Labor Voices: Online charter schools pose problems
There is more evidence that for-profit charter schools are part of the problem, not the solution. This time, the focus is on “cyber” or online charter schools.
In “The National Study of Online Charter Schools,” Stanford University found students attending cyber charter schools lagged behind students in traditional public schools. Incredibly, the study also showed that cyber charter students received the equivalent of 180 fewer days of learning in math and 72 fewer days of instruction in reading than their peers in traditional schools.
In 2009, Michigan began a small pilot program with for-profit, cyber charters. In 2012, long before sufficient data was available to assess the pilot’s success, Gov. Rick Snyder and the Legislature expanded the number of cyber charters. This follows their pattern for other charter schools, where the cap on charters was lifted without proof that they increased student achievement.
Now, after years of experience and investment, charter schools have, with a few exceptions, proven to be a failed experiment. For-profit cyber charters take that failure to a whole new level.
Prior to the advent of cyber charters, online learning had been incorporated into traditional education. Public schools used “distance learning” technologies to increase academic options for students, especially in smaller, remote districts where courses like Advanced Placement, foreign languages and career-technical classes were not available.
However, study after study shows that sitting a student in front of a computer screen all day decreases student achievement. Prior to the Stanford research, a 2010 University of Colorado study found that only 30 percent of virtual schools run by for-profit companies met minimum progress standards under No Child Left Behind. In 2015, the National Education Policy Center showed only 41 percent of for-profit cybers were deemed “academically acceptable.” That same study showed the on-time graduation rate for cyber charter students was half the national average, while the student-to-teacher ratio was twice that of public schools.
In the latest state rankings, the Michigan Virtual Academy was at the 3rd percentile — 97 percent of Michigan schools performed better. Michigan Virtual Academy is Labor Voices: Online charter schools pose problems: