The cyber attack on public schools
Their sales pitch is seductive. The people in the expensive suits talk about computers and easy access to a world of technology that will stimulate students' imagination and let them learn at their own pace.
Their "virtual school" where computers replace classmates and students learn via the Internet is the answer to all our problems with public schools. They will reduce the drop-out rate, engage the gifted and talented, and help everyone in between.
Plus, they will cost less money and you don't have to worry about busing or maintaining bricks and mortar schools.
There is an old adage that if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. And, that is the case with virtual schools. Behind the smiles is a corporate raid on public education to make the almighty dollar.
Where you see students and parents' aspirations in your classroom, Wall Street sees profits.
Nationwide more than 200,000 students are enrolled in full-time virtual schools lacking face-to-face contact with teachers. The numbers are growing and the trend is edging into Maine.
Research on virtual schools is being accumulated and the dreams they are selling are not reality. If Maine's leaders are not careful, students and taxpayers can be ripped off by these vulture capitalists.
"Private operators are gaining access to large streams of public revenue, but the public is not getting the full information on the actual costs of these programs, so it's not clear if taxpayer money is being used properly," says Gene Glass, a scholar with the National Education Policy Center at the University of Colorado.
After reviewing the research, Glass and his colleague Kevin Welner concluded that: "There is no evidence from research that full-time virtual schooling at the K-12 level is an adequate replacement for traditional face-to-face teaching and learning. Yet to date, this lack of support appears to have exerted little or no influence on the proliferation of virtual K-12 schools."
"We have to make sure that cyberschools don't become just a cheap way of providing second-rate service to disadvantaged school districts," said Glass.
A study by the Colorado Department of Education provides data to support their warning. Although taxpayers are spending $100 million a year on Colorado's online schools, these virtual schools are failing its elementary and high school students:
- Half the students leave within a year and if they return to public schools they are further behind academically;
- Online students drop out at a rate three times that of public schools with one in eight leaving permanently-a rate four times the state average.
- Million of tax dollars go to virtual schools for students who no longer attended classes;
- The in and out churn of students puts more pressure on traditional schools which lose state funding to online schools and then must find ways to educate students when they return.
Ohio had a similar experience with Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow (ECOT), a virtual charter school, promoted by former Florida Governor Jeb Bush. With more than 10,000 students, ECOT is a financial success but its student tests scores are in the bottom 1% for the state.
A study of Pennsylvania's 61,000 online charter school students by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University reached an equally bleak conclusion.
"What we can say right now is that whatever they are doing in Pennsylvania is definitely not working and should not be replicated," reported research manager Devora Davis.
In Wisconsin, a study found little student-teacher contact. Students only need to sign in to the school website and/or communicate with a teacher once every three days to prove they are attending.
A state legislative audit found only 16% of the virtual teachers had contact with students at least three times each month- and these teachers reported class sizes of more than 100 kids.
Given the interlocking interests of Wall Street and conservative politics, one very real threat is that Maine's new charter school legislation will create a virtual charter school drawing students from all over the state and pulling money out of local school districts.
"Our position is clear," says MEA President Chris Galgay. "Online learning programs can supplement classroom instruction, but cannot replace it. A computer is a tool not a school."
"MEA believes in-the-classroom public education enhances student success," adds Galgay. "We support appropriate online education and the use of technology, not the absurd for-profit virtual school schemes being promoted as education reform."
FMI: See Galgay's column "Pull Back the Curtain".
Legislative Action
Locate your state and congressional representatives and share your views through our CyberLobby program.
