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1/ The virtual school industry has a track record of profiteering and poor outcomes for students.
So it was interesting to hear from local districts starting stand-alone online schools, even as concerns mount over remote pandemic learning. http://nyti.ms/3uNH1eH
So it was interesting to hear from local districts starting stand-alone online schools, even as concerns mount over remote pandemic learning. http://nyti.ms/3uNH1eH
2/ Districts say they are starting online schools to accommodate parents and children who want to stick with remote learning.
Another motivation: districts fear losing students, and the gov't funding that goes with them, to virtual schools elsewhere. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA956-1.html
Another motivation: districts fear losing students, and the gov't funding that goes with them, to virtual schools elsewhere. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA956-1.html
3/ Denton schools in Texas calculated that it could lose $17 million in annual funding -- equivalent to the annual salaries of 173 teachers -- if just 25% of the 8,000 students now opting for remote learning were to enroll in online schools elsewhere. http://bit.ly/3wSw5P8
4. Now the Denton Independent School District is setting up an online school for this fall.
“The virtual academy is really an insurance plan,” Jim Alexander, a trustee of tid at a recent school board meeting. “It could also be a way of enhancing our enrollment."
“The virtual academy is really an insurance plan,” Jim Alexander, a trustee of tid at a recent school board meeting. “It could also be a way of enhancing our enrollment."
5. One key question, as @jasonweeby points out, is whether students in the new district virtual schools will do as well or better than their peers in neighborhood schools.
6. Bloomington Public Schools @District271, for instance, is working with university researchers and should ultimately be able to compare outcomes of its in-person and virtual-only students.
7. But there's a more pressing issue: In a recent study, parents of students doing remote online learning full-time were more likely to report worsened mental or emotional health than parents of in-person students.
