Jeff Kwitowski
SVP, Public Affairs
K12 Inc.

In an effort to defeat new education reform laws that are on the ballot in Idaho this November, opponents of the measures – led by state and national teachers unions –  have waged an aggressive and well-funded campaign.  Not surprisingly the union’s campaign includes a strong dose of fear and deception. 

For example, on the issue of Proposition 3, a new law recently adopted requiring computing devices and online courses for high school

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Recently, K12 Inc. issued a statement responding to media reports regarding K12 teachers and Florida’s state certification requirements.   These media reports included allegations that K12 was using non-certified teachers in Florida.  Those allegations are not true.  K12 teachers who teach students in Florida are state certified.  In many cases, they are over qualified for the courses they teach.

After learning of the allegations made by one Florida school district, K12 conducted an

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Jeff is out of the office this week, so I’ll try to channel my “inner-Kwitowski” and offer some observations about the National Education Policy Center (NEPC) and their Report on K¹² Inc.” released yesterday. 

First, though, let me direct everyone to both the K¹² Response Document that we made available yesterday, and to the K¹² Virtual Academies Academic Performance Trends report released by K¹² in April. Both of these documents are available to download as PDFs on

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Misinformation on K12 Inc. and online public charter schools is circulating across NC and much of it appears to come from a left-wing political group, NC Policy Watch.   They are hardly a neutral observer, however.  The group’s legal arm is trying to block the opening of an approved online public charter school, North Carolina Virtual Academy.

Much of their argument seems to stem from a one-sided article in the New York Times that was published last year.  A number of responses to that

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A few observations on the recent National School Boards Association’s (NSBA) report on virtual schools.

1. 1. Overall, it’s nothing new; a rehash of reports from years past.  Much of this information has been presented, discussed and debated in state capitols across the country.  The report does, however, draw mostly negative conclusions about online schools, which is not a surprise given the policy views of NSBA and aggressive lobbying by its state chapters against charter schools,

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January 18, 2012

The New York Times
Editorials on Education

To Everyone’s Concern:

The article published in the New York Times on December 12, 2011 has compelled me to respond.  The content presented such a shallow view of virtual education and k12 specifically that I feel it paramount to share my experience. 

A thirty-seven-year career in major Northern Virginia and Maryland school systems, as both a teacher and an administrator, prepared me well to be hypercritical of virtual

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Yesterday in my blog I wrote how the real frustration for Tennessee families is not with Tennessee Virtual Academy, K12, or Union County Public Schools, but with trying to work through the myriad of state-mandated forms required for enrollment.

At the end of day, parents can overcome paperwork, but it is really hard to overcome bureaucratic power and control. 

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Boy, did the Memphis Commercial Appeal get it wrong.

On August 20, the Appeal published a slanted article calling the new Tennessee Virtual Academy, “a real headache,” suggesting  widespread frustration among families attempting to enroll their children in the new online public school.

Considering the high level of excitement from Tennessee families and the rush to participate in Tennessee Virtual Academy (TNVA), I was very skeptical.

The Appeal’s story is based almost entirely on a

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People answer this question in a variety of ways. At work, it's the person you report to who provides guidance and feedback to help you be your best. At home, it's often your parents. In a spiritual sense, for many it's a higher authority.

Everyone benefits from these relationships because they enable us to develop and become the best we can be.

At K12, we have several important bosses. They include the public school systems and state governments that choose and contract with K12 to provide

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Washington State has been progressive in education policy in many respects.For instance, it embraced online learning in public schools earlier than many states, created Alterative Learning Experience (ALE) programs, and approved the 2005 digital program law.

Since then, ALE programs have become an accepted, valued and vibrant part of public education in the Evergreen State.But some legislators in Olympia seem willing to roll back progress by singling them out for significant and additional

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