To whittle the state’s dropout rate, Gov. Rick Perry proposes creating a virtual high school that would let students take classes online if they can’t make it to school every day.
As an incentive for kids to stay in school, Perry said, he wants the state to require that high school students be taking classes in either bricks-and-mortar or virtual schools before they can get a driver’s license.
“We need to allow young people to have that flexibility,” he said Friday after speaking to about 400 people at a Leaders in Government lunch at the Petroleum Club. “There’s just some kids who can’t make it work, can’t take care of family needs [and at the same time] go to a bricks-and-mortar school and meet that rigorous schedule.
“So give them flexibility. And with the technology we have available today, it seems that will be a very cheap investment in the future of this state to help those young people get that GED or that diploma.”
Perry took a break from his Get Out the Vote tour, which took him to North Richland Hills, Weatherford and other cities, to speak at the Fort Worth luncheon.
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http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/02/19/1982878/in-fort-worth-stop-perry-calls.html
