LOTD
A g-school grad no doubt wrote this amazingly disjointed LttE:
School fills a need
Editor: I was extremely disappointed with your May 16 editorial, “Pay flat rates for cyberschools.†It was terribly one-sided and appeared to reflect the National Education Association viewpoint.
First, by your own admission, schools save $2,500. Each student costs the taxpayer approximately $10,000 but the cyberschool only gets approximately $7,500. It may be if only one student from that school district goes to cyberschool, there is not a $2,500 savings because the cost is basically the same for a class of 23 as a class of 25. However, if 25 students attend a cyberschool, then obviously there is a significant reduction in cost. So there are savings to the school district.
There is accountability with cyberschools. Every cyberschool student is required to take the PSSAs. If the parents, and possibly the child, are not happy, they will not return to cyberschool.
As for cyberschools failing to meet the minimum scores on their PSSAs in compliance with the “No Child Left Behind Act,†it needs to be researched why this is so. More than half of cyberschool students were brick-and-mortar school failures. They were already “left behind.†So why blame the cyberschool for that? If the child has been diagnosed as learning-challenged, dyslexic, etc., then adjustments need to be made to the results.
Third, the fact that many cyberschool students used to be homeschoolers who cost the state nothing is irrelevant. The fact is that society owes each child the best education possible. The more choices we have in the type of education available, the more we can fully institute the purpose behind the “No Child Left Behind Act.â€
The NEA has a history of attempting to fight funding and even the ability for cyberschools, homeschoolers, charter schools and even private schools from operating. This is not pro-education, but rather a form of an educational monopoly with essentially unlimited funding to fight its opponents, all paid for at taxpayer expense.
I urge taxpayers who care about the educational quality for each student at a reasonable expense to support cyberschools. Cyberschools save money, are accountable and are a viable option for many students who need a different form of education.
One Response to “LOTD”
 Comment by Nance Confer May 21st, 2007 at 10:10 am |
Each student costs the taxpayer approximately $10,000 . . Nance |