Panel questions cost, performance of online programs
By Tom Chorneau
Monday, October 22, 2012
A bipartisan, Texas-based education advocacy group cautions that the benefits of online early are hard to evaluate both in terms of student performance and savings to the state.
In a new policy paper, Raise Your Hand Texas, warned that online learning has “not been validated as a reliable and effective way to educate students on a full-time, widespread basis.”
The organization, which includes on its board a variety of private and public sector representatives, noted that there’s a growing assumption that virtual schools are beneficial – indeed, that they are the future of public education and thus barriers to accessing them should be removed.
“Virtual schools to this point have not provided a cost savings to the state, but have not necessarily been more costly than traditional schools,” authors of the white paper said. “If virtual schools are to be touted as a way to help cut public education costs in the future, it is still unknown how this would be accomplished.”
The warnings come as California embarks on a major effort to provide broader access to online learning programs following passage this fall of legislation that authorizes school districts to claim revenue limit attendance for high
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