Coming Your Way: Cyberschools

This newest wrinkle in privatization is being marketed to Christian home-schoolers.

By Stacie Williams

One of the newest wrinkles in privatization - so-called "cyberschools" that use charter school legislation to provide home-based education via the Internet - is raising concerns about funding and lax oversight.

Cyberschools are a relatively new phenomenon. One of the biggest operations is run by William Bennett, former Secretary of Education in the Reagan administration. Bennett has launched the cyberschool company K12 Inc., which has virtual schools in five states and has plans to open two cyberschools in Wisconsin. The schools are marketed predominantly to parents who homeschool their children, especially parents associated with conservative Christianbased homeschooling associations.

The website for K12 Inc., for instance, shows that its presentations are being given to groups such as the Wisconsin Christian Home Educators Association, the Oklahoma Christian Home Educators, and the Information Network for Christian Homes.

These cyberschools take advantage of charter school laws. However, by appealing largely to homeschoolers, the cyberschools present unique funding problems and special concerns over whether tax dollars are being used for religiously based education.

Because homeschooled students are not counted in a public school district's budget or oversight, critics charge that the cyberschools have become a new way to funnel public dollars into what is essentially a private education. The cyberschools increase the number of children receiving public dollars for education without necessarily increasing overall funding: in the process decreasing the amount of money available for existing public school students.

In Wisconsin, where Bennett's company plans two cyberschools, the funding repercussions are especially unclear because of state-imposed spending limits on education. "Districts would see an increase in enrollment numbers due to homeschooled kids coming into the district," said Bob Soldner, Director of School Management Services in the WI Department of Public Instruction. "If enough kids were to switch over [to cyberschools], there would be a huge difference" in the amount of money needed to accommodate students who formerly were homeschooled.

K12 Inc. and its virtual schools in New York, Alaska, California, Pennsylvania, and Colorado all promise to provide families with the computers and modems needed to follow the studies as well as supplementary curriculum guides, textbooks, and even contact with teachers through private companies. However, concerns over charter cyberschools center not only on funding, but on lax accountability and oversight of the schools.

One of the biggest disputes has taken place in the nation's largest virtual school - a K12 Inc. school in Pennsylvania. According to the March 20 issue of Education Week, State Superintendent Charles B. Zogby filed suit on behalf of the state against Einstein Academies in Philadelphia after an investigation found that Einstein had not paid more than 30 of its teachers for weeks at the beginning of the school year, and that textbooks and Internet access had not been provided to its 1,900 students. (Einstein's Internet provider terminated service because of $80,000 owed by school officials. Einstein claimed it was behind on its bills due to lack of payment from the state.)

In a March 28 agreement, Pennsylvania dropped the suit and reinstated the $3.4 million in state aid allowed the school - on the condition that, among other things, the school draw up individualized education plans for its students with special needs and relocate its offices from Philadelphia to the Morrisville school district, which is the chartering district. The Einstein school has 45 days from the date of the settlement to comply or their charter may be revoked.

FINANCIAL CONTROVERSIES

Financial controversies have also plagued an Ohio cyberschool. Last fall, The Columbus Dispatch reported that in September 2000, the cyberschool eCot received $932,030 for 2,270 students even though only seven students logged into the cyber class. In October of that year, the school received an additional $983,750 for 2,346 students, although only 506 were logged in. Of the students enrolled by the end of October, only 25 percent had computers.

Said state auditor Jim Petro in The Dispatch, "[The school] counted anyone who signed up, even if someone called in or the school called someone back."

After issuing a report for the school's operations in late 2001, Petro revealed that the state did not have the power to make the school refund the money due to miscommunication between the virtual school and the Ohio Department of Education on sufficient guidelines for counting students and funding the school. "It's an example of how to botch up the establishment of a new charter school," Petro said.

Tom Mooney, president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers, has called for stricter accountability over Ohio charter schools. Referring to the eCot situation, he said: "That ought to be enough for a major review of policy and enforcement procedures in regards to charter schools in general, but particularly in regards to virtual schools."

Stacie Williams is editorial assistant at Rethinking Schools.

Summer 2002