An Article of Interest

My friends over at NCSW@yahoogroups.com sent this my way...

Virtual school seeing virtually no profits
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20051205-104305-5152r

WAUKESHA, Wis., Dec. 5 (UPI) -- Wisconsin's first statewide virtual high school is not the money maker that the school officials had hoped. The Waukesha School Board had estimated that the school, called iQAcademies at Wisconsin, could start generating as much as $1 million for the school district by next year, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. Now the school expects to be $1.2 million in the red by next summer. Revenue has been below expectations, with fewer students bringing fewer> dollars to the school than originally predicted. Costs also have been running higher than expected. When the idea of virtual schools with students attending from home via computer first emerged, it seemed a surefire way for a savvy schoold istrict to make some extra cash, the newspaper said.

"I think the assumption was everybody saw it as a quick way to make a dollar. And it's not," said William Harbron, superintendent of theNorthern Ozaukee School District, which runs a virtual elementary school.

This is kind of interesting, as most of the literature that I have read on virtual schooling suggests that it isn't cheaper, but actually costs more money. When you consider that the Florida Virtual High School, as an example, spends tens of thousands (and in many instances over a hundred thousand dollars) for a sinle course. It is well recognized that a classroom teacher can accommodate more students per teacher than an online teacher can. For example, in my home province of Newfoundland and Labrador a teacher would typically have 150-180+ students (25-30 students per class for 6 classes in a seven slot schedule), whereas the virtual high school in Newfoundland, the Centre for Distance Learning and Innovation, has indicated that roughly 80 students is enough for a full course load for an online teacher.

If anything, virtual schooling is more expensive, but it is a matter of is it money well spent?

Tags: virtual school, cyber school, high school, education