Not even a ride on a yellow school bus.
A group of enterprising Internet educators have been waiting a year to give Georgia public school students and teachers the state’s first virtual K-12 experience – the chance to work and learn from home in their slippers full-time. Friday, they get an answer.
The Georgia Charter Schools Commission months ago delayed a vote on petitions for five new cyber campuses so that board members could investigate the idea and its impact on public school funding. The questions: Can virtual charters serve students well? How do you make the schools accountable for students they may never see in person? Are costs to provide kids with home computers and Internet connections comparable to providing them with traditional classrooms?
“We don’t really have a benchmark,” said Mark Peevy, the commission’s executive director. “We were working hard to establish what we hope is the right funding level to make it worthwhile for these schools to operate while balancing taxpayer dollars. We need to make sure we are not building in a profit-base unnecessarily.”
After researching the rise of virtual charter schools nationally and talking money with the staff of Gov. Sonny Perdue, the commissioner on Friday will announce which schools the state will approve.
The State Department of Education has already recommended the approval of two of five proposed statewide virtual charter schools — Kaplan Academy of Georgia and Provost Academy Georgia — but more charters could be granted.
For the rest of the article, go to Pajamas uniform of choice: Virtual schools first to offer K-12 education
