The threat to Wisconsin's virtual schools is a reality.
A state appellate court's order last month that the Department of Public Instruction stop shifting funding to the Wisconsin Virtual Academy in the Northern Ozaukee School District could be the beginning of the end for all the state's 12 virtual schools, including Monroe's. Legislative action can help preserve the growing educational system.
Two competing bills were offered in the Legislature last week.
The first, introduced by Sen. John Lehman, D-Racine, would preserve virtual schools but subject them to tighter restrictions than other public schools. The bill would limit the districts that operate virtual schools to receiving only half of the approximately $6,000 in state aid they currently receive for each student. The remainder of the state aid would go to the home district of the virtual school student.
Saying Lehman's bill threatens the future of virtual schools, 80th District Assemblyman Brett Davis, R-Oregon, is co-authoring counter legislation. The bill he and Rep. Dan LeMahieu, R-Cascade, are introducing would preserve funding levels for virtual schools.
Lehman's bill drew immediate support from the Wisconsin Education Association Council, the state's largest teachers union, which filed the lawsuit against the Wisconsin Virtual Academy. That should come as no surprise. The union sees online education as a threat to traditional teachers' jobs and bricks-and-mortar schools. It also should not be a surprise that Elizabeth Burmaster, state superintendent of public instruction, supports Lehman's plan. The teachers union and the Doyle administration are strong political allies.
But Davis' bill is the one that can save virtual schools, and should be approved by the Legislature.
Lehman's bill would treat virtual schools differently than bricks-and-mortar schools in terms of funding. Now, of the approximately $11,000 spent in state aid per student, about $6,000 goes to the district that operates the virtual school and about $5,000 goes to the student's home district. The funding formula is the same for virtual school students as it is for students who move to another school through open enrollment.
Lehman says virtual school districts should receive funding closer to the level of what it actually costs to teach each student. He says that amount in some cases is as little as $1,000 per year.
While that argument has merit, the solution cannot be to stifle the growth of online schools - an innovative and potentially cost-saving educational endeavor. And it cannot be to send even more money to districts that no longer bear the cost of educating the virtual school student.
Lehman's bill also would require 15 percent of each online school's students live within the boundaries of the school district operating the virtual school. It should not matter where the online student lives. A student in Monroe receives the same virtual school education as one in Milwaukee. This provision in Lehman's bill is a blatant effort to limit the number of students, and funds, a virtual school receives.
Regardless of Lehman's intentions, his virtual school legislation could kill online education. It certainly wouldn't help it.
Davis' bill would preserve the funding virtual schools need to grow and thrive. It should be passed.
A state appellate court's order last month that the Department of Public Instruction stop shifting funding to the Wisconsin Virtual Academy in the Northern Ozaukee School District could be the beginning of the end for all the state's 12 virtual schools, including Monroe's. Legislative action can help preserve the growing educational system.
Two competing bills were offered in the Legislature last week.
The first, introduced by Sen. John Lehman, D-Racine, would preserve virtual schools but subject them to tighter restrictions than other public schools. The bill would limit the districts that operate virtual schools to receiving only half of the approximately $6,000 in state aid they currently receive for each student. The remainder of the state aid would go to the home district of the virtual school student.
Saying Lehman's bill threatens the future of virtual schools, 80th District Assemblyman Brett Davis, R-Oregon, is co-authoring counter legislation. The bill he and Rep. Dan LeMahieu, R-Cascade, are introducing would preserve funding levels for virtual schools.
Lehman's bill drew immediate support from the Wisconsin Education Association Council, the state's largest teachers union, which filed the lawsuit against the Wisconsin Virtual Academy. That should come as no surprise. The union sees online education as a threat to traditional teachers' jobs and bricks-and-mortar schools. It also should not be a surprise that Elizabeth Burmaster, state superintendent of public instruction, supports Lehman's plan. The teachers union and the Doyle administration are strong political allies.
But Davis' bill is the one that can save virtual schools, and should be approved by the Legislature.
Lehman's bill would treat virtual schools differently than bricks-and-mortar schools in terms of funding. Now, of the approximately $11,000 spent in state aid per student, about $6,000 goes to the district that operates the virtual school and about $5,000 goes to the student's home district. The funding formula is the same for virtual school students as it is for students who move to another school through open enrollment.
Lehman says virtual school districts should receive funding closer to the level of what it actually costs to teach each student. He says that amount in some cases is as little as $1,000 per year.
While that argument has merit, the solution cannot be to stifle the growth of online schools - an innovative and potentially cost-saving educational endeavor. And it cannot be to send even more money to districts that no longer bear the cost of educating the virtual school student.
Lehman's bill also would require 15 percent of each online school's students live within the boundaries of the school district operating the virtual school. It should not matter where the online student lives. A student in Monroe receives the same virtual school education as one in Milwaukee. This provision in Lehman's bill is a blatant effort to limit the number of students, and funds, a virtual school receives.
Regardless of Lehman's intentions, his virtual school legislation could kill online education. It certainly wouldn't help it.
Davis' bill would preserve the funding virtual schools need to grow and thrive. It should be passed.
