Resource center charter schools…what are they? In California, they are rooms with computers and maybe a tutor. There are 270 of these centers operating which are not authorized by local districts. Who is watching the store? Not Governor Brown!
The centers may be a satellite online center of a charter operating in another district. The judge in the California Court of Appeals ruled that these satellite charters are illegal. They generate revenue for charters at low cost. At least 100,00 students attending these ‘store front’ charters may be affected. Online support centers are legal if they are authorized by and overseen by local districts.
Carol Burris, Executive Director of the Network for Public Education, has written a three part series on the California saga of online charter schools. Many of these charters are affiliated with K12 inc., the company that the State of Florida sued for fraud at the same time they renewed the K12 inc. contract.
At that time our local district operated a resource center for its online students rather than leave them unguarded by the corporate sector. The center is staffed and monitored by the district. In fact, they were created because online students needed and wanted more structure and support. Efforts by the California legislature to curb the abuse in its online sector have been vetoed by Governor Brown. This time, the courts overruled him. Given that the graduation rate from these online charters is ten percent, the judge is right to question the unsupervised expansion and profiteering of online charters.
There appears to be a crusade among corporate reformers to replace teachers with computers. Ed Tech is being aggressively promoted across the nation. It includes on-line and other pre-packaged programs, where digital devices are being promoted as “personalized. “student centered” or self directed learning terms. Ed Tech’s teaching track record is not positive. Corporate reformers and the new ESSA law (Every Child Succeeds Act) are investing heavily in Ed Tech and increasingly pressuring its widespread use.
Many critics are concerned about data mining and replacing valuable elements of schooling with damaging problems of too much screen time. Not to mention the enormous profits Ed Tech provides to private companies at tax payers expense.
While the appropriate use of technology in schools is recommended and every child should have a computer and learn to master it, school districts and states must become far more cautious, transparent and accountable about technology decisions.
For additional reading on Ed Tech: Parents Across America study “Our Children At Risk” and their source Media Institute’s new report ” Who Controls Our Schools” and AlterNet reporter Steven Rosenfeld.
I can’t help but wonder if much of the enthusiasm for online learning is a reaction to teacher shortages and rising costs. While appropriate use of technology can be a positive thing, the quality of programs needs such careful scrutiny.