Two highly controversial public education bills, HB8 and
HB329, appear to be headed for a floor vote in the Senate in the days ahead. Here is an overview of HB8.
HB8: the Virtual School Bill
HB8 is a
very problematic virtual school bill which would open Virginia to corporate
virtual providers. It sets up a virtual
school board and a statewide virtual school.
When established in other states, such schools have been plagued by low
graduation rates, poor academic performance, and high dropout rates. Though an identical bill passed last session,
it was amended by adding a reenactment clause requiring the bill to be taken up
again this session before it goes into effect.
The bill
has been before the General Assembly for several sessions, and it originated in
a time of optimism regarding the promise of virtual education. Indeed, a view of the value of the stock of
Herndon-based K-12, Inc., a major corporate provider of virtual education, shows
what “Mr. Market” thinks of the concept.
The high for the stock was $39.74 in April of 2011. It is currently trading at $10 a share.
Virtual education has not lived up to its promise, and
research regarding student achievement of online schools is disappointing. In October 2015, Mathematica Policy Research,
the Center on Reinventing Public Education, and the Center on Education Outcomes
at Stanford University released a study showing that “students of online charter schools had significantly weaker academic
performance in math and reading, compared with their counterparts in
conventional schools.”
The September JLARC
report on Efficiency and Effectiveness of K-12 Spending asserted that, “Because there is limited research on the
effectiveness and cost of online learning programs in Virginia, the state
should use a data-driven, incremental approach to expanding access to fully
online programs.”
This is just what we are doing now. VDOE is piloting an online high school
program. Virtual Virginia enrollment
continues to grow, and many local school divisions, by virtue of individual and
collective efforts, are expanding virtual offerings to students. This “incremental approach” is happening in
the absence of HB8, which begs the necessity of the bill.
From an educational perspective, virtual education is one
tool in the teacher’s tool box. The
learning style of the student determines which tools you use. Traditionally, the student, the teacher, and
the guidance counselor work together to determine the courses students
take. We know that self-motivated
students, students with strong time-management skills, and students with the
ability to set personal goals are the most successful online students. The parents, teacher, and guidance counselor
now serve as the gatekeepers to help students develop the best schedule of
courses for the individual student.
Parents, guidance counselors, and principals play this appropriate role
in the Virtual Virginia model and VEA urges expansion of Virtual Virginia as a
better option than HB8.
The all-or-nothing approach to virtual schools reflected
in HB8 ignores the importance of the jobs our public schools do to work with
each student to determine the best course of educational progress.
Another major flaw with HB8 is the funding
mechanism. The bill calls for “the
average state share of the Standards of Quality per pupil” plus federal funds
to be sent to the virtual school by the Department of Education. This figure in not related to any assessment
of the cost of providing a virtual program; it is based the cost of providing
the state share of support for a traditional “bricks-and-mortar” school.
If there ever was a bill that requires a careful
examination of the Fiscal Impact Statement, this is it. Here are key excerpts from the FSI:
·
“ "The
total potential cost implications of this legislation are uncertain….”
“The bill is unclear where students enrolled in VVS will take the Standards of Learning (SOL) assessments. Since the students will not be enrolled in the school division of residence, there may be complications in determining suitable testing locations. Addressing this issue may result in additional costs.”
There are several Constitutional questions. Lines 294-296 read, “The Board and the School shall be designated as a local educational agency (LEA), but the School shall not constitute a school division.”
Article XIII, Section 2 of the Constitution reads, “The General Assembly shall determine the
manner in which funds are to be provided for the cost of maintaining an
educational program meeting the prescribed standards of quality, and shall
provide for the apportionment of the cost of such program between the
Commonwealth and the local units of
government comprising such school divisions.”
Article X, Section 7-A of the Constitution reads “Lottery proceeds shall be appropriated from the Fund to the Commonwealth's counties, cities
and towns, and the school divisions thereof, to be expended for the
purposes of public education.”
The Board of the
Virginia Virtual School is neither a local unit or government nor a county,
city, town or school division.
Virtual Virginia
provides a superior and more cost effective option for expanding virtual
learning opportunities for Virginia’s students.
The VEA urges opposition to HB8. This bill next goes to the Senate Committee on Education and Health where it will be heard tomorrow morning. If your Senator is on the committee, please call urging opposition. Click here to see committee members and here for Senator's contact information. .
