'Virtual' Charter School Wants Tax Dollars From St. Charles, 17 Other Fox Valley Districts
At a public hearing Monday in Geneva, Virtual Learning Academy @ Fox River Valley will make a case for an online charter school.
Illinois Virtual Charter School @ Fox River Valley will present an online alternative to a public-school education — using your tax dollars — during a public hearing Monday night at the Geneva School Board meeting.
The charter school would include Geneva School District 304 and 17 other Fox Valley districts, including Batavia School District 101 and St. Charles Community Unit School District 303.
According to the charter school application, the 18 school boards — which serve more than 250,000 students in grades K-12 — will have an option to jointly issue the charter, but "if any of the school districts denies the application, the proposal will be appealed to the State Charter School Commission." If approved, the school would open in August for the 2013-14 school year.
Organizers describe the virtual school as "a 21st-century learning community focused on results."
"The ILVCS@FRV team of hard-working, highly qualified staff, in partnership with parents, will strive for student mastery of a rigorous, research-based curriculum aligned to Illinois’ Learning Standards, including the Common Core State Standards," according to the application's overview.
"Delivered on- and offline, this unique program will put public school accountability, teacher competence, and meaningful parent/adult involvement at the center of student learning.
"ILVCS@FRV will provide a high-quality, innovative, and effective individualized online charter school education to students who, for a variety of reasons, choose to be educated in an online school setting."
The Fox Valley schools would partner with K12 Virtual Schools LLC (K12), which provides online eductionn to 100,000 students "in distance learning programs in all 50 states."
The charter school hopes to have 500 students in its first year and 2,000 by the fifth year of its five-year charter.
The charter school would be funded by transferring the per-pupil expenditure tuition from the public school to the charter school, Kaneland Superintendent Jeff Schuler told The Beacon-News.
The amount varies by school district, but Schuler estimated that the virtual charter school could collect about $11,000 per student.
Schuler told the Kaneland School Board that if a student enrolls in the charter school and decides to return to the public school, the funding stays with the charter school once it is diverted.
The charter school offers curriculum for all students, including gifted students and students with a disability. For students in the latter category, an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) meeting is set up upon enrollment with the appropriate team members in attendance.
Read the full charter-school report here.
Districts Targeted for a Fox River Valley Region
- School District U-46
- Indian Prairie School District 204
- Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202
- Community Unit School District 300
- Valley View Community Unit School District 365U
- Naperville Community Unit School District 203
- Oswego Community Unit School District 308
- East Aurora School District 131
- St. Charles Community Unit School District 303
- Community Unit School District 200
- West Aurora School District 129
- Batavia Public School District 101
- Geneva Community Unit School District 304
- DeKalb Community Unit School District 428
- Yorkville Community Unit School District 115
- Kaneland Community Unit School District 302
- Sycamore Community Unit School District 427
- Central Community Unit School District 301
What do you think of the idea? Let us know in the comments section below.
Let Patch save you time. Have local stories delivered directly to your inbox with our free newsletter. Fast signup here.
Then like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter at @StCharlsILPatch.
Brian Doyle
9:28 pm on Monday, March 11, 2013
The New York Times reported in December 2011 that "only a third of K12’s schools achieved adequate yearly progress" according to a study conducted by Western Michigan University and the National Education Policy Center.
The NYT article is available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/13/education/online-schools-score-better-on-wall-street-than-in-classrooms.html
The actual study is available at: http://nepc.colorado.edu/files/nepc-rb-k12-miron.pdf
As the executive summary of that report reads: "Weak performance outcomes were found across an array of school performance measures. Before promoting or even enabling the expansion of full-time virtual schools, more research is needed concerning two key issues: understanding why the performance of full-time virtual schools suffers, and how that performance can be improved."
Brian Doyle
9:41 pm on Monday, March 11, 2013
Recommendation for policymakers from the Miron & Urschel (2012) study:
"Slow or put a moratorium on the growth of full-time virtual schools: In the area of full-time virtual education, states should place their first priority on understanding why the performance of virtual schools suffers and how it can be improved before undertaking any measures or programs to expand this new model of schooling."
Ted Schnell
10:15 pm on Monday, March 11, 2013
I learned tonight that the St. Charles Community Unit School District 303 Board of Education is scheduled to consider this matter during a special meeting on Monday, March 18.
Ourkids2
6:10 pm on Tuesday, March 12, 2013
It seems there is nothing to stop this charter school from opening - they have plans to start in the Fall of 2013 and if the school districts oppose it, they will appeal to the State Charter School. Who exactly IS Virtual Online Solutions and why are they so interested in the Fox Valley region - could it be $$$?
LFreiberg
10:28 pm on Tuesday, March 12, 2013
These sites, my friends, should tell you all you need to know about govt indoctrination.
http://michellemalkin.com/2013/03/11/attention-parents-common-core-opt-out-form-now-available/
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/03/09/let-go-of-the-system-how-can-parents-teachers-stop-cscope/. Another govt indoctrination curriculum they are fighting in TX.
http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/common-core-sparks-war-over-words-among-literature-teachers/
http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/common-cores-uniform-doesnt-fit-american-students/
LFreiberg
10:34 pm on Tuesday, March 12, 2013
On "Michelle's" site - the 'form' doesn't show on mobile - but, you can scroll down to read it. Thanks for letting me post!
Brian Doyle
7:29 am on Wednesday, March 13, 2013
LFreiberg: K12.com's website indicates that it is "committed to aligning (its) curricula to the Common Core State Standards." http://www.k12.com/educators/targeted-solutions/meeting-standards
Therefore, if you're suggesting that Ilinois Virtual Charter School @ Fox River Valley will provide an alternative to CCSS, that doesn't appear to be the case.
Niel
10:44 pm on Thursday, March 14, 2013
There is one thing mentioned in the article above, that should help any tax payer stop this Charter School initiative: "Schuler told the Kaneland School Board that if a student enrolls in the charter school and decides to return to the public school, the funding stays with the charter school once it is diverted"
So a for profit business gets to keep tax payer money even if the student returns to the public school, really? They don't need to do anything but get enrollment to collect $10,000 per enrolled student. In other words they will put all their money and efforts into marketing.