxpayer-enriched-companies-back-jeb-bushs-foundation-excellence-education-its-bu" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Taxpayer-Enriched Companies Back Jeb Bush's Foundation for Excellence in Education, Its Buddy ALEC, and Their 'Reforms'</a>, PRWatch, November 28, 2012.</li></ul><h3 style="margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; line-height: 19.2px; background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">External Articles</h3><ul style="line-height: 19.2px; margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" png="png" base64="base64" ivborw0kggoaaaansuheugaaaauaaaanaqmaaabb8jblaaaablbmvex="iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAUAAAANAQMAAABb8jbLAAAABlBMVEX" auow5qsojaaaaaxrstlmaqobyzgaaabnjrefucb1jyeabbqw="AUow5QSOjAAAAAXRSTlMAQObYZgAAABNJREFUCB1jYEABBQw" wlcagqeagpidyt0ivcsaaaaasuvork5cyii="); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Kristin Jones, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20130304-714343.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">[3]</a> K12 Agrees to $6.75 Million Payment to Settle Disclosure Suit]," The Wall Street Journal, March 4, 2013.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Emma Brown, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/virginia-schools-insider/post/shareholder-lawsuit-accuses-k12-inc-of-lying-about-student-test-grades/2012/01/31/gIQAGOXRfQ_blog.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Shareholder Lawsuit Accuses K12 Inc. of Misleading Investors</a>," The Washington Post, January 31, 2012.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Stephanie Saul, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/13/education/online-schools-score-better-on-wall-street-than-in-classrooms.html?r=0" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Profits and Questions at Online Charter Schools</a>," The New York Times, December 12, 2011.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Lyndsey Layton and Emma Brown, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2011-11-26/local/35283370_1_virtual-schools-virtual-education-support-school-choice" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Virtual Schools Are Multiplying, But Some Question Their Educational Value</a>," The Washington Post, November 26, 2011.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Lee Fang, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.thenation.com/article/164651/how-online-learning-companies-bought-americas-schools#axzz2fpTgBx3N" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">How Online Learning Companies Bought America's Schools</a>," The Nation, November 16, 2011.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">John Hechinger, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_24/b4232076996440.htm" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Education According to Mike Milken</a>,” Bloomberg BusinessWeek, June 2, 2011.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Nick Gillespie, “<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://reason.com/archives/2011/04/20/jeb-bush" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Jeb Bush on Disrupting the Educational Status Quo</a>," Reason magazine, May 2011.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Srana Mitra, “<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.sramanamitra.com/2009/11/18/a-scalable-k-12-education-solution-k12-ceo-ron-packard-part-1/" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">A Scalable K-12 Education Solution: K12 CEO Ron Packard (Part 1)</a>," interview with Ron Packard, November 18, 2009.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Veronica Dagher, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122585931698900603.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Virtual School Chalks Up Gains</a>," The Wall Street Journal, November 5, 2008.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Daniel Golden, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB977957224598014041.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Former Secretary of Education Plans School on Internet</a>," The Wall Street Journal, December 28, 2000.</li></ul><h3 style="margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; line-height: 19.2px; background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">References</h3><ol class="references" style="line-height: 19.2px; margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 3.2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li id="cite_note-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_ref-1" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up↑</a> Morningstar, “<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://insiders.morningstar.com/trading/executive-compensation.action?t=LRN&region=USA&culture=en-US" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">K12 Inc., 2013 Executive Compensation, Ronald J. Packard/Chief Executive Officer</a>,” figures for 2009-2013, accessed November 19, 2013.</li><li id="cite_note-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_ref-2" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up↑</a> K12 Inc., <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://services.corporate-ir.net/SEC/Document.Service?id=P3VybD1hSFIwY0RvdkwyRndhUzUwWlc1cmQybDZZWEprTG1OdmJTOWtiM2R1Ykc5aFpDNXdhSEEvWVdOMGFXOXVQVkJFUmlacGNHRm5aVDA1TVRreU1EUTBKbk4xWW5OcFpEMDFOdz09JnR5cGU9MiZmbj1LMTJJbmMucGRm" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">2013 DEF 14A Proxy Statement</a>, SEC filing, October 28, 2013, p. 16.</li><li id="cite_note-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_ref-3" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up↑</a> “<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/lrn" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">K12 Inc. Overview, Market Cap</a>," Wall Street Journal MarketWatch, accessed September 23, 2013.</li><li id="cite_note-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_ref-4" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up↑</a> "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.forbes.com/profile/ronald-packard/" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Ronald Packard: At a Glance</a>," Forbes, accessed September 17, 2013</li><li id="cite_note-WSJ-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_ref-WSJ_5-0" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up↑</a> Daniel Golden, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB977957224598014041.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Former Secretary of Education Plans School on Internet</a>," The Wall Street Journal, December 28, 2000, accessed September 17, 2013.</li><li id="cite_note-6" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_ref-6" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up↑</a> "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/doc/409510690.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Apr+4%2C+2003&author=&desc=IN+BRIEF" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">In Brief</a>," The Washington Post, April 4, 2003, accessed September 4, 2013.</li><li id="cite_note-7" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_ref-7" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up↑</a> Ty McMahan, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2009/05/04/constellation-ventures-stays-course-after-bear-stearns-meltdown/" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Constellation Ventures Stays Course After Bear Stearns Meltdown</a>," The Wall Street Journal, May 4, 2009, accessed September 4, 2013.</li><li id="cite_note-8" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_ref-8" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up↑</a> Kate Kelly, Liam Pleven and James R. Hagerty, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118591963252683893.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Wall Street, Bear Stearns Hit Again By Investors Fleeing Mortgage Sector</a>," The Wall Street Journal, August 1, 2007, accessed September 12, 2013.</li><li id="cite_note-9" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_ref-9" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up↑</a> William D. Cohan, House of Cards: A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess on Wall Street (New York: Doubleday, 2009).</li><li id="cite_note-10" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_ref-10" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up↑</a> John Hechinger, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_24/b4232076996440.htm" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Education According to Mike Milken</a>,” Bloomberg BusinessWeek, June 2, 2011, accessed September 19, 2013.</li><li id="cite_note-11" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_ref-11" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up↑</a> Lee Fang, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.thenation.com/article/164651/how-online-learning-companies-bought-americas-schools#axzz2fpTgBx3N" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">How Online Learning Companies Bought America's Schools</a>," The Nation, November 16, 2011, accessed September 9, 2013.</li><li id="cite_note-interview-12" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">↑ <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_ref-interview_12-0" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up to:12.0</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_ref-interview_12-1" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">12.1</a> Srana Mitra, “<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.sramanamitra.com/2009/11/18/a-scalable-k-12-education-solution-k12-ceo-ron-packard-part-1/" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">A Scalable K-12 Education Solution: K12 CEO Ron Packard (Part 1)</a>," interview with Ron Packard, November 18, 2009, accessed September 12, 2013.</li><li id="cite_note-13" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_ref-13" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up↑</a> Marquis Biographies Online, "Profile Detail: Ronald J. Packard," accessed September 10, 2013.</li><li id="cite_note-14" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_ref-14" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up↑</a> Daniel Golden, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB977957224598014041.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Former Secretary of Education Plans School on Internet</a>," The Wall Street Journal, December 28, 2000, accessed September 17, 2013.</li><li id="cite_note-15" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_ref-15" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up↑</a> "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.chicagobooth.edu/daa/profile/ronaldpackard.aspx" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Ronald Packard</a>," bio at the Chicago Booth School's “Distinguished Alumni Awards” website, accessed September 12, 2013.</li><li id="cite_note-16" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_ref-16" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up↑</a> "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=901591&ticker=LRN" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Executive Profile: Ronald J. Packard CFA</a>," Bloomberg BusinessWeek, accessed September 12, 2013.</li><li id="cite_note-17" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_ref-17" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up↑</a> Emma Brown, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/virginia-schools-insider/post/shareholder-lawsuit-accuses-k12-inc-of-lying-about-student-test-grades/2012/01/31/gIQAGOXRfQ_blog.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Shareholder Lawsuit Accuses K12 Inc. of Misleading Investors</a>," The Washington Post, January 31, 2012, accessed September 19, 2013.</li><li id="cite_note-18" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_ref-18" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up↑</a> United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://securities.stanford.edu/1048/LRN00_01/2012622_r01c_12CV00103.pdf" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAQAAAAnOwc2AAAATklEQVR4XmXKQQqAMAwF0X/7XsSz9CSKiyIIFRFcjMmihmiGbB5fqDCaQJ4j46pzYLUWe+cXZ6OVBhTS0srY2Njp/+XxXXZOLu6EUWAOPX1vnwTBe6qQAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Hoppaugh v. K12, Inc., Case No. 1:12-CV-103-CMH-IDD</a>, pp. 104-105., accessed September 17, 2013.</li><li id="cite_note-19" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_ref-19" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up↑</a> Kristin Jones, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20130304-714343.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">[1]</a> K12 Agrees to $6.75 Million Payment to Settle Disclosure Suit]," The Wall Street Journal, March 4, 2013, accessed September 11, 2013.</li><li id="cite_note-20" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_ref-20" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up↑</a> Labaton Sucharow, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.labaton.com/en/cases/In-re-K12-Inc-Securities-Litigation.cfm" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">[2]</a> In re K12 Inc. Securities Litigation]," accessed September 11, 2013.</li><li id="cite_note-21" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_ref-21" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up↑</a> American Legislative Exchange Council, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20060927184535/http://www.alec.org/task-forces/education" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Education Task Force</a>," organizational web page, archived by the "WayBack Machine" September 28, 2006.</li><li id="cite_note-22" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_ref-22" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up↑</a> Jeanne Allen, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.edreform.com/edspresso-shots/here-they-go-again/" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Here They Go Again…</a>," Center for Education Reform website, accessed September 6, 2013.</li><li id="cite_note-23" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_ref-23" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up↑</a> Digital Learning Now (a project of the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Foundation_for_Excellence_in_Education" title="Foundation for Excellence in Education" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Foundation for Excellence in Education</a>), "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.digitallearningnow.com/about-us/digital-learning-council/" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Digital Learning Council</a>," organizational website, accessed September 9, 2013.</li><li id="cite_note-24" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_ref-24" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up↑</a> Foundation For Excellence in Education, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://excelined.org/about-us/meet-our-donors/" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Meet Our Donors</a>," organizational website, accessed September 9, 2013.</li><li id="cite_note-25" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_ref-25" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up↑</a> Nick Gillespie, “<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://reason.com/archives/2011/04/20/jeb-bush" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Jeb Bush on Disrupting the Educational Status Quo</a>," Reason magazine, May 2011, accessed September 9, 2013.</li><li id="cite_note-26" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_ref-26" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up↑</a> Veronica Dagher, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122585931698900603.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Virtual School Chalks Up Gains</a>," The Wall Street Journal, November 5, 2008, accessed September 10, 2013.</li><li id="cite_note-27" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_ref-27" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up↑</a> Lyndsey Layton and Emma Brown, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2011-11-26/local/35283370_1_virtual-schools-virtual-education-support-school-choice" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Virtual Schools Are Multiplying, But Some Question Their Educational Value</a>," The Washington Post, November 26, 2011, accessed September 10, 2013.</li><li id="cite_note-SaulNYT-28" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">↑ <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_ref-SaulNYT_28-0" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up to:28.0</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_ref-SaulNYT_28-1" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">28.1</a> Stephanie Saul, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/13/education/online-schools-score-better-on-wall-street-than-in-classrooms.html?_r=0" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Profits and Questions at Online Charter Schools</a>," The New York Times, December 12, 2011, accessed September 10, 2013.</li><li id="cite_note-29" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_ref-29" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up↑</a> New York City, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.nyc.gov/lobbyistsearch/search?lobbyist=Ronald+Packard" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">NYC Lobbyist Search: Information for Ronald Packard</a>," accessed September 20, 2013.</li><li id="cite_note-30" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_ref-30" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up↑</a> Jack Ryan for U.S. Senate, Inc., "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jack-ryan-announces-finance-committee-70781772.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Jack Ryan Announces Finance Committee</a>," press release, July 15, 2004.</li><li id="cite_note-31" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_ref-31" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up↑</a> Liam Ford and Rudolph Bush, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0406260116jun26,0,496363.story" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Ryan Quits Race: State GOP Scrambles to Find Replacement to Face Obama -- Republican Senate Nominee Cites Fixation On Divorce Files</a>," Chicago Tribune, June 26, 2004, accessed September 12, 2013.</li><li id="cite_note-32" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_ref-32" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up↑</a> One Wisconsin Now, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/press/k12-inc-support-for-davis-paying-off.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">K12, Inc. Support for Davis Paying Off</a>," press release, January 15, 2008.</li></ol>
=5. Ron Packard: The ABCs of AvariceSome of us look at school buildings and see students learning. Ron Packard looks at schools and sees himself becoming fabulously richer — if he could only empty the buildings.Packard runs K12 Inc., a for-profit company that specializes in “virtual” education. K12 Inc. operates online “schools” that supply lessons to kids sitting in front of computers, a business endeavor that Packard pronounces a noble step toward “educational liberty.”“Kids have been shackled to their brick-and-mortar school down the block for too long,” he<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/10/02-5?print" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">has declared</a> [31].An army of corporate lobbyists has been spreading this message over the past five years, backed by the right-wing American Legislative Exchange Council, and more than three dozen states have now enacted legislation that lets companies like K12 Inc. grab students — and tax dollars.K12 Inc. currently has <a href="http://seekingalpha.com/article/1800262-an-open-letter-to-the-board-and-management-of-k12" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">nearly 130,000 students</a> [32] in its “virtual learning” empire, with only one problem. Compared to their traditional school peers, K12 Inc. students are <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/10/02-5?print" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">not doing</a>[31] much learning. Critics are, understandably, blasting the K12 Inc. business model as <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/10/02-5?print" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">a giant scam</a> [31].In that model, heavy K12 Inc. advertising on kid-centric media like Nickelodeon gets kids enrolled for the company’s offerings. State government education officials, after their annual student “head count,” then pay K12 Inc. for each kid signed up. But after the head count, many of the “virtual” students drop out. K12 Inc. doesn’t mind. The company gets to keep the money.Lots of it, enough to reward Packard over $19 million in personal compensation the last five years. Not bad, <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/11/12314/cmd-exposes-america%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%9Chighest-paid-government-workers%E2%80%9D" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">notes</a> [33] the Center for Media and Democracy, for a former Goldman Sachs executive “who started K12 Inc. with a $10 million investment from convicted junk-bond king Michael Milken.”  alternet<div class="section field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="field-items" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="field-item odd" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Portal:Outsourcing_America_Exposed" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">OutsourcingAmericaExposed.org</a>, which focuses on 12 firms doing the most to privatize public services.Today, CMD puts the spotlight on Ron Packard, CEO of K12 Inc., America’s highest paid teacher. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/K12_Inc." style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">K12 Inc</a>. is a publicly-traded (<a href="https://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE%3A%20LRN&ei=mqzuUfAuzrGoAYfOAQ" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">NYSE: LRN</a>) for-profit, online education company headquartered in Herndon, Virginia. On its own and as a <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/ALEC_Corporations" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">member</a> of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), K12 Inc. has pushed a national agenda to replace bricks and mortar classrooms with computers and replace actual teachers with "virtual" ones. As K12 Inc. notes in its most recent 10-K, "most of (its) revenues depend on per pupil funding amounts and payment formulas" from government contracts for virtual public charter schools and "blended schools" (combining online with traditional instruction), among other products. In 2013, K12 Inc. took in $848.2 million from its business, with $730.8 million coming from its "managed public schools" and thus the U.S. taxpayer (<a href="http://services.corporate-ir.net/SEC/Document.Service?id=P3VybD1hSFIwY0RvdkwyRndhUzUwWlc1cmQybDZZWEprTG1OdmJTOWtiM2R1Ykc5aFpDNXdhSEEvWVdOMGFXOXVQVkJFUmlacGNHRm5aVDA1TVRFd016ZzBKbk4xWW5OcFpEMDFOdz09JnR5cGU9MiZmbj1LMTJJbmMucGRm" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">10-K</a>, p. 69). In other words, over 86 percent of the company’s profits are due to taxpayers. What does K12 Inc. do with all that money? According to new data, it does not educate children very well (only <a href="http://nepc.colorado.edu/files/nepcrbk12miron.pdf" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">27.7 percent</a> of K12 Inc. online schools met state standards in 2010-2011, compared to 52 percent of public schools), but it does pay its CEO very well. From 2009-2013, Packard made <a href="http://insiders.morningstar.com/trading/executive-compensation.action?t=LRN&region=USA&culture=en-US" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">over $19 million</a> in compensation, and compensation to his top executives skyrocketed 96 percent in 2013. Thank you taxpayers! Not bad for a novice “teacher” and former <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Goldman_Sachs%22%20%5Co%20%22Goldman%20Sachs" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Goldman Sachs</a> executive who started  K12 Inc. with a $10 million investment from convicted junk-bond king <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Michael_Milken%22%20%5Co%20%22Michael%20Milken" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Michael Milken</a> (his boss at Knowledge Learning) and $30 million more from other Wall Street investors.Learn more about K12 Inc. in the Sourcewatch <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/K12_Inc." style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">corporate profile. </a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-13 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden clearfix" style="border: 0px; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 20px; clear: both; line-height: 20px; color: rgb(74, 74, 74); background-image: url(" http="http" www.prwatch.org="www.prwatch.org" sites="sites" all="all" themes="themes" tb_nex="tb_nex" images="images" bg-ico-categories.png="bg-ico-categories.png" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" background-position="background-position" background-repeat="background-repeat" no-repeat="no-repeat"><ul class="field-items" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><li class="field-item even" style="border: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: none; display: inline-block; margin: 0px 5px 0px 0px !important;"><a href="http://www.prwatch.org/topics/outsourcing-america-exposed" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important; text-decoration: none;">Outsourcing America Expose</a>d</li></ul></div>==

<h2>Conflict of Interest? For-Profit School Corps Backed Both FEE and ALEC</h2>

Many of these policies are designed to redirect state taxpayer dollars from public schools to private or for-profit education corporations. It is perhaps unsurprising that corporate beneficiaries of these policies have also been the corporate benefactors of the non-profit groups promoting them, including FEE and ALEC.

As Colin Woodward reported about FEE's role in Maine, critics contend that "<a href="http://www.pressherald.com/news/virtual-schools-in-maine_2012-09-02.html" target="_blank">This is the ideal form of crony capitalism ... these are free market entrepreneurial companies manipulating the law to create markets for themselves</a> [22]," citing Arizona State University professor emeritus Gene Glass.

Here are just a few examples of the overlap between FEE and ALEC and evidence of this critique:

K-12's NYSE Stock SymbolK-12 is a for-profit corporation that pushes "virtual" schooling. It is traded on the New York Stock Exchange as LRN. While most American families have struggled financially in the four years since Wall Street crashed the economy at the end of the Bush Administration, K-12's revenues have increased by over 300%, from over $226 million in 2008 to over $708 million this year.

As K-12 notes in its most recent annual report, "most of (its) revenues depend on per pupil funding amounts and payment formulas" from government contracts for what it calls its "virtual public schools" and blended schools, among other products.

Meanwhile, ALEC has pushed a number of bills that help make K-12's profits possible, including a "Virtual Public Schools Act," which provides that virtual schools should be paid the same per pupil rate as public schools that actually provide bricks and mortar public schools, with desks, heating and A/C, lunch ladies, playgrounds, gyms, in-person teachers, and extracurricular activities like sports, orchestra, and student councils. That bill was secretly approved in 2004 as an ALEC agenda item in an ALEC task force meeting where corporate lobbyists and special interest reps voted as equals with state legislators. The bill and various iterations of it have been pushed in numerous states across the country since then, and along with it the number of students K-12 says are enrolled in its programs has increased to almost over 100,000.

K-12's net income (profit after taxes and expenses) was over $17 million last year. But, that was the amount left over after it paid its CEO, Ron Packard, a base salary of $625,000, in addition to a "performance" bonus of $584,375, which was in addition to an award of stock this year worth $1.25 million, plus stock options worth $1.5 million, for a total compensation in 2012 of over $3.9 million. The prior year his total compensation was over $5 million. Its next five highest paid employees received annual compensation of between $3.2 million and $769,000. K-12 also paid its part-time board members fees of between $49,000 and $139,000, plus stock awards. (Meanwhile, ALEC legislators and alums who have backed privatization have claimed that it is public school teachers who receive luxurious benefits like health care or retirement plans, which pale in comparison.)

In addition, K-12's CEO owns about 4% of the company (worth about $24 million at today's share price) and one of its board members, Jon Q. Reynolds, owns over 10% of the company. The "Learning Group LLC" owns 18% and another corporation that is part of a foreign mega-corp that is member of ALEC, Macquarie Group Limited, owns 13% of K-12, as of its most recent SEC filings.

K-12 Inc. was founded in 1999 by Packard, a former <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Goldman_Sachs" target="_blank">Goldman Sachs</a> [23] mergers and acquisitions guy with an MBA from the University of Chicago, and by William Bennett, the Republican writer and talk-show host, with an infusion of cash from felon and former junk bond fraudster, Michael Milken.

Connections Academy is now owned by the UK's PearsonConnections Academy, which previously co-chaired ALEC's Education Task Force for a number of years and funded ALEC, is also a funder of FEE. Connections Academy is a division of Connections Education LLC, an entity based in Baltimore, Maryland, that contracts with charter schools, school districts, or governmental entities to provide "online" lessons to students....http://www.prwatch.org/print/11883

</div>

==

Founded in 1999 by <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard" title="Ron Packard">Ron Packard</a> , K12 is the nation's largest provider of online charter schools.

"Ron Packard is founder and CEO of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/K12" title="K12">K12</a>, a vice president of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Knowledge_Universe" title="Knowledge Universe">Knowledge Universe</a>, and a senior executive officer of Knowledge Schools, which provides high-quality childhood education in community and employer-sponsored centers, and invests in, incubates, and operates several charter school companies. Previously, Mr. Packard worked for <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/McKinsey_%26_Company" title="McKinsey & Company">McKinsey & Company</a> as well as for <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Goldman_Sachs" title="Goldman Sachs">Goldman Sachs</a> in mergers and acquisitions." <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_note-0">[1]</a>

<h2>Resources and articles</h2>

<h3>Related Sourcewatch</h3>

<h3>References</h3>

<li id="cite_note-0"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard#cite_ref-0">↑</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.k12.com/about_k12/board_of_directors/">Directors</a>, K12, accessed December 13, 2010.</li>

</ol>

<div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Special:Categories" title="Special:Categories">Categories</a>:

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:Stubs" title="Category:Stubs">Stubs</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:Education" title="Category:Education">Education</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:United_States" title="Category:United States">United States</a></li>

</ul>

</div>

K12 Inc. was founded by a former <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Goldman_Sachs" title="Goldman Sachs">Goldman Sachs</a> banker and by <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/William_Bennett" title="William Bennett" class="mw-redirect">William Bennett</a>, the Republican writer and talk-show host, with an infusion of cash from <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Mike_Milken" title="Mike Milken">Mike Milken</a>. Its teachers generally work from their homes, communicating with their students by e-mail or phone. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/K12#cite_note-0">[1]</a>

<h2>Ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council</h2>

Lisa Gillis of K12 is the Private Sector Chair ALEC's Education Task Force’s Special Needs Subcommittee. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/K12#cite_note-1">[2]</a>

K12 was an Exhibitor at ALEC's annual conference meeting in 2011. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/K12#cite_note-2">[3]</a>

About ALEC

</th></tr><tr><td style=" color: #000000;">

<div style="padding: 2px 5px;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/ALEC" title="ALEC" class="mw-redirect">ALEC</a> is a corporate bill mill. It is not just a lobby or a front group; it is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, corporations hand state legislators their wishlists to benefit their bottom line. Corporations fund almost all of ALEC's operations. They pay for a seat on ALEC task forces where corporate lobbyists and special interest reps vote with elected officials to approve “model” bills. Learn more at the Center for Media and Democracy's <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://alecexposed.org/">ALECexposed.org</a>, and check out breaking news on our <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.PRWatch.org">PRWatch.org site</a>.</div>

</td></tr></tbody></table>

<h2>Allegations of Low Quality in K12 Schools</h2>

K12 has been accused of trying to maximize profits by raising enrollment at the expense of both teachers and students. The schools allegedly make little effort to filter out students that may not be well suited to their program, resulting in many students performing very poorly. According to a study conducted by the National Education Policy Center, only one third of K12's schools achieved adequate yearly progress as defined by No Child Left Behind. And at K12's Agora Cyber Charter School, which produces more than 10% of the company's revenue, nearly 60% of students are behind grade level in math, nearly 50% are behind in reading, and a third do not graduate on time. In addition, withdrawal rates at K12 schools are persistently very high. For example, in 2009-2010 the Agora school had 2,688 students withdraw.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/K12#cite_note-NYT_Report-3">[4]</a>

Some K12 teachers claim that they have been encouraged by K12 to pass failing students so that the company can receive more reimbursement from the states in which they operate. The grading policy stipulates that students who do no turn in an assignment are given a score of "50" instead of "0," and failing students are told that late work can be made up without any penalty. K12 receives an average of between $5,500 and $6,000 for every student on its rosters. Much of K12's profits are spent on advertising targeted at increasing enrollment rather than on investments in improving quality. In 2010, it is estimated that K12 spent $26.5 million on advertising.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/K12#cite_note-NYT_Report-3">[4]</a>

Teachers at K12 schools are often overwhelmed by a very demanding workload and are paid relatively low wages. According to the Pennsylvania State Education Association, some teachers were required to take on additional students at the rate of $1 per student. Some teachers are forced to manage more than 250 students and work at least 60 hours a week. This means that some teachers have to cut curriculum in order to have enough time to spend on all their students.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/K12#cite_note-NYT_Report-3">[4]</a>

<h2>Virtual Public School's Act</h2>

On May 12, 2011 <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.tn.gov/sos/acts/107/pub/pc0288.pdf">The Virtual Public Schools Act</a> was passed in Tennessee, and took effect on July 1, 2011. The act states "students in grades kindergarten through twelve (K-12) who were enrolled in and attended a public school during the previous school year shall be eligible to participate in a virtual public education program."

After the law was implemented, K12 made an arrangement with the rural Union County school district, which became the home of the new Tennessee Virtual Academy. Any Tennessee parent can pull her child out of the local system and enroll him in Union and the academy.There are now about 2,000 students in the virtual school, which is just about the same number of people who reside in Maynardville, the Union County seat. The district gets a small cut of the $5,387 in state aid that attaches to each student, while K12 gets the rest. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/K12#cite_note-4">[5]</a>

<h2>Lobbying, Political Contributions, and Front Groups</h2>

K12 has spent $681,000 on lobbying since 2007 in Pennsylvania, where 10% of its revenue is generated. In addition, K12 and its employees contributed almost $500,000 to candidates for state office across the country between 2004 and 2010.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/K12#cite_note-NYT_Report-3">[4]</a>

K12 has also used ostensibly benign front groups to lobby and organize protests on its behalf. The K12-funded group Pennsylvania Families for Public Cyber Schools spent $250,000 on lobbying in the last five years. K12 is also connected to <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=My_School,_My_Choice&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="My School, My Choice (page does not exist)">My School, My Choice</a>, a group that organized protests in Ohio against reforming the state formula for financing charter and online schools. The protesters turned out to be paid temp agency workers. Tim Dirrim, the founder the organization, is the board president of the K12-managed Ohio Virtual Academy. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/K12#cite_note-NYT_Report-3">[4]</a>

<h2>Board</h2>

Accessed December 2010: <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/K12#cite_note-5">[6]</a>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Andrew_H._Tisch" title="Andrew H. Tisch">Andrew H. Tisch</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ron_Packard" title="Ron Packard">Ron Packard</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Guillermo_Bron&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Guillermo Bron (page does not exist)">Guillermo Bron</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Nate_Davis&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Nate Davis (page does not exist)">Nate Davis</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Steven_B._Fink" title="Steven B. Fink">Steven B. Fink</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Mary_Futrell" title="Mary Futrell">Mary Futrell</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jane_M._Swift&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Jane M. Swift (page does not exist)">Jane M. Swift</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Thomas_Wilford&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Thomas Wilford (page does not exist)">Thomas Wilford</a></li>

</ul>

<h2>Education Advisory Committee</h2>

Accessed December 2010: <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/K12#cite_note-6">[7]</a>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Thomas_C._Boysen" title="Thomas C. Boysen" class="mw-redirect">Thomas C. Boysen</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Barbara_Byrd-Bennett&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Barbara Byrd-Bennett (page does not exist)">Barbara Byrd-Bennett</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Benjamin_Canada&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Benjamin Canada (page does not exist)">Benjamin Canada</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jo_Lynne_DeMary&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Jo Lynne DeMary (page does not exist)">Jo Lynne DeMary</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=David_Driscoll&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="David Driscoll (page does not exist)">David Driscoll</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Chester_Finn" title="Chester Finn" class="mw-redirect">Chester Finn</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Mary_Futrell" title="Mary Futrell">Mary Futrell</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Michael_Kirst&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Michael Kirst (page does not exist)">Michael Kirst</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Eliot_Levinson&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Eliot Levinson (page does not exist)">Eliot Levinson</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=William_Librera&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="William Librera (page does not exist)">William Librera</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Thomas_Payzant&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Thomas Payzant (page does not exist)">Thomas Payzant</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Betty_Rosa&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Betty Rosa (page does not exist)">Betty Rosa</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Robert_Spillane&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Robert Spillane (page does not exist)">Robert Spillane</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bernice_Stafford&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Bernice Stafford (page does not exist)">Bernice Stafford</a></li>

</ul>

<h2>Contact</h2>

URL: <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.k12.com">http://www.k12.com</a>

<h2>Resources and articles</h2>

Stephanie Saul, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/13/education/online-schools-score-better-on-wall-street-than-in-classrooms.html?_r=1&seid=auto&smid=tw-nytimes&pagewanted=all">Profits and Questions at Online Charter Schools</a> New York Times, December 12, 2011

<h3>Related Sourcewatch</h3>

<h3>References</h3>

<li id="cite_note-0"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/K12#cite_ref-0">↑</a> Gail Collins <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/03/opinion/virtually-educated.html?_r=2&ref=opinion">Virtually Educated</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.nytimes.com">NY Times</a>, December 2, 2011</li>

<li id="cite_note-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/K12#cite_ref-1">↑</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Education_Task_Force#cite_note-15">ALEC Education Taskforce</a></li>

<li id="cite_note-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/K12#cite_ref-2">↑</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ALEC_Corporations#cite_note-Corporate_Chairs-2">ALEC Corportations</a></li>

<li id="cite_note-NYT_Report-3">↑ <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/K12#cite_ref-NYT_Report_3-0">4.0</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/K12#cite_ref-NYT_Report_3-1">4.1</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/K12#cite_ref-NYT_Report_3-2">4.2</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/K12#cite_ref-NYT_Report_3-3">4.3</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/K12#cite_ref-NYT_Report_3-4">4.4</a> Stephanie Saul, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/13/education/online-schools-score-better-on-wall-street-than-in-classrooms.html?_r=1&seid=auto&smid=tw-nytimes&pagewanted=all">Profits and Questions at Online Charter Schools</a> New York Times, December 12, 2011</li>

<li id="cite_note-4"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/K12#cite_ref-4">↑</a> Gail Collins <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/03/opinion/virtually-educated.html?_r=2&ref=opinion">Virtually Educated</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.nytimes.com">NY Times</a>, December 2, 2011</li>

<li id="cite_note-5"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/K12#cite_ref-5">↑</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.k12.com/about_k12/board_of_directors/">Directors</a>, K12, accessed December 13, 2010.</li>

<li id="cite_note-6"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/K12#cite_ref-6">↑</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.k12.com/about_k12/our_team/education-advisory-committee/">Education Advisory Committee</a>, K12, accessed December 13, 2010.</li>

</ol>

</div>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:Education" title="Category:Education">Education</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:United_States" title="Category:United States">United States</a></li>

</ul>

</div>

moyers on alec:

STATE REP. MARK POCAN: Some of their legislation sounds so innocuous, but when you start to read about why they’re doing it, you know there’s a far different reason why something’s coming forward, and that’s important. If the average person knew that a bill like this came from some group like ALEC, you’ll look at the bill very differently, and you might look at that legislator a little differently about why they introduced it.

</blockquote>

This is not about education. This is not about helping kids with special needs. This is about privatization. This is about corporate profits. And this is about dismantling public education.

</blockquote>

BILL MOYERS: The bill passed in the Wisconsin House but failed to make it through the Senate. However, in its education report card,ALEC boasts that similar bills have passed in Oklahoma, Louisiana, North Carolina and Ohio. ALEC’s education agenda includes online schooling, as well. Take a careful look, and you’ll find the profit motive there, too.

</blockquote>

LISA GRAVES: What you see is corporations that have a direct benefit, whose bottom line directly benefits from these bills, voting on these bills in the ALEC task force. And so, corporations like Connections Academy, corporations like K12, they have a direct financial interest in advancing this agenda.

</blockquote>

BILL MOYERS: Those corporations, Connections Academy and K12, which specialize in online education, can profit handsomely from laws that direct taxpayer money toward businesses like theirs. In 2011, both sat on ALEC’s Education Task Force. But the two companies didn’t just approve the model bill, they helped craft it. The proof is in one of ALEC’s own documents. And there’s more to the story.

</blockquote>

STATE SEN. DOLORES GRESHAM: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. House Bill 1030 has to do with the establishment of virtual public schools.

</blockquote>

BILL MOYERS: Last year, an online schooling bill based on the ALECmodel turned up in another state where ALEC has a powerful influence: Tennessee. It was introduced in both the state Senate and House byALEC members. The bill passed, making private corporations eligible for public money for online education. Then, within weeks, the K12 corporation got what amounted to a no-bid contract to provide online education to any Tennessee student from kindergarten through the eighth grade.

</blockquote>

So, let’s review. The ALEC member corporations helped craft the bill.ALEC legislators introduced it and vote on it. And now there’s a state law on the books that enables one of those corporations to get state money. Game, set, match. But remember, this story isn’t about one company and the education industry and one law in Tennessee; it’s about hundreds of corporations in most every industry influencing lawmakers in state after state, using ALEC as a front.

</blockquote>

===

<h1>Judge’s decision on K12, Inc. virtual charter school coming Friday</h1>

<div class="singleinfo">Post on June 26, 2012 by <a href="http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/author/sovaska/" title="Posts by Sarah Ovaska" rel="author">Sarah Ovaska</a> <a href="http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2012/06/26/judges-decision-on-k12-inc-virtual-charter-school-coming-friday/#comments" title="Comment on Judge’s decision on K12, Inc. virtual charter school coming Friday">5 Comments »</a></div>

A Wake Superior Court judge will announce his decision Friday on whether a virtual charter school should open this fall, after the N.C. Board of Education neglected to take up its application.

The State Board of Education is asking Judge Abe Jones to set aside an administrative judge’s order and give the state board a second chance decide if the virtual charter school should be approved to open up in North Carolina. (The state education board didn’t act on the virtual charters application earlier this spring, saying they had already announced they weren’t going to take up online-only charter schools this year).

N.C. Learns, the non-profit set up to house the K12, Inc.-run school, wants the administrative law judge’s order to hold, so that they can open up this fall and begin recruiting students.  The company expects to find 2,750 students statewide in its first year, meaning more than $18 million of public education funding would be diverted from the already-tight budgets of public schools around the state.

The virtual charter school would be run by K12, Inc., a for-profit online education company that runs similar online-only school in 29 other states. Students at virtual schools take their classes online from their home computers, paid for by taxpayers.

There have been a lot of questions about the quality of K12 schools, with states like Ohio reporting four-year graduation rates as low as 30 percent, and down to 12.2 percent for black students.

North Carolina’s cohort graduation rate is 77.9 percent overall, and 71.5 percent for black students and 68.8 for Latinos.

In this case, The North Carolina Virtual Academy would be run by K12, and be open to students statewide. The school would get the same per-pupil amount as other charter schools get (ranges from $7,000 to $10,000, depending on where the student lives and if they are special needs), despite not having to shoulder the cost of having a physical school and paying for the building costs, and all that goes along with that.

This is just a quick update, and you can read more <a href="http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/06/24/2159274/judge-weighs-second-chance-for.html">here</a> about the hearing in today’s News & Observer, as well as <a href="http://www.wral.com/news/education/story/11246732/">this story</a> from WRAL.

<div class="blog-name"><a href="http://dianeravitch.net/">Diane Ravitch's blog</a></div>

<div class="description">A site to discuss better education for all</div>

</div>

<div class="pagetitle">Archives for category: K12 Inc.</div>

<h1 id="post-7594"><a href="http://dianeravitch.net/2012/09/13/will-ohio-investigate-k12-online-for-profit-charters/" rel="bookmark" title="Permalink to Will Ohio Investigate K12 Online For-Profit Charters?">Will Ohio Investigate K12 Online For-Profit Charters?</a></h1>

<div class="timestamp">September 13, 2012 //</div>

</div>

<a href="http://10thperiod.blogspot.com/2012/09/will-ohio-join-florida-and-investigate.html?spref=tw">Stephen Dyer raises the question about whether Ohio</a> will follow in Florida’s path and open an investigation of the K12 for-profit school. In Ohio, K12 has classes of 51 students to a single teacher even though it is paid to have a ratio of 20:1.

That is way profitable for K12, though not for the students.

Dyer’s article includes a link to a story about the sharp drop in K12′s stock price that occurred after news of the Florida investigation broke. That story points out that K12 is under investigation in Georgia as well as Florida.

You do have to wonder at what point Secretary of Education Arne Duncan might speak out against the poor quality of online for-profit charter schools and other for-profit entrepreneurs that raid school budgets and produce terrible results. Will he?

</div>

<div class="post-meta-data">Categories <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/category/florida/" title="View all posts in Florida" rel="category tag">Florida</a>, <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/category/for-profit/" title="View all posts in For-Profit" rel="category tag">For-Profit</a>, <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/category/k12-inc/" title="View all posts in K12 Inc." rel="category tag">K12 Inc.</a>, <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/category/ohio/" title="View all posts in Ohio" rel="category tag">Ohio</a>, <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/category/on-line-education/" title="View all posts in On-Line Education" rel="category tag">On-Line Education</a>, <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/category/privatization/" title="View all posts in Privatization" rel="category tag">Privatization</a></div>

</div>

<h1 id="post-7264"><a href="http://dianeravitch.net/2012/09/13/virtual-school-in-tennessee-strikes-out/" rel="bookmark" title="Permalink to Virtual School in Tennessee Strikes Out">Virtual School in Tennessee Strikes Out</a></h1>

<div class="timestamp">September 13, 2012 //</div>

</div>

The Tennessee Virtual Academy is one of those online for-profit charter schools that are supposed to “save” American education. <a href="http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120910/NEWS04/309100015/TN-virtual-school-draws-criticism?nclick_check=1">Bad news for its champions: The scores at the school were in the state’s bottom 4 percent. </a>The sponsors say forget the scores and wait until next year. Right.

Jeb Bush promotes virtual schools from one end of the country to the other. His Foundation for Excellence in Education is funded by numerous tech corporations. <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/2012/08/07/the-ten-elements-of-digital-learning/">He and Bob Wise of the Alliance for Excellent Education published guidelines called the “Ten Elements of Digital Education” urging states to take the plunge and authorize online schools with little or no regulation.</a> Preferably no regulation at all, since regulations are seen as a hindrance to innovation. Teachers need not be certified, and the corporation need not even have an office in the state where it does business. Just hoops and hurdles that hobble true reform.

The push for virtual education takes two forms, <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/2012/09/02/for-profit-online-charter-scandal/">both promoted heavily by the corporations that stand to profit</a>: one, virtual charter schools; two, requiring that every high school student take at least one course online.

So far, there is not a scintilla of evidence that virtual instruction is good education, at least not in the way it is being sold by its advocates. Test scores are low; graduation rates are low; attrition is high. And why in the world should children in grades K-8 be isolated from any peer interactions during their formative years?

More and more evidence is emerging about the importance of non-cognitive skills, such as the ability to communicate with others and work with others. Can that be learned in isolation?

</div>

<h1 id="post-7144"><a href="http://dianeravitch.net/2012/09/08/did-deval-patrick-sell-out-to-profiteers/" rel="bookmark" title="Permalink to Did Deval Patrick Sell Out to Profiteers?">Did Deval Patrick Sell Out to Profiteers?</a></h1>

<div class="timestamp">September 8, 2012 //</div>

</div>

A reader asks: did Deval Patrick sell out?

I feel ashamed for Deval.  I am one of his many, many progressive supporters, and we’re all baffled by how he got into this situation.  I worked harder for his election than I did even for Obama, and I never doubted his integrity or strength.

Through all the vicious attacks on him during that first campaign, he stayed steady and clear.  Remember the white-woman-in-dark-parking-lot ad?  I left work every day and went straight to unlock the little campaign office in my own town, as more and more volunteers came forward and signed on.  It got very ugly; there were smear attacks on his family members.  Even in Massachusetts, after Romney and Celluci, he seemed like a long shot.  But Deval brought out the best in my community, and turned it blue again.

On the morning after the election, I came in to my classroom and told my diverse and hopeful students, “The American Dream is For You.”  They cheered.  A couple of them even cried.  Remember, this was before Obama ever ran for president.

Later, after I had chaired a citizens online task force on ethics and lobbying reform, I sat next to him at our summary report meeting so he could answer our recommendations (for the cameras) by saying he’d veto the state budget if the legislators didn’t send him his groundbreaking (we thought at the time) ethics and lobbying reform with it.

After the meeting, I confronted him with his failure to get the state version of the Dream Act implemented (he’d actually tried the executive order route, but had to withdraw it).  I told him about my students, and he really did tear up.  His determination and frustration were real.

State Speaker DiMasi had been indicted for kickbacks on state contracts for the insurance and education data warehouses.  He was convicted, but the investigation went no further.  Edubuisiness had a lock on the state DOE, until Deval stood up to the Boston Globe and appointed a progressive PTA leader (Ruth Kaplan) to the board.

Then, when he ran for re-election, Deval let K12 and other for-profit education companies run a fundraiser for him at the Children’s Museum.  K12 now has a thriving online charter business operating out of Greenfield, and Deval is supporting Mosaica Boston’s forced takover-turnarounds of Boston Public Schools.  A memo leaked from his Secretary of Education once argued they had to bow to an illegal charter school placement, against the will of the community, or the Globe would attack them.  

I swear I don’t understand how he could sell out public education for their measly political  support. Like Obama, he got his chance by being admitted to a luxurious prep academy, so maybe he just can’t untangle his own conflicts about private schools, and it clouds his understanding.  I know he isn’t a coward.  I know he has a fine mind, and I still believe his life is dedicated to the same mission as my own.  I just can’t believe his is a calculated betrayal of the public trust we placed in him, in the face of this dangerous hour for the future of democratic governance.

</div>

<div class="post-meta-data">Categories <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/category/corporate-reformers/" title="View all posts in Corporate Reformers" rel="category tag">Corporate Reformers</a>, <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/category/for-profit/" title="View all posts in For-Profit" rel="category tag">For-Profit</a>, <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/category/k12-inc/" title="View all posts in K12 Inc." rel="category tag">K12 Inc.</a>, <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/category/privatization/" title="View all posts in Privatization" rel="category tag">Privatization</a></div>

</div>

<h1 id="post-6685"><a href="http://dianeravitch.net/2012/09/03/profiteers-circle-schools/" rel="bookmark" title="Permalink to Profiteers Circle Schools">Profiteers Circle Schools</a></h1>

<div class="timestamp">September 3, 2012 //</div>

</div>

A reader discovered the agenda for a big conference of equity investors, technology corporations, and supportive foundations.

A high-level official of the U.S. Department of Education will be there too.

Folks, read the agenda.

Public education is up for grabs.

Lots of corporations are licking their chops.

This is scary.

Remember reading about “the Great Barbecue,” in the late nineteenth century?

That’s when greedy men plundered the public treasury. .

Are the public schools now on the spit?

So much money, all guaranteed by the government.

Now we will see how entrepreneurs reform our schools and get rich too.

The reader writes:

Yep, there’s money to be made . . .

and Jeb is there to give the April 18th keynote . . .

Check out this agenda for the 2013 Education Summit in Arizona.

<a class="comment-link" href="http://edinnovation.asu.edu/accommodations/" rel="nofollow" style=" outline-width: 0; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; color: #21759b; word-wrap: break-word; text-decoration: none;">http://edinnovation.asu.edu/accommodations/</a>

The April 17th panel at 4:35 p.m. will include Ron Packard (of K12 Inc.) and other profiteers discussing, “A Class of Their Own: From Seed to Scale in a Decade: What Does it take for an Education Company to Reach $$$1Billion?”

Check out the who’s who list of CEOs and their elected friends networking to the online charter school profits. The Trojan horse philanthropists , Gates and Milken, will be there too.<a class="comment-link" href="http://edinnovation.asu.edu/" rel="nofollow" style=" outline-width: 0; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; color: #21759b; word-wrap: break-word; text-decoration: none;">http://edinnovation.asu.edu</a>

I wonder what they will discuss in the session . . . .

“The Fall of the Wall: Capital Flows to Education: What sectors and companies are attracting investment?”

Margaret Thatcher may have been a milk snatcher . . but don’t let Jeb fool you, he is poised to take it all . . and give it to his CEO buddies.

</td><td class="response column-response" style="font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; word-wrap: break-word; vertical-align: top; overflow: hidden; border-top-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(223, 223, 223); color: rgb(85, 85, 85); width: 112px; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0px; padding: 4px 7px 2px;">

</td></tr></tbody></table>

</div>

<div class="post-meta-data">Categories <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/category/bush-jeb/" title="View all posts in Bush, Jeb" rel="category tag">Bush, Jeb</a>, <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/category/corporate-reformers/" title="View all posts in Corporate Reformers" rel="category tag">Corporate Reformers</a>, <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/category/democrats-for-education-reform/" title="View all posts in Democrats for Education Reform" rel="category tag">Democrats for Education Reform</a>, <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/category/education-industry/" title="View all posts in Education Industry" rel="category tag">Education Industry</a>, <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/category/education-reform/" title="View all posts in Education Reform" rel="category tag">Education Reform</a>, <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/category/k12-inc/" title="View all posts in K12 Inc." rel="category tag">K12 Inc.</a>, <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/category/privatization/" title="View all posts in Privatization" rel="category tag">Privatization</a>, <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/category/technology-computers/" title="View all posts in Technology, Computers" rel="category tag">Technology, Computers</a>, <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/category/u-s-department-of-education/" title="View all posts in U.S. Department of Education" rel="category tag">U.S. Department of Education</a></div>

</div>

<h1 id="post-4613"><a href="http://dianeravitch.net/2012/08/08/what-you-need-to-know-about-for-profit-online-schools/" rel="bookmark" title="Permalink to What You Need to Know about For-Profit Online Schools">What You Need to Know about For-Profit Online Schools</a></h1>

<div class="timestamp">August 8, 2012 //</div>

</div>

<a href="http://www.thenation.com/article/164651/how-online-learning-companies-bought-americas-schools?page=full#">This is a stunning article.</a> A real journalistic achievement.

It shows in remarkable detail how certain politicians and investors and entrepreneurs are working together to privatize public education and to generate huge profits for certain companies.

Read this.

</div>

<div class="post-meta-data">Categories <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/category/alec/" title="View all posts in ALEC" rel="category tag">ALEC</a>, <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/category/bush-jeb/" title="View all posts in Bush, Jeb" rel="category tag">Bush, Jeb</a>, <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/category/charter-schools/" title="View all posts in Charter Schools" rel="category tag">Charter Schools</a>, <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/category/florida/" title="View all posts in Florida" rel="category tag">Florida</a>, <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/category/for-profit/" title="View all posts in For-Profit" rel="category tag">For-Profit</a>, <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/category/gates-foundation-bill-gates/" title="View all posts in Gates Foundation, Bill Gates" rel="category tag">Gates Foundation, Bill Gates</a>, <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/category/k12-inc/" title="View all posts in K12 Inc." rel="category tag">K12 Inc.</a>, <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/category/luna-tom/" title="View all posts in Luna, Tom" rel="category tag">Luna, Tom</a>, <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/category/on-line-education/" title="View all posts in On-Line Education" rel="category tag">On-Line Education</a></div>

</div>

<h1 id="post-4527"><a href="http://dianeravitch.net/2012/08/06/funniest-story-of-the-month/" rel="bookmark" title="Permalink to Funniest Story of the Month">Funniest Story of the Month</a></h1>

<div class="timestamp">August 6, 2012 //</div>

</div>

As I was doing some research about virtual charter schools, <a href="http://www.nj.com/njvoices/index.ssf/2012/07/state_has_virtually_no_reason.html">I came across an article that caused me to laugh out loud</a>.

It appeared in the Star-Ledger, the main newspaper in New Jersey. It was titled “State Has Virtually No Reason to Not Give Online Charter Schools a Shot.”

It said the state should stop “dithering” and should promptly approve an online charter school. No delay, no moratorium, approve the online school now.

It was published on July 11, 2012, as the state’s Acting Commissioner of Education Chris Cerf and the state board of education were mulling a decision to authorize the megacorporation K12 to open an online charter school in New Jersey.

The reason I laughed out loud was that the article <a href="http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2012/07/12/fbi-raids-office-of-pa-cyber-school-founder/">appeared on the same day that the FBI raided the offices of the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter</a>. See <a href="http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/education/millions-flow-to-beaver-county-based-pa-cyber-schools-spinoffs-644756/">here too</a>.

And it appeared several months after the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/13/education/online-schools-score-better-on-wall-street-than-in-classrooms.html?pagewanted=all">New York Times published a withering expose of the terrible academic record </a>of K12.

And it appeared fourteen months after the <a href="http://credo.stanford.edu/reports/PA%20State%20Report_20110404_FINAL.pdf">CREDO study of virtual charters in Pennsylvania,</a> which showed they get awful results.

The<a href="http://www.bluejersey.com/diary/21315/virtually-irresponsible"> invaluable New Jersey blogger Jersey Jazzman showed the fallaciousness of the claim </a>that the state should not wait for more research but should promptly approve a virtual charter school.

Truly, this is one of those laugh out loud moments. They are so few these days that we should enjoy them.

</div>

<div class="post-meta-data">Categories <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/category/accountability/" title="View all posts in Accountability" rel="category tag">Accountability</a>, <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/category/charter-schools/" title="View all posts in Charter Schools" rel="category tag">Charter Schools</a>, <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/category/education-reform/" title="View all posts in Education Reform" rel="category tag">Education Reform</a>, <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/category/k12-inc/" title="View all posts in K12 Inc." rel="category tag">K12 Inc.</a>, <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/category/new-jersey/" title="View all posts in New Jersey" rel="category tag">New Jersey</a>, <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/category/on-line-education/" title="View all posts in On-Line Education" rel="category tag">On-Line Education</a></div>

</div>

<h1 id="post-3358"><a href="http://dianeravitch.net/2012/07/17/good-news-from-new-jersey/" rel="bookmark" title="Permalink to Good News from New Jersey">Good News from New Jersey</a></h1>

</div>

Jersey Jazzman reports that<a href="http://jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com/2012/07/fully-virtual-charters-halted-in-nj-for.html"> New Jersey will not approve the state’s first online for-profit virtual charter school</a>. K12 has been told to come back next year, perhaps on the hope that citizen outrage will have died down by then. Jersey Jazzman, you may recall, <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/2012/07/16/new-jersey-the-cesspool-of-school-reform/">memorably referred to New Jersey as “the cesspool of school reform.”</a>

<a href="http://dianeravitch.net/2012/07/16/new-jersey-the-cesspool-of-school-reform/">This is a big win. The most important message here is that citizens make a difference when they organize and speak up against politically powerful forces who are trying to grab taxpayer money and call it “reform.”</a>

This is two wins in a row against the K12 giant, <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/2012/06/29/good-news-from-nc/">first in North Carolina,</a> where the school boards banded together to stop the raid on their own strained budgets, and now in New Jersey, where concerned parents and educators blew the whistle.

It’s important to remind everyone that the reformers are vulnerable. They are vulnerable to public exposure because the fact is that their harmful ideas have no public support once the public understands what they are up to. There is no public support for handing taxpayer dollars over to corporate interests and calling it “reform.”

The public loves its community schools and doesn’t want to see them impoverished by corporate raiders.

So, yes, learn from New Jersey. Learn from the parents of Florida, who stopped the fake “parent trigger” legislation. Learn from the school boards of North Carolina.

You are not alone. Work in coalition with others to understand the theft of public education that is underway. You can make a difference.

</div>

<div class="post-meta-data">Categories <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/category/education-reform/" title="View all posts in Education Reform" rel="category tag">Education Reform</a>, <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/category/k12-inc/" title="View all posts in K12 Inc." rel="category tag">K12 Inc.</a>, <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/category/new-jersey/" title="View all posts in New Jersey" rel="category tag">New Jersey</a>, <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/category/on-line-education/" title="View all posts in On-Line Education" rel="category tag">On-Line Education</a></div>

</div>

<h1 id="post-2410"><a href="http://dianeravitch.net/2012/07/07/where-does-arne-duncan-stand/" rel="bookmark" title="Permalink to Where Does Arne Duncan Stand?">Where Does Arne Duncan Stand?</a></h1>

</div>

When John White was appointed to run the Recovery School District in New Orleans, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan <a href="http://www.nolabeez.org/article/2012-0125-new-orleans-agenda-state-education-board-names-john-white-state-superintendent-of-education">called him a “visionary school leader.”</a>

Now John White is doing the bidding of a Tea Party governor and leading the most reactionary drive in the nation to dismantle public education; to take money away from the minimum foundation budget for public schools and give it to voucher schools and charter schools; to give public money to small religious schools that don’t teach evolution; to strip teachers of all protection of their academic freedom; to allow anyone to teach, without any credentials, in charter schools; to welcome for-profit vendors of education to take their slice out of the funding for public schools.

---

<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.qznewz.info/blogs/virginia-schools-insider/post/shareholder-lawsuit-accuses-k12-inc-of-lying-about-student-test-grades/2012/01/31/gIQAGOXRfQ_blog.html">Now the company is being sued by shareholders for being misleading</a>

<div class="quote-r">A shareholder in Virginia-based K12 Inc. has filed a lawsuit against the virtual-schools operator in federal court, alleging that the firm violated securities law by making false statements to investors about students’ poor performance on standardized tests.

[...]

The lawsuit comes after a spate of national news stories — including in The Washington Post — raised questions about the effectiveness of virtual schools, K12’s in particular. The firm’s stock has since plummeted. Key among those stories was a New York Times investigation published Dec. 12 that found a mismatch between K12 student achievement and statements made by chief executive Ronald J. Packard. During one investment conference call, the Times reported, Packard said that test results at one of the company’s largest online schools — Agora Cyber Charter — were “significantly higher than a typical school on state administered tests for growth.” In fact, the article said: “Weeks earlier, data had been released showing that 42 percent of Agora students tested on grade level or better in math, compared with 75 percent of students statewide. And 52 percent of Agora students had hit the mark in reading, compared with 72 percent statewide. The school was losing ground, not gaining it.”

</div>

</div>

Despite failing students, falling stock prices, and investor law suits, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/virginia-schools-insider/post/k12-inc-chief-executive-ron-packard-paid-5-million-compensation-package-in-2011/2011/12/09/gIQASUiGiO_blog.html">K12, Inc. CEO Ronald J. Packard earns a windfall</a>

<div class="quote-r">Ronald J. Packard, the chief executive of Herndon-based education company K12 Inc., earned a total compensation package worth $5 million in fiscal 2011, according to an amended annual report filed Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. That’s nearly twice the $2.67 million Packard earned in 2010. It includes $551,000 in cash, $4.2 million in stock awards and about $290,000 in other compensation.</div>

</div>

---

blog lake front:

<h3 class="entry-header"><a href="http://lake.typepad.com/on-the-lake-front/2012/09/class-action-lawsuit-against-second-largest-donor-to-ga-charter-school-referendum.html">Class action lawsuit against second largest donor to GA charter school referendum</a></h3>

K12 Inc. of Virginia has a class action lawsuit against it, as well as allegations of lack of effectiveness of its courses. K12 is the <a href="http://lake.typepad.com/on-the-lake-front/2012/09/outside-money-fueling-charter-school-amendment-referendum.html">second biggest contributor to the Georgia charter school referendum</a> which would privatize Georgia's public schools. Shades of <a href="http://lake.typepad.com/on-the-lake-front/2012/02/cca-offers-to-buy-prisons-from-48-states.html">CCA desperately offering 48 states to privatize their prisons!</a> And we know there's a connection: <a href="http://lake.typepad.com/on-the-lake-front/2012/08/alec-private-prisons-fossil-fuels-and-charter-schools.html">ALEC helps push both private prisons and privatization of public schools.</a> We didn't fall for ALEC's privatized prisons: let's not fall for ALEC's privatized schools.

Emma Brown wrote for the Washington Post 31 January 2012, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/virginia-schools-insider/post/shareholder-lawsuit-accuses-k12-inc-of-lying-about-student-test-grades/2012/01/31/gIQAGOXRfQ_blog.html">Shareholder lawsuit accuses K12 Inc. of misleading investors</a>,

----

<div id="siteSub">From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</div>

<div id="jump-to-nav" class="mw-jump">Jump to: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12%28company%29#mw-head">navigation</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12%28company%29#p-search">search</a></div>

<table class="infobox vcard" cellspacing="5" style=" width: 22em;"><caption class="fn org">K12 Inc.</caption><tbody><tr class=""><td colspan="2" class="logo" style=" text-align: center;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:K12_logo.png" class="image"><img src="/4468090c-5ee7-59c6-b208-e0e4bb69acdf.png"/></a></td></tr><tr class=""><th scope="row" style=" text-align: left;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Types_of_business_entity" title="Types of business entity" class="mw-redirect">Type</a></th><td class="category"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publicly_held" title="Publicly held" class="mw-redirect">Publicly held</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Stock_Exchange" title="New York Stock Exchange">NYSE</a>: <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.nyse.com/about/listed/quickquote.html?ticker=lrn">LRN</a></td></tr><tr class=""><th scope="row" style=" text-align: left;">Industry</th><td class="category"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education" title="Education">Education</a></td></tr><tr class=""><th scope="row" style=" text-align: left;">Founded</th><td class="">1999<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12%28company%29#cite_note-0">[1]</a></td></tr><tr class=""><th scope="row" style=" text-align: left;">Founder(s)</th><td class="agent">Ronald Jay Packard, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Milken" title="Michael Milken">Michael Milken</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Bennet" title="William Bennet">William Bennet</a></td></tr><tr class=""><th scope="row" style=" text-align: left;">Headquarters</th><td class="label"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herndon,Virginia" title="Herndon, Virginia">Herndon, Virginia</a></td></tr><tr class=""><th scope="row" style=" text-align: left;">Area served</th><td class="">International</td></tr><tr class=""><th scope="row" style=" text-align: left;">Products</th><td class="">education software, textbooks, workbooks</td></tr><tr class=""><th scope="row" style=" text-align: left;">Revenue</th><td class="">$140.6 million (as of June 2007)</td></tr><tr class=""><th scope="row" style=" text-align: left;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earnings_before_interest_and_taxes" title="Earnings before interest and taxes">Operating income</a></th><td class="">$5.6 million (as of June 2007)</td></tr><tr class=""><th scope="row" style=" text-align: left;">Employees</th><td class="">636 (as of 2007)</td></tr><tr class=""><th scope="row" style=" text-align: left;">Website</th><td class=""><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.k12.com/">K12 Inc. Home Page</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

K12 Inc. (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Stock_Exchange" title="New York Stock Exchange">NYSE</a>: <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.nyse.com/about/listed/quickquote.html?ticker=lrn">LRN</a>) is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For-profit_education" title="For-profit education">for-profit education</a> company that sells <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_and_offline" title="Online and offline">online</a> schooling and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curriculum" title="Curriculum">curriculum</a> to state and local governments. Its educational products and services are designed as alternatives to traditional "bricks and mortar" education for public school students from kindergarten to 12th grade. K12 is a publicly traded education management organization (EMO) that provides online education services to charter school students. It is paid for from taxes.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12%28company%29#cite_note-saul-1">[2]</a> K12 is the largest EMO in terms of enrollment.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12%28company%29#cite_note-2">[3]</a>

Research from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Michigan_University" title="Western Michigan University">Western Michigan University</a> and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Education_Policy_Center" title="National Education Policy Center">National Education Policy Center</a> shows that only a third of K12’s schools achieved adequate yearly progress, as required by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Child_Left_Behind_Act" title="No Child Left Behind Act">No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB)</a>.[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed">citation needed</a>] Other studies of online schools have generally found lower performance.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12%28company%29#cite_note-saul-1">[2]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12%28company%29#cite_note-3">[4]</a> As of December 2011, K12's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contract" title="Contract">contracts</a> and profits were increasing dramatically.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12%28company%29#cite_note-4">[5]</a> Critics have stated that the company uses its revenue to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobbying" title="Lobbying">lobby</a> state governments in support of its contracts.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12%28company%29#cite_note-saul-1">[2]</a>

<h2>Contents</h2>

</div>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12_%28company%29#History">1 History</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12_%28company%29#K-8_Student_Curriculum">2 K-8 Student Curriculum</a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-3"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12_%28company%29#Assessments">2.1 Assessments</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-4"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12_%28company%29#Parental_Involvement">2.2 Parental Involvement</a></li>

</ul>

</li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-5"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12_%28company%29#High_School_Curriculum">3 High School Curriculum</a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-6"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12_%28company%29#Assignments_and_Live_Classes">3.1 Assignments and Live Classes</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-7"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12_%28company%29#Parental_Involvement_2">3.2 Parental Involvement</a></li>

</ul>

</li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-8"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12_%28company%29#Virtual_schools">4 Virtual schools</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-9"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12_%28company%29#Controversies">5 Controversies</a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-10"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12_%28company%29#Wisconsin_Superintendent_of_Public_Instruction_race">5.1 Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction race</a></li>

</ul>

</li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-12"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12_%28company%29#References">7 References</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-13"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12_%28company%29#External_links">8 External links</a></li>

</ul>

</td></tr></tbody></table>

<h2>History</h2>

K12 was founded by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Bennett" title="William Bennett">William Bennett</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Secretary_of_Education" title="United States Secretary of Education">Secretary of Education</a> in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan" title="Ronald Reagan">Reagan</a> government, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_R.Milken" title="Michael R. Milken" class="mw-redirect">Michael R. Milken</a> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Knowledge_Universe&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Knowledge Universe (page does not exist)">Knowledge Universe</a>,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12%28company%29#cite_note-saul-1">[2]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12%28company%29#cite_note-5">[6]</a> and Ronald J. Packard in April 1999.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12%28company%29#cite_note-6">[7]</a> It became a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publicly_traded_company" title="Publicly traded company" class="mw-redirect">publicly traded company</a> on December 13, 2007.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12_%28company%29#cite_note-7">[8]</a>

<h2>K-8 Student Curriculum</h2>

K12's K-8 curriculum includes math, science, literature, language, vocabulary, composition, history, and options for art, music, and/or a foreign language. A student's schedule is arranged in a weekly or daily format, displaying each subject that must be studied on a given day. The student selects a lesson in the list, completes the assignments, then takes the assessment or test. The assignments include book reading, questions on the reading, science experiments, online flash cards, math problems, and essays. Students can complete as many lessons and units in one day as they wish, and can check their progress in a certain subject by clicking on a tab. The student must complete 90% or more of their core courses by the first Friday in June and must have at least 180 days of attendance.

<h3>Assessments</h3>

After all the assignments in a lesson have been completed, the student is usually required to take an assessment. The assessment may include either or both of an online multiple choice portion, which is graded by the computer, and an offline portion, which may be multiple choice or require a short answer. Offline portions are graded by the learning coach using the teachers' guide and entered into the computer. The answers to the online or offline questions, or both, are then graded by the Online School (OLS). The results are displayed, and the lesson is marked complete. If the test is not "mastered" (80% or above) then the lesson is marked "not mastered".

Some lessons, such as unit reviews, semester reviews, and some literature and composition lessons, do not have assessments. These lessons are marked completed when the student completes all the activities in the lesson and clicks "Mark this lesson complete". Most assessments have 5–15 questions, but some tests, such as the unit assessments and semester assessments, have 25–100.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12_%28company%29#cite_note-8">[9]</a>

<h3>Parental Involvement</h3>

K12 enables parents to customize the student's curriculum by setting vacation days and specifying what and how many lessons are taught each day. Many schools require that the parent work with the teacher in making these changes. Schools also determine what must be completed by the end of the year to pass the grade level. Parents can also choose whether a student requires their permission to take an assessment. Whether or not the assessment or lesson has been completed, the parent can mark a lesson complete, but the assessment is still shown as not taken, so it does not contribute to the mandatory completion target.

For younger grades, parents are often required to teach or read a lesson and to grade the student's written work. The amount of written work decreases as the student progresses through the grades. Younger elementary students have little online school work, middle school students work is split roughly half and half, and high school students do most of their schooling online.

At the end of a school day, parents are required to record the amount of time the student worked on each course that day in the K12 Online School "Attendance" tab. These hours, along with the lessons completed, standardized tests, submitted work samples, and involvement in online classroom sessions, are monitored by teachers to verify that the student is complying with state requirements and learning the material presented. Parents are also required to submit samples of the student's work according to individual school requirements. Finally, parents are required to take their children to local standardized testing, as required by the state. Many online schools are subject to additional standardized testing throughout the year.

<h2>High School Curriculum

</h2>

High School (9–12[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Please_clarify" title="Wikipedia:Please clarify">clarification needed</a>]) students see a more "mature" layout. Instead of accessing lessons from one window and returning to the home screen after each lesson, each lesson can be opened in its own tab or window. The Class homepage has an Announcements box with a listing of recent news posted by the teacher. A sidebar with drop-down menus for each unit gives access to the lessons for the course.

<h3>Assignments and Live Classes</h3>

Tests can be password-protected or open, as decided by the teacher or school administration. Tests can also be protected by a program called ExamGuard, which each student is required to download. ExamGuard runs as a browser that prevents access to other parts of the computer and to the copy-paste functions, thus preventing cheating and posting the test online afterwards.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12_%28company%29#cite_note-9">[10]</a> Students have "Class Connects", live classes with teachers hosted by a program called Elluminate. Class Connects are used for class instruction, tutoring in which students can get additional help, and one-on-one teaching sessions.

<h3>Parental Involvement</h3>

The High School is designed to be more independent and requires less parental involvement. Taking tests and completing lessons are the responsibility of the student, as preparation for higher education such as a college, where students are solely responsible for their success or failure. Parents are still responsible for logging attendance. High-school subjects are taught by accredited teachers using methods that vary from school to school. The teachers monitor and grade the courses, many quizzes, all tests, and all submitted work.

<h2>Virtual schools</h2>

K12 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_school" title="Virtual school">virtual schools</a> are state-funded schools that use K12's program and curriculum to offer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distance_education" title="Distance education">distance education</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12%28company%29#cite_note-10">[11]</a> Instead of the parent being the sole teacher, a state certified teacher is at hand to administer assignments, schedule conferences, and monitor work. The parent becomes a "learning coach". The same curriculum is used, but class projects such as field trips are used. Parents can sign their students up for virtual classes, in which students of the same grade from all over the state listen to the teacher and answer questions. These classes operate through virtual conferencing software called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elluminate_Live" title="Elluminate Live">Elluminate Live</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12%28company%29#cite_note-11">[12]</a> The teacher can configure it so that only he or she can see the responses. Thus, the only ones to know if the student gives a wrong answer will be the teacher and the student, and the teacher can give the student extra help after class if necessary. At the end of the year, the students are required to take the same state standardized test as in a typical "brick and mortar" school.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12_%28company%29#cite_note-12">[13]</a>

<h2>Controversies</h2>

The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Times" title="New York Times" class="mw-redirect">New York Times</a> investigated K12 and concluded that the company squeezes profits from public-school funding by raising enrollment, increasing teacher workload, and lowering standards.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12%28company%29#cite_note-saul-1">[2]</a> The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Post" title="Washington Post" class="mw-redirect">Washington Post</a> raised similar issues.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12%28company%29#cite_note-13">[14]</a>

A study at Western Michigan University and the National Education Policy Center found that only a third of K12’s schools achieved adequate yearly progress, which is required for public schools by the federal <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Child_Left_Behind" title="No Child Left Behind" class="mw-redirect">No Child Left Behind</a> legislation.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12_%28company%29#cite_note-saul-1">[2]</a> Proponents argue that such statistics are undermined by the fact that a significant proportion of newly enrolled students begin several grade levels behind because of an alleged failure of brick and mortar schools.[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed">citation needed</a>]

According to the Times, "By almost every educational measure, the Agora Cyber Charter School [a school run by K12] is failing." In Pennsylvania, 42% of Agora students tested at grade level or better in math, compared with 75% of students statewide. 52% of Agora students tested at grade level or better in reading, compared with 72% statewide.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12%28company%29#cite_note-saul-1">[2]</a> Nonetheless, Agora brought K12 $72 million in the 2011 school year – more than 10% of K12's revenue.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12%28company%29#cite_note-saul-1">[2]</a>

School official Irving Hamer Jr. said that children's early development requires social interaction that online schools fail to provide.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12_%28company%29#cite_note-saul-1">[2]</a> Proponents say that social interaction is healthier and reflects life better when it takes place in a mixed-age group as found in the after-school activities in which many online students regularly take part.

Despite lower costs[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed">citation needed</a>], online schools charge states almost as much as traditional schools. Schools use the money to pay for advertising and lobbying state officials. K12 spent $26.5M on advertising in 2010. The company and its employees contributed nearly $500,000 to state political candidates from 2004 to 2010. K12 has contributed money to organizations like Pennsylvania Families for Public Cyber Schools, which lobbied for online schools. In Ohio, an organization founded by a K12 official hired temp agency workers to demonstrate with signs against state representative Steven Dryer, who challenged their funding.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12_%28company%29#cite_note-saul-1">[2]</a> On the other hand, in some states, online schools operate on far smaller budgets than their brick and mortar counterparts, as the latter retain the student's portion of locally raised taxes.

There have been several controversies concerning K12's approach to learning, and several of these controversies surround the virtual schools.[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed">citation needed</a>]

The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_District_of_Philadelphia" title="School District of Philadelphia">Philadelphia Board of Education</a> called for the termination of a $3M contract with K12 after the company's co-founder William Bennett, a former U.S. Secretary of Education in the Reagan administration, said, "if you wanted to reduce crime ... you could abort every black baby in the country and your crime rate would go down. That would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down."<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12_%28company%29#cite_note-socolar-14">[15]</a>

<h3>Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction race</h3>

<div class="rellink relarticle mainarticle">Main article: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WEAC" title="WEAC" class="mw-redirect">WEAC</a></div>

</td><td class="mbox-text">This section's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Accuracy_dispute" title="Wikipedia:Accuracy dispute">factual accuracy</a> may be compromised due to out-of-date information. Please help <a class="external text" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=K12%28company%29&action=edit">improve the article</a> by updating it. There may be additional information on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:K12%28company%29" title="Talk:K12 (company)">talk page</a>. (September 2012) </td></tr></tbody></table>

K-12 became a subject of controversy in the 2009 race for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisconsin" title="Wisconsin">Wisconsin</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superintendent_of_Public_Instruction" title="Superintendent of Public Instruction" class="mw-redirect">Superintendent of Public Instruction</a> when opponents of conservative candidate Rose Fernandez announced that top K-12 officials had already donated $1350 to her candidacy, as well as making campaign donations to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brett_Davis" title="Brett Davis">Brett Davis</a> (R-Monroe[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style" title="Wikipedia:Manual of Style">when defined as?</a>]), a supporter of virtual school legislation.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12%28company%29#cite_note-15">[16]</a> K-12 has contracted to create curriculum for the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisconsin_Virtual_Academy" title="Wisconsin Virtual Academy">Wisconsin Virtual Academy</a>, which would be regulated by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superintendent_of_Public_Instruction" title="Superintendent of Public Instruction" class="mw-redirect">Superintendent of Public Instruction</a>,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12%28company%29#cite_note-16">[17]</a> and in its 2007 prospectus had projected $5 million in 2008 revenues from Wisconsin.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12_%28company%29#cite_note-17">[18]</a>

<table style="line-height: 110%; max-width: 175px; background: rgb(249, 249, 249);"><tbody><tr><td style=" text-align: center;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Nuvola_apps_bookcase.svg&page=1" class="image"><img src="/e37c2f11-24c3-5214-be68-d95f52ceada2.png"/></a></td><td style=" padding: 0 0.2em; vertical-align: middle; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Education" title="Portal:Education">Education portal</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

</div>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Virtual_Academies" title="California Virtual Academies">California Virtual Academies</a></li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_Virtual_Academy" title="Ohio Virtual Academy">Ohio Virtual Academy</a></li>

</ul>

</div>

<h2>References</h2>

<li id="cite_note-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12_%28company%29#cite_ref-0">^{</a></span}> Staff (2012). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.k12.com/about-k12">"About Us"</a>. K12. K12 Inc. Retrieved 31 May 2012.</li>

<li id="cite_note-saul-1">^ <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12%28company%29#cite_ref-saul_1-0">a</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12%28company%29#cite_ref-saul_1-1">b</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12%28company%29#cite_ref-saul_1-2">c</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12%28company%29#cite_ref-saul_1-3">d</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12%28company%29#cite_ref-saul_1-4">e</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12%28company%29#cite_ref-saul_1-5">f</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12%28company%29#cite_ref-saul_1-6">g</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12%28company%29#cite_ref-saul_1-7">h</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12%28company%29#cite_ref-saul_1-8">i</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12%28company%29#cite_ref-saul_1-9">j</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stephanie_Saul&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Stephanie Saul (page does not exist)">Stephanie Saul</a> (December 12, 2011). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/13/education/online-schools-score-better-on-wall-street-than-in-classrooms.html">"Profits and Questions at Online Charter Schools"</a>. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Times" title="New York Times" class="mw-redirect">New York Times</a>. Retrieved 2011-12-13.</li>

<li id="cite_note-2"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12_%28company%29#cite_ref-2">^{</a></span}> <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://nepc.colorado.edu/files/EMO-profiles-10-11_0.pdf">http://nepc.colorado.edu/files/EMO-profiles-10-11_0.pdf</a></li>

<li id="cite_note-3"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12_%28company%29#cite_ref-3">^{</a></span}> <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://nepc.colorado.edu/newsletter/2011/10/enrollment-cyber-schools-rises-so-do-questions-about-quality-and-accountability-a">http://nepc.colorado.edu/newsletter/2011/10/enrollment-cyber-schools-rises-so-do-questions-about-quality-and-accountability-a</a></li>

<li id="cite_note-4"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12_%28company%29#cite_ref-4">^{</a></span}> Collins, Gail (2011-12-02). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/03/opinion/virtually-educated.html">"Virtually Educated"</a>. The New York Times.</li>

<li id="cite_note-5"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12_%28company%29#cite_ref-5">^{</a></span}> Karen W. Arenson, "Virtual Charter School Is Rejected", (New York Times Bulletin Board, Dec. 18, 2002), <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/18/nyregion/bulletin-board-virtual-charter-school-is-rejected.html?ref=k12inc">http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/18/nyregion/bulletin-board-virtual-charter-school-is-rejected.html?ref=k12inc</a></li>

<li id="cite_note-6"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12_%28company%29#cite_ref-6">^{</a></span}> SEC Info, page 50 <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.secinfo.com/dsvRq.u3Vq.htm">http://www.secinfo.com/dsvRq.u3Vq.htm</a></li>

<li id="cite_note-7"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12_%28company%29#cite_ref-7">^{</a></span}> New York Stock Exchange <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.nyse.com/about/listed/lrn.html">http://www.nyse.com/about/listed/lrn.html</a></li>

<li id="cite_note-8"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12_%28company%29#cite_ref-8">^{</a></span}> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.k12.com/take-a-peek/">"K12 Sample Lesson"</a>. K12.com. Retrieved 2010-10-05.</li>

<li id="cite_note-9"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12_%28company%29#cite_ref-9">^{</a></span}> <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://help.k12.com/support-topics/ols-online-school/international-academy/high-school/lessons-and-assessments/what-exam">http://help.k12.com/support-topics/ols-online-school/international-academy/high-school/lessons-and-assessments/what-exam</a></li>

<li id="cite_note-10"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12_%28company%29#cite_ref-10">^{</a></span}> Arenson, Karen W.. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/news/business/companies/k12-inc/index.html">"New York Times Article"</a>. Topics.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2010-10-05.</li>

<li id="cite_note-11"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12_%28company%29#cite_ref-11">^{</a></span}> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/academic/evalonline/report_pg10.html">"US Department of Education, July 2008"</a>. Ed.gov. 2009-10-20. Retrieved 2010-10-05.</li>

<li id="cite_note-12"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12_%28company%29#cite_ref-12">^{</a></span}> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.k12.com/schools-programs/online-public-schools/">"About K12 Online Virtual Schools"</a>. K12.com. Retrieved 2010-10-05.</li>

<li id="cite_note-13"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12_%28company%29#cite_ref-13">^{</a></span}> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/virtual-schools-are-multiplying-but-some-question-their-educational-value/2011/11/22/gIQANUzkzN_story.html">Virtual schools are multiplying, but some question their educational value</a> By Lyndsey Layton and Emma Brown, Published: November 26</li>

<li id="cite_note-socolar-14"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12_%28company%29#cite_ref-socolar_14-0">^{</a></span}> Paul Socolar (Winter 2005). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.thenotebook.org/editions/2005/winter/hot.htm">"Hot debate about revoking K12’s science contract"</a>. The Notebook.com.</li>

<li id="cite_note-15"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12_%28company%29#cite_ref-15">^{</a></span}> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://wivirtualschoolfamilies.org/news/newsletter.cfm?ID=781">"Wisconsin Coalition of Virtual School Families"</a>. Wivirtualschoolfamilies.org. 2009-10-21. Retrieved 2010-10-05.</li>

<li id="cite_note-16"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12_%28company%29#cite_ref-16">^{</a></span}> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.k12.com/wiva">"WIVA Homepage"</a>. k12 Inc.. Retrieved 2010-10-05.</li>

<li id="cite_note-17"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12_%28company%29#cite_ref-17">^{</a></span}> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.secinfo.com/dsvRq.u3Vq.htm">"SEC Prospectus, p. 67"</a>. Secinfo.com. Retrieved 2010-10-05.</li>

</ol>

</div>

<h2>External links</h2>

<ul>

</ul>

===

dad;

Jon Q. Reynolds – Chairman, Director, Founder

Jon Q. Reynolds has been an investment developer for 44 years. He co-founded Reynolds & Brown in 1967.

Jon served as a Trustee of the Urban Land Institute for twelve years, and is Past Chairman of its Industrial and Office Park Council. He is a member of the Urban Land Foundation. He has been the Chairman of the Oakland Housing Foundation, an organization he co-founded, and Chairman of the Policy Advisory Board of the University of California’s Fisher

Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics. He was appointed by the Governor to serve on the California Military Base Reuse Task Force.

Jon has served as a Commissioner on the Oakland/Alameda County Coliseum Board of Directors and is currently a member of the Oakland/Alameda County Coliseum Foundation. He has served on the Board of Directors of the East Bay Municipal Utility District for nine years, serving as Chairman for five of those years. He has served as a commissioner of the Oakland Housing Authority, as well as many other civic duties, including serving as a member of the Airspace Advisory Commission for Cal Trans. Jon is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley.

</div>