December 19, 2007
More articles on the virtual school decision in WI
Here are a number of opinion articles about the recent decision to limit state funding of virtual charter schools in WI. The issue is not as simple as at might first appear and the real legal issue is the use of state funds, not the schools themselves. There are many models of virtual schools and it is not clear how broadly this ruling will apply.
What adds a twist to the picture (but might not change the legal issues) is that it is not an argument about educational outcomes. As noted in the "Blow to Innovation" article below "...the kids attending Wisconsin Virtual Academy are thriving. They score at or above the state average in most subjects at nearly every grade level."
It's a Virtual War (The New York Sun)
A Blow to Innovation (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
Virtual School Was Real Solution (Wisconsin State Journal)
Virtual Schools Here to Stay (Capital Times)
Online Education Vital for Wisconsin (Badger Herald)
Wisconsin Coalition of Virtual School Families (WisPolitics - Press Release)
Thanks to Judy Brown for sending these over.
Posted by Rovy at December 19, 2007 11:25 AM
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Comments
Rovy,
As I see it, the biggest problem is that the cyber charter schools in question are using parents to do much of the actual instruction. In Wisconsin, like many states, parents do not receive funding for homeschooling. With these cyber charter schools, the students are largely being homeschooled with access to curricular materials and with some professional to do evaluation - but the school gets the money.
Its kind of funny that in most virtual schools teachers find that it is more work that being in a classroom, and often have fewer students than they would in a brick and mortar school. In the cyber charter in question, teachers have about twice as many students as a brick and mortar teacher - meaning the school gets almost twice the funding per teacher because they can handle twice the students.
Hey, when I taught in the classroom if my students' parents would have done most of my "teaching" for me and all I had to do was the evaluation stuff, I'd have been able to handle more teachers too.
The problem with this is that if isn't the same job being done, why should the school get the same funding?
MKB
Posted by: Michael Barbour at December 19, 2007 9:30 PM