Lightning in a Bottle

Wisconsin has six virtual charter schools in operation, all set up in the last two years. Around 1,000 students are registered through these schools, and the roughly $5,000 in state funding follows them. The charter schools are partnerships between public districts and private education companies, and five more are being considered for next year.

While the students study at home, certified teachers provide support. However, there must be a parent available at home to participate in the program, in order to do tasks such as administering tests. This aspect of the program is a roadblock for some students, such as children from single-parent homes. Another issue (one that the state teacher union is arguing in court) is that parents are providing the face-to-face teaching support, and state law hypothetically requires a certified teacher.

Those participating in the program seem to find it positive. There is an article profiling the program on the Yahoo news service here. (It’s one of those long, ugly addresses.)

This entry was posted on Monday, February 2nd, 2004 at 4:56 pm and is filed under Online Learning. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.