Northville PTA Parents Say Don't Lift Cap on Cyber Charter Schools

Dear Editor, Northville Patch:

Senate Bill 619, sponsored by Senator Colbeck, will lift the caps on K-12 cyber charter schools in Michigan and is currently awaiting a vote in the Michigan House. The bill would expand the current cap of two charters and 2,000 students statewide to 15 schools by December, 2013 and 30 schools starting in 2014. With a limit of over 30,000 in each school, the bill will allow for more than 1 million students to enroll in cyber charters in Michigan in the next two years. These providers would receive the same per student allowance from tax payer dollars as the “brick and mortar” schools in Michigan.

This is a financial opportunity for which many private cyber education corporations are waiting but it is unclear whether it would actually benefit Michigan’s children.

, Senator Colbeck says that this bill will allow Michigan to “join the 21^st century.”  We feel that it represents a rush to expand which is neither necessary nor responsible at this time. 

The Michigan Legislature enacted a limited cyber-school program two years ago as part of the Race to the Top package. It wisely included a provision that requires the cyber charters to report to the Michigan Department of Education later this year as an accountability measure. If the true intent is to allow more quality options for parents and students, why not wait for the proper evaluation report and ensure that this is a viable educational pathway for our youngest students? 

Other states have pursued rapid cyber expansion with disastrous results.  A recent study published by Education News Colorado followed 10,500 cyber students. Half of those students left the cyber school within a year, many returning to traditional brick and mortar public schools woefully behind academically. Although the local public school must then meet the additional needs of these students, the funding remains with the for-profit cyber charter.  Senate Bill 619 does not address this fundamental problem which has proven to be a financial boon for cyber charters like K-12, Inc., which experienced a gross profit margin of 48.8 percent last year according to The Street Ratings.

Senator Colbeck states that “cyber schools beat state averages seventy-seven percent of the time.”  In reality, a check of the state’s dashboard, MI School Data, reveals that the two cyber charters fall below the state averages on almost all outcomes. Neither of Michigan’s two cyber charters met Adequate Yearly Progress under No Child Left Behind and a recent report from the National Education Policy Center found that only 27 percent of for-profit online schools met AYP last year.

We should recognize the cyber school expansion bill for what it is: defunding locally-controlled schools and giving Michigan tax dollars to unproven, out-of-state, for-profit companies under the guise of parental choice.

Respectfully Submitted,

Christa DiNapoli and Jane Reitman

Northville Council of PTAs Legislative Action Network