“These people don’t just want to compete with us,” School Board member Diane Bauer told The Orlando Sentinel. “They want to replace the program we have.”

At Broward Virtual School, run under contract with K12, Principal Chris McGuire said the firm has proven it can get results with students.

“They’ve been responsible partners for us,” McGuire said of K12 programs overseen by the state and local school district. “They had great student achievement results . . . they had plenty of data for us to look at.”

McGuire does, however, question the need for so many K12-run schools.

“If districts are required to run a virtual charter program, why is a full-time charter school program necessary?” McGuire asked.

Kwitowski, the K12 spokesman, said the answer is customization. More than 2,000 public schools use K12 courses and academic programs, he said.

“In many cases, there are multiple school districts and public charter schools in the same state that use K12 for their online and blended schools,” Kwitowski wrote.

“With K12, each school and district can customize their own school program, providing more opportunities for students and more choices for parents.”

StateImpact Florida is an education reporting project of NPR, WUSF in Tampa and WLRN in Miami. For more information, visit stateimpact.npr.org. The Florida Center for Investigative Reporting is a nonprofit news organization supported by foundations and individual contributions. For more information, visit fcir.org.