Let me try to recap what I just read.
1 - They want 8,000 per student that attend their “ virtual charter”.
2 - Currently the district only receives only 5,734 per student, so every student in this charter school would be taking away more than his or her share of resources.
3 – This company seems has a questionable background. See link to the Nashville-NBC report
4 – Their students’ performance is below average
In every business, virtualization is adopted as a way to improve efficiency and reduce costs. Their proposal is more expensive and it’s not more efficient. Why are we even considering such an absurd proposal?
Let me tell you that I would be all for competition and would welcome a brick and mortal charter school offering quality education at a lower cost than the district but that is not what this company is offering.

Plainfield cannot let this happen to the district. K12 inc. is not interested in the education the child receives. I like how the article states that K12 inc. is the company pushing for the deal, but when money flows in, it doesn't go to K-12, it goes to the non-profit, and most likely tax exempt partner, Virtual Learning Solutions. K-12s website does not provide any information on, or show any affiliation to Virtual Learning Solutions. Kids aren't receiving a better education from this program, and those stats have been documented. It should also be noted that one of the individuals who helped found K12 Inc. is, Michael Milken. Back in the 1980's, Mr. Milken was in jail for racketeering and securities fraud. He owns a large stake of the company. K12 can charge separately for instructional materials and courses. The company has recruiters to promote K12, and they typically get a commission for enrolling person in the program. They are only concerned about enrolling and not retaining students. This will be a huge burden on the district.

This is all you need to know: Do you remember Michael Milken, former felon and Junk Bond King of the eighties? He is also co-founder of K-12 Inc., America's largest provider of online education for kindergarten through 12th grade.

None of this matters, 202 will never willingly give up a single cent to anybody. It would bite into their overly comfortable life styles.

You wanna see how well charter schools work look into the Job Corps system set up by the US department of Labor they pay a contractor to educate kids. In the mean time they never up keep the grounds or school interior and the US department of Labor does not hold theses companies responsible and the teachers are no where qualified to be called real teachers.. Don't believe me just got to Mills rd in Joliet and see for yourself..Its caklled Joliet Job Corps..

Reform in Schools and the way they spend money starts with who we vote in statrting with the school board and then to the politicians. They have all robbed the money for entitlement programs wich are freebies for them and folks who find it easier to sit and collect free stuff from state local and federal programs. Illinois had been a democratic state for far to long and its tumbling down hill very fast. The state school system and the over all state was in way better shape when Edgar was governor..Obamacare is gonna make it way worse

My number one question for districts that actually get this to work is, how can this company take 8k per student get supposed better scores and still make a profit? All while most of the standard school systems that hirer them struggle in both areas funds and scores? Either way their sales pitch isn't sounding the best when it costs more then we get as a district, normal interaction is taken away, and their past history isn't as strong as they sell it as. We need a lot more information, and also the ability to talk to other districts who use this similar to Plainfield and its needs. I see this company is hitting up Oswego in another article and even giving funds to candidates. This is wrong in my opinion. Decisions like this should not be clouded by donations.

As another side note I would like to know if this style of education is the same Chicago is using? If so why did they just have to close two charter schools? Also they just had to implement that all magnet and charter schools have the same standards and equal scores as the standard school system. Isn't that crazy when the Idea of these schools is to get better grades and scores with their teaching styles. They should always held to a hirer standard, if that's what they sell.

Jax- It is true that Illinois was in much better shape when Gov. J Edgar was in office. Remember- he is the one who started on this terrible mess. He signed on to deferring pension payments for the teachers. He, also,said that we need another tax hike.

The high rankings of suburban schools are directly proportional to the school push-out that occurs of low scoring students. These schools are badly failing the children whose learning styles don't match teaching styles that are often mandated by misguided guidelines. These left-behind children will serve in Iraq lacking other choices.

If you are interested in organizing to demand school choice, please email me at mdepelichy@gmail.com. I have three children in the Naperville 203 district, two of whom are failing one has straight A's. The reason for this is that the school system caters to one and only one style of learning. My children NEED Montessori but it is not allowed as an option in these schools. The No Child Left Behind Act guarantees options for children who can't learn in the schools that are available while it is exceedingly hard to find the correct tools to assess children effectively enough to ascertain their alternative learning needs. I feel this is because there are stipends going to corrupt organizations that want funding--therefore the many possible alternative education options are suppressed. Please email me if you have similar concerns. I am not for simply delegating children who fail in the No Child Left Behind school system to an online alternative--we need REAL school choice. That said, if an online alternative were available, one might hate to say it, but given the limited schooling options we have, it would be preferable in some circumstances.