Cyber Charter Schools

CEO Commentary

      Cyber schools offer an important choice for students and parents who seek a different type of public education.   When the four walls are removed, students are free to interact with a wider group of students and teachers.   The stigmas or advantages of socioeconomic level and geographic location disappear as virtual classes of students learn and grow together.

      Cyber schools fill the educational needs of many students, such as:

• Advanced students who seek academic challenge
• Home schooled students
• Sick children who are homebound
• Students who never fit into the traditional school model
• Pregnant girls
• Young working mothers who want to complete their education
• At-risk students who are suspended or expelled
• Special needs students whose physical and medical requirements are better met at home

     As with any new idea, problems have surfaced.   Most concerns are regulatory as cyber schools devise ways to meet public school rules and regulations that were written for a “bricks and mortar” school environment.   The most heated controversy has focused on funding.   The education establishment views cyber schools as interlopers that are taking state and federal funds away from traditional schools.   The funding issue can be solved through common sense legislation that is based on analysis of actual cyber school expenditures.

      The hardest problem to overcome is the education establishment’s underlying fear   – fear of new ideas that compete with their monopoly on public education.   Powerful organizations such as the NEA have opposed the concept of virtual schools.  

      Clearly, cyber schools meet the needs of many students who have often fallen between the cracks of traditional education.   Success will breed acceptance.   Cyber schools are a significant model for education in the 21 st century.