Politics & Government
Virtual Charter School Faces Virtual State Roadblock
A state House committee has advanced a measure crafted by state Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia, D-Aurora, to put a one-year moratorium on virtual online learning proposals to local school districts.
A one-year moratorium on the creation of virtual online charter schools is making its way through the Illinois General Assembly.
After school boards from around the Fox Valley area voted this week to deny Virtual Learning Solutions' K12 Inc. admittance to their curriculum, state Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia, D-Aurora, is crafting legislation that would stop the online learning proposals for up to a year, according to the Kane County Chronicle. The moratorium would give the state more time to study virtual online learning and its effects on education.
The legislation, which is co-sponsored by state Rep. Kay Hatcher, R-Yorkville, passed Chapa LaVia’s House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee this week, and soon could make its way to the full House for a vote, the Chronicle reported.
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“All my school boards voiced their concerns about this topic. Online learning has great value, but the (Illinois State Charter School Commission) was not created to address a totally virtual environment,” Hatcher said in a post on her Facebook page. “This gives everyone time to address our changing education platform.”
The Chronicle’s report comes days after Monday’s unanimous vote by the St. Charles Community Unit School District 303 Board of Education to reject the proposal by Virtual Learning Solutions, a nonprofit entity seeking to create a virtual charter school drawing students and tax dollars from 18 school district in and around the Fox Valley.
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Virtual Learning Solutions, whose plan involves contracting with the for-profit K12 Inc. to educate the students, has vowed to appeal the board’s decision to the Illinois State Charter School Commission.
K12 Inc. is the nation’s largest virtual school company, operating 48 full-time virtual schools as of July 2012.
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