| Imagine Schools Inc. | |
| Predecessor: | Chancellor Beacon |
| Founder: | Dennis Bakke |
| Type: | 501(3)(c) (since 2015) |
| Tax Id: | 04-3466383[1] |
| Location: | Arlington, Virginia |
| Services: | Charter management organization |
| Owners: | --> |
| Revenue: | $50,635,506 |
| Revenue Year: | 2015 |
| Footnotes: | 33,420 students 3,069 teachers 55 schools(2015)[2] |
Imagine Schools is a charter management organization in the United States, operating 55 schools in 9 states. They are K-8, for the most part. In 2015, Imagine schools had enrolled 29,812 students.[3]
Imagine Schools was founded by Dennis and Eileen Bakke with $155 million of the fortune Dennis had earned as chief executive officer of AES Corporation, a global energy provider which he co-founded in 1981.[4]
Beacon Education Management was founded in 1996.[5] By 2008, Imagine had grown to 56 schools.[6]
In 2015, Imagine Schools was ordered to pay a $1 million judgment as part of a self-dealing scheme. As part of a complex arrangement, Imagine Schools had negotiated above market rents for its facilities, which it actually owned through a subsidiary.[7]
In 2015, Imagine adopted non-profit tax status. Similar organizations are known as charter management organizations (CMOs). Other large non-profits are KIPP (209 schools) and Cosmos.
Similar services are provided by for-profit entities known as education management organizations (EMOs). K12 was the largest in the US in 2011–2012.[8] K12 does not manage any brick-and-mortar schools, instead delivering schooling on line.