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K12 Inc. on its own and as a member of the [[American Legislative Exchange Council]] (ALEC), has pushed a national agenda to replace bricks and mortar classrooms with computers and replace actual teachers with "virtual" teachers. K12 Inc. operated 58 full-time virtual schools and enrolled close to 77,000 students in the 2010-2011 school year, according to a May 2013 report by the National Education Policy Center (NEPC, a research organization at the University of Colorado at Boulder).<ref name="NEPC">National Education Policy Center, [http://nepc.colorado.edu/files/nepc-virtual-2013.pdf Virtual Schools in the U.S. 2013: Politics, Performance, Policy, and Research Evidence], organizational report, Alex Molnar, ed., May 2013.</ref> Many have questioned the company's extraordinary revenue and profit levels, largely generated at taxpayers' expense.<ref name="10-K_2013">K12 Inc., [http://services.corporate-ir.net/SEC/Document.Service?id=P3VybD1hSFIwY0RvdkwyRndhUzUwWlc1cmQybDZZWEprTG1OdmJTOWtiM2R1Ykc5aFpDNXdhSEEvWVdOMGFXOXVQVkJFUmlacGNHRm5aVDA1TVRFd016ZzBKbk4xWW5OcFpEMDFOdz09JnR5cGU9MiZmbj1LMTJJbmMucGRm 2013 Annual Report/Form 10-K], corporate annual report filed with the SEC, August 29, 2013.</ref> <ref name="NYT Report">Stephanie Saul, [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], ''New York Times'', December 12, 2011.</ref>
K12 Inc. on its own and as a member of the [[American Legislative Exchange Council]] (ALEC), has pushed a national agenda to replace bricks and mortar classrooms with computers and replace actual teachers with "virtual" teachers. K12 Inc. operated 58 full-time virtual schools and enrolled close to 77,000 students in the 2010-2011 school year, according to a May 2013 report by the National Education Policy Center (NEPC, a research organization at the University of Colorado at Boulder).<ref name="NEPC">National Education Policy Center, [http://nepc.colorado.edu/files/nepc-virtual-2013.pdf Virtual Schools in the U.S. 2013: Politics, Performance, Policy, and Research Evidence], organizational report, Alex Molnar, ed., May 2013.</ref> Many have questioned the company's extraordinary revenue and profit levels, largely generated at taxpayers' expense.<ref name="10-K_2013">K12 Inc., [http://services.corporate-ir.net/SEC/Document.Service?id=P3VybD1hSFIwY0RvdkwyRndhUzUwWlc1cmQybDZZWEprTG1OdmJTOWtiM2R1Ykc5aFpDNXdhSEEvWVdOMGFXOXVQVkJFUmlacGNHRm5aVDA1TVRFd016ZzBKbk4xWW5OcFpEMDFOdz09JnR5cGU9MiZmbj1LMTJJbmMucGRm 2013 Annual Report/Form 10-K], corporate annual report filed with the SEC, August 29, 2013.</ref> <ref name="NYT Report">Stephanie Saul, [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], ''New York Times'', December 12, 2011.</ref>
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Although K12 Inc. was born on Wall Street, some on Wall Street have turned against the model. As of September 2013, hedge fund manager Whitney Tilson announced he was shorting K12 Inc. stock, effectively betting that the company would fail with an unsustainable education model.<ref>Victor Reklaitis, [http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2013/09/17/tilson-biggest-short-is-ed-tech-firm-k12-inc/ADD Tilson: Biggest Short Is Ed-tech Firm K12 Inc.], ''MarketWatch Pulse'', September 17, 2013.</ref><ref>Whitney Tilson, [http://seekingalpha.com/article/1707192-an-analysis-of-k12-and-why-it-is-my-largest-short-position An Analysis Of K12 And Why It Is My Largest Short Position], ''Seeking Alpha'', September 22
, 2013.</ref> Tilson said in a September 2013 presentation document that although average revenues per student are on the rise and the concept of online education has "strong political support, especially among Republicans" as well as "enormous buzz," "K12's aggressive student recruitment has led to dismal academic results by students and sky-high dropout rates, in some cases more than 50% annually" and "there have been so many regulatory issues and accusations of malfeasance that I'm convinced the problems are endemic."<ref>Whitney Tilson, [http://www.tilsonfunds.com/K12-Tilson-9-17-13.pdf An Analysis of K12 and Why it is my Largest Short Position], investment presentation at Value Investing Congress in New York, September 17
, 2013.</ref>
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Although K12 Inc. was born on Wall Street, some on Wall Street have turned against the model. As of September 2013, hedge fund manager Whitney Tilson announced he was shorting K12 Inc. stock, effectively betting that the company would fail with an unsustainable education model.<ref>Victor Reklaitis, [http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2013/09/17/tilson-biggest-short-is-ed-tech-firm-k12-inc/ADD Tilson: Biggest Short Is Ed-tech Firm K12 Inc.], ''MarketWatch Pulse'', September 17, 2013.</ref><ref>Whitney Tilson, [http://seekingalpha.com/article/1707192-an-analysis-of-k12-and-why-it-is-my-largest-short-position An Analysis Of K12 And Why It Is My Largest Short Position], ''Seeking Alpha'', September 22, 2013.</ref>
[[K12 Inc.|For more, see the full corporate rap sheet on the outsourcer K12 Inc. here.]]
[[K12 Inc.|For more, see the full corporate rap sheet on the outsourcer K12 Inc. here.]]