Virtual Charter School in St. Charles Faces Virtual State Roadblock

A one-year moratorium on the creation of virtual online charter schools is making its way through the Illinois General Assembly.

After school boards from around the Fox Valley area voted this week to deny Virtual Learning Solutions' K12 Inc. admittance to their curriculum, state Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia, D-Aurora, is crafting legislation that would stop the online learning proposals for up to a year, according to the Kane County Chronicle. The moratorium would give the state more time to study virtual online learning and its effects on education.

The legislation, which is co-sponsored by state Rep. Kay Hatcher, R-Yorkville, passed Chapa LaVia’s House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee this week, and soon could make its way to the full House for a vote, the Chronicle reported.

“All my school boards voiced their concerns about this topic. Online learning has great value, but the (Illinois State Charter School Commission) was not created to address a totally virtual environment,” Hatcher said in a post on her Facebook page. “This gives everyone time to address our changing education platform.”

The Chronicle’s report comes days after Monday’s unanimous vote by the St. Charles Community Unit School District 303 Board of Education to reject the proposal by Virtual Learning Solutions, a nonprofit entity seeking to create a virtual charter school drawing students and tax dollars from 18 school district in and around the Fox Valley.

Virtual Learning Solutions, whose plan involves contracting with the for-profit K12 Inc. to educate the students, has vowed to appeal the board’s decision to the Illinois State Charter School Commission.

K12 Inc. is the nation’s largest virtual school company, operating 48 full-time virtual schools as of July 2012.

Rejected in District 303

The proposal has drawn a firestorm of criticism from residents and educators who question the use of tax dollars to fund a program contracted to a private vendor. School districts districts typically roll over any unspent funds into the next year’s budgeting process. But School District 303 officials have pointed out that under Virtual Learning Solutions’ contract, K12 Inc. would keep those funds as profits for its shareholders.

District 303, in it’s analysis of Virtual Learning Solutions’ proposal, cited K12 Inc.’s annual report for 2012 showing that, “at its ‘full-time managed public schools, revenues grew more than 31 percent, from $454.0 million in fiscal year 2011 to $596.1 million in 2012.’”

While School District 303 has a student-to-teacher ratio of between 21 and 23 students per teacher, while K12 Inc.’s ration is from 40 to 50 students to one teacher. In terms of administrators, District 303 has one administrator for every 270 students; K12 Inc. has one administrator for every 1,007 students.

But some of the fiercest criticism and objections from District 303 officials and residents have been in regard to K12 Inc.’s track record at educating students, as cited in a July 18, 2012 report by the National Education Policy Center in Colorado.

The report, Understanding and Improving Full-Time Virtual Schools, shows that K12 Inc.’s students are falling behind in reading and math scores at a rate exceeding traditional schools.

The report states that virtual schools operate on less public revenues — Virtual Learning Solutions is asking District 303 for about $8,800 per student, compared with the $11,400 the district spends per student. However, the report also notes that the virtual schools’ savings are significantly higher — no to minimal costs for facilities, operations, transportation and food service. Further, the report also notes that K12 Inc. has a higher student-to-teacher ration than traditional school districts, and that it pays its educators less for salaries and benefits.

The National Education Policy Center’s summary of the report raised a number of other issues that caused its director, Kevin Welner, to remark, “Our in-depth look into K12 Inc. raises enormous red flags.”

Key findings noted in the summary include:

• K12 Inc.’s students score 14 percent to 36 percent lower than their public school counterparts.
• Fewer than a third of K12 Inc.’s schools met adequate yearly progress standards in 2010-11, compared to more than half of traditional “brick-and-mortar schools” nationally.
• Student attrition is high at K12 Inc.
• K12 Inc. enrolls special needs students at moderately lower rates than public schools. Further, the report notes that K12 Inc. “spends half as much per pupil as charter schools overall spend on special education instruction and a third of what districts spend on special education instruction.”

In it’s analysis of the Virtual Learning Solutions proposal and K12 Inc., District 303 officials also had a litany of legal concerns related to one lawsuit in Arkansas, and state investigations in Colorado and Florida. District 303’s review also quoted a New York Times article reporting that K12 Inc.’s Colorado Virtual Academy was ordered to repay the state $800,000 for money the state had paid it to educate students who were not actually attending the school.

Related:

• Full report from the Kane County Chronicle here. 
• April 9, 2013: Charter School Group Will Appeal Rejection in St. Charles
• April 9, 2013: St. Charles District 303 Rejects Virtual Charter School
• April 8, 2013: Review 4/8/2013 St. Charles District 303 Rejection of Virtual Charter School
• April 8, 2013: D303 Board Faces Decision on Virtual Charter School
• April 6, 2013:
• March 30, 2013: Tri-Cities Talk: Do You Support The Virtual Charter School Proposal?
• March 24, 2013: D303 Approaching Virtual Charter School With Caution
• March 14, 2013: K12 Virtual Charter School Under Heavy Fire by Illinois Jobs Activists
• March 12, 2013: Fox Valley Charter School Controversy: K12 Disputes NBC5 Tennessee Reports of Grade Tampering
• March 11, 2013:

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