Florida Has Classes Without Teachers
By LAURA HERRERA
Published: January 17, 2011
MIAMI — On the first day of her senior year at North Miami Beach Senior High School, Naomi Baptiste expected to be greeted by a teacher when she walked into her precalculus class.
Carolina Hidalgo
At Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High School in Miami, there is no teacher in a classroom, but a “facilitator” watches the students.
Carolina Hidalgo
Chaala Womble, 17, in a virtual class at the Miami-Dade school. The courses, called e-learning labs, are in 54 district schools.
“All there were were computers in the class,” said Naomi, who walked into a room of confused students. “We found out that over the summer they signed us up for these courses.”
Naomi is one of over 7,000 students in Miami-Dade County Public Schools enrolled in a program in which core subjects are taken using computers in a classroom with no teacher. A “facilitator” is in the room to make sure students progress. That person also deals with