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January 17, 2008

Funding Virtual Charters: You Do the Math

In recent Associated Press coverage of an appeals court ruling that blocked funding to Wisconsin Virtual Academy, Barbara Stein of the National Education Association, the nation's largest teachers' union, "objected to the use of tax dollars to support what she called a new form of home schooling.

"'The issue is whether a program where you don't have licensed educators and where you don't have students working directly with other students should be getting fully funded as though it were a quality educational experience,' she said."

Lets turn the New-New Math penchant for trying to morph mathematical algorithms into literary exercises on its ear, and turn Ms. Stein's statement into an equation:
licensed educators + working directly with other students = quality educational experience
Don't think so. Maybe rigorous curriculum + accountability = quality education.

Critics of virtual schools denounce them as "little more than home schooling at taxpayer expense." Gee, what do you know - it's that old "they're draining our resources" chestnut, as if taxpayers are simply supposed to fork over their hard-earned bucks for the edification of tax-spenders, regardless of results. Guess what, folks, what we taxpayers are forking over our cold, hard cash for is the proper education of our (collective) children. If you can't deliver that, get out of the way for those who can. Because can there be any bigger drain on - or abuse of - taxpayer dollars than an undereducated child?

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