Homeschooling and Cyber Schools
In the April 25,2010 issue of Parade magazine, there was a short article entitled “Who Should Fund Cyber Schools?” that I found interesting. According to the article, more than 175,000 students in 25 states attend public school from the comfort of their computers, and that number grows 30% each year. It estimates “that half of all high school courses will be taught on the Web in 10 years.”
The article reported that each time a student leaves a public brick-and-mortar school for a public cyber school, like K-12 Online Learning, districts are forced to send that student’s funding to the online school. John Halfhill, Superintendent of Pennsylvania’s Southmoreland school district, said, “In my district, we’re outperforming the cyber schools in almost every regard based on achievement data, yet we are funding those schools.”
This statement struck me as funny. Homeschoolers and private school patrons, in general, significantly outperform public schools, and yet we, the tax paying parents, continue to “fund” those schools with our taxes. So, Mr. Halfhill, welcome to our world.
Mr. Halfhill should also remember that school districts are not the ones “funding” the cyber schools, taxpayers are, and if students can receive a better or safer or more personalized education through public cyber schools, then why shouldn’t they? Why not give students a choice?
What do you think, homeschoolers? Let me know your thoughts.
My children are attending a pilot virtual charter using K12. I am trilled, but it works primarily I retained the skills I learned though homeschooling. When it is good, it is excellent. When it is not, I look for other methods to teach a given topic or concept. I am in control, not any curriculum. Even if it were not a good fit for my kids, I feel strongly the choice to use a cyber school should remain available. Parents should have choices and it the best choice is to have one foot in the public school world and one foot in the home, allow it.