According to Susan Patrick of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning, a trade association, 250,000 students are enrolled in full-time virtual schools in 30 states. K12 Inc. of Herndon is the largest provider of virtual courses, Fairfax high school is considering the move to virtual classrooms, and Capistrano Unified School District has held discussions for a K-8 option.

For the rest of the article, go to Is a virtual school the best option for the next generation?

Facing a $1.6 million deficit for the 2012-13 school year, the Shenandoah Valley school board voted Wednesday to approve its tentative budget that includes a 4-mill increase in real-estate taxes. Layoffs and program cuts are also being considered, although the board did decide to keep pre-kindergarten and kindergarten. Both programs had been on the list to be eliminated.

Proposed cuts to the music and art programs have raised protests from students and parents, who have cited the importance of those skills in many children’s lives. At Shenandoah Valley, high school music teacher Robert Stoner and elementary music teacher Emily Volek have developed music programs that have revitalized the high school band over their time in the district – five years for Stoner, two years for Volek. Both are concerned that students who have participated will lose out if the programs are eliminated.

“I think what we have to do is reinvent ourselves,” Rakowsky said. “Now, we have to be introspective. It can’t be the same old thing from here on.”

Rakowsky said funding cyber and charter schools is putting a strain on school district budgets in Pennsylvania.

“We are facing something that we never expected – the cyber and the charter school situation,” Rakowsky said. “In 2007-08, we were budgeting $50,000 for those schools. Right now, we have in the current budget $600,000 with no end in sight. The governor supports all this stuff. We have to jump on that bandwagon.”

Rakowsky said the school district will look at providing those services.

“We’re going to work to create our own cyber charter blended school system,” Rakowsky said. “The initiative that Shenandoah Valley is taking is I have directed the administration – as part of our short- and long-term plan – is to see how we can provide the same services electronically that our kids are getting by going elsewhere. That’s how we’re going to deal with it.

“We going to reinvent ourselves electronically,” he said.

For the rest of the article, go to Shenandoah Valley superintendent says running school district can’t be business as usual

Superintendent of Schools Jack D. Dale, who ran Frederick County Public Schools from 1996 to 2004, believes there’s a big demand for virtual courses among high school students, but doesn’t think that many high schoolers would want to attend full time.

As Dale says, “It’s hard to do marching band online. Kids are going to pop in and out of the virtual school. They’ll just look at it as another method of taking a course, instead of face to face.”

For the rest of the article, go to Virtual high school

The program would move some curriculum out of the classroom, taught by teachers via phone or email. Fairfax County Public Schools officials will hear more about the idea at Monday’s meeting.

If FCPS likes the idea, the program could be available to all county (and Fairfax City) students as early as September. It’d be the first virtual education program offered to high school students in Northern Virginia, said WaPo.

For the rest of the article, go to Fairfax Schools May Offer Virtual Classrooms for High Schoolers

They join the 13 multi-division online providers approved in June.

For the rest of the article, go to Va. approves six virtual school providers

Virtual schools

In May 2011, the Tennessee General Assembly passed the Virtual Public Schools Act, which gives authority to public school systems to establish online schools and allows students to complete all of their primary and secondary education online.

The act also allows private companies to contract with school systems to provide the online classes.

Most notable of these is Union County public schools, which contracted with Virginia-based for-profit firm K12 Inc. to provide a family-friendly learning platform. Officials there estimate 1,100 students signed up to take online classes after the academy launched late last year.

For the rest of the article, go to Home schools draw closer look 

“Mobile learning is an important evolution of a student’s learning experience, allowing flexibility and access to greater digital learning resources at any time and place,” said Susan Patrick, president and CEO of iNACOL. “This webinar will provide examples of how emerging technological innovations support teachers in motivating and reaching students, while using mobile coursework and content.”

For the rest of the article go to iNACOL Announces April 19 “Teacher Talk” Webinar: “Jumpstart Mobile Learning in Your Online and Blended Courses”

In this day and age, the Internet makes geography irrelevant to getting a great education. Virtual learning tears down the greatest barrier to high-quality education — access to a rigorous curriculum taught by effective educators. With virtual learning, all students — particularly those in rural regions or urban centers — can access the same high quality education typically enjoyed by students in affluent suburban neighborhoods. Students who live anywhere can learn anywhere. For many students, the option to attend a virtual school is a lifeline to an education that prepares them for success in college and challenging 21st-century careers.

For the rest of the article, go to   Finn: All students could access high-quality education

The question of “virtual“ charter schools - private educational institutions offering classes entirely online – have been a lightning rod during the charter school debate. Leading the charge against virtual charter schools has been state Superintendent Tom Burnham and Parents’ Campaign executive director Nancy Loome – both of whom say virtual charters schools have poor performance records.

Drawing particular fire from Loome and others has been K12 Inc. K12 is a publicly-held Herndon, Va., firm that is the largest U.S. operator of taxpayer-funded online schools and that is part-owned by billionaire Michael Milken. In 1990, Milken – at that time known by the pejorative title “junk bond king” – pleaded guilty to six felony counts of securities fraud and served a one-year-and-10-month federal prison sentence. Milken’s connection to K12 Inc. has been roundly flogged during the ongoing charter school debate in this state.

For the rest of the article, go to Will virtual charter schools make the cut?