In a groundbreaking ruling, the Wisconsin courts have determined that the Wisconsin Virtual School, run by K12, Inc. is operating illegally. The Judge ordered funding to cease effective immediately. According to the Wisonsin judge,  it is illegal for school districts to pay for virtual schools for a number of reasons. One reason cited is that the parents act as the student’s primary teacher and the teachers at the K12, Inc. ’s Wisconson Virtual School are not licensed or certified by the state.

 A public virtual charter school, like the ones built by K12, Inc., is funded by taxpayers and available free of charge to students who live in the state where it is located. Most virtual charter schools recieve similar amounts in funding to their brick and mortar counterparts. The big difference is that in virtual charter schools, the students are primarily taught by their parent.

What is wrong with this picture? The for profit company usually recieves an amount of money similar to the amount that the neighborhood school reieves; however the virtual school does not have to pay the parent who is the primary teacher and supervisor of the child’s education.