Virtual School Bus is Here
The Muncie Star Press reports today that Ball State University has approved a charter for the state’s first virtual public school. The approval came after the legislature made changes in the state charter law to permit charter school to conduct distance learning. However, critics of the move say the legislature never intended to authorize a completely online based school.
The article raises an interesting point: Such a school would not have a limited enrollment region, it could draw on thousands of pupils around the state. At $6,000 a head from the state, and very little in the way of facilities cost (at least compared with brick and mortar school) this school is going to have a lot of cash to play with. The public school teachers’ unions are not happy: "If five or ten thousand students eventually enroll in these cyberschools, then at $6,000 a child, the state could be looking at a $50 to 60 million problem in the future."
