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Letter to the Editor
Letter to the Editor: Ask Your School Boar to "Vote No" Against Online Charter School
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- Editor's Note: Batavia School District 101 is expected to tackle the online charter school issue at its March 19 meeting. Geneva School District 304 held a public hearing March 11.
There have been many articles lately about the proposed virtual online program that may be offered by a for profit company that has no direct responsibility to our school districts if implemented.
This proposal to allow this organization into our communities has become deeply troubling to me for many good reasons. This proposal by the company that is making such an offer is known as the Illinois Virtual Academy at Fox River Valley (VLS) that would fall under the controversial umbrella of K12, Inc. The VLS Company would be a start up here in our state and has no past experience in this type of education which is a major concern in itself.
I have found many troubling articles about K12, Inc. that discuss concerning practices, multiple law suits and claims that the program does not benefit the student as the company claims it does. I have found the company has hired many lobbyists around the country to lobby on their behalf to help change the laws to make it more accessible for their company to enter our school districts and ultimately to the desk of our kids at home.
They have also paid thousands of dollars in donations to political candidates. Some have been paid to local elected officials here in Oswego per the Illinois Board of Elections web site.
I find it troubling that so much time is being devoted to this by local school administration’s to defend their position as it is taking away what they should be focusing on, our own schools. Once the child has left the school district and enters this new virtual program at home, so does our tax dollars that goes right into the for profit enterprise where the number one goal is to make money.
Many other questions are left to answer. What about afterschool programs that the on line student cannot participate in? What about the loss of social interaction? What if the student does not do well and needs to come back to the traditional public school? Who pays for getting that student back on track? The answer to all of these questions are simple; it will be the local people in each school district who will be left to deal with these issues and they will be costly in money and lost time that a child cannot get back.
An online program has its place, online programs are being done effectively around the country in education. The best way they can be successful is to have them run fully through our school district where we have adequate oversight with the best interest in mind of our school kids.
Please contact your school board today and advise them to vote no against the for profit on line program that is associated with VLS and K12, Inc. This is not about a parent’s choice and free will; it’s about making money off of our hard earned tax dollars where we all need every dime and resource to go to our kids. It should not go to a shareholder who has nothing to do with our school district and does not care about the problems associated with this business model that does more harm than good to our fine communities.
David R. Edelman
Oswego
Related Articles
- UPDATE Fox Valley Charter School Controversy: K12 Disputes NBC5 Tennessee Reports of Grade Tampering
- 2ND UPDATE: 'Virtual' Charter School Was Not Informed of Monday Night's Public Hearing
- K12 Virtual Charter School Under Heavy Fire by Illinois Jobs Activists
Thanks. We'll email you the next time we update this story.
Bri Boyle
7:16 pm on Monday, March 18, 2013
Mr. Edelman,
I want to clerify a few things. Chicago Virtual Charter School is a public K-12 school in Chicago using K12's curriculum. I have 3 children who have attended this school for a year and a half and there grades and test scores have improved 100%. This hybrid model blends at home online learning with at school instruction. Social interaction is stressed and this model actually gives the student more freedom to join sports programs and clubs in their area. Chicago Virtual Charter School's High School was named 14th in Chicago Magazines top 15 High Schools in Chicago. This was based on percentage of students who meet or exceed state standards on the PSAE, ACT scores and graduation rates. Our school is not the only Charter School in the country enjoying these accolades. I urge the Fox River Valley school boards to do their research on this and other charter schools before making their decision. I was at the public forum in Geneva and I can tell you, they are NOT being given the whole picture and infact some of the information they were given was completely false. I think whatever their decision it should be an informed one.
G.Ryan
7:28 pm on Monday, March 18, 2013
Geneva School District is over 300 MILLION in DEBT. The system is broken and we don't need another scam to add to this debt. Us taxpayers do not have anymore funds to spare. Go live in Chgo then and get your Chartered Life.
Chris B
8:12 pm on Monday, March 18, 2013
I was at the forum this past Sunday and the information that was spoken about was highly incorrect. I have 3 children in CVCS and they are all thriving in the school. As for the big argument that K12 is a for-profit organization you are correct, but so is every other company in the education supply business. As for the quality of the education I would ask you to look at the article from Chicago Magazine which rated the best public schools in Chicago and the neighboring Counties. http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/September-2012/Best-Public-Schools-in-Chicago-and-the-Suburbs/. Yes, this is a different way to interact with school but everyone learns differently and having options on the way we educate our children should be a choice you have. Educate yourself on the way the Virtual Charter Schools work and operate then make an informed choice, do not allow yourself to be fed information as a basis for a decision.
Bill Scown
8:12 am on Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Bri Boyl presents herself as a mom with 3 kids who attend Chicago Virtual Public School who are doing quite well. That may well be true but she fails to disclose that she is also employed by CVPS as secretary to the board according to her facebook page. Forgive me if I doubt that her endorsement is unbiased or valid. Where is the unbiased, 3rd party performance data for K12 and its affiliated "non profit" charters?
Bri Boyle
9:33 am on Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Mr. Scown,
I am not employed by CVCS or K12. I am a member of the Board of Directors of CVCS and it is a volunteer position. Had you gone to the CVCS website you would find that I joined the Board in December 2011 AFTER my children had been attending the school for a semester, AFTER i saw the literal 100% improvement in my children's grades, enjoyment for school and AFTER seeing the amazing (Chicago Public School teachers) staff. The UNBIASED information you seek on our non profit school and other charters is readily available by doing the same google search I did on Charter Schools in the year it took me to make the decision apply and enroll my children in CVCS.
Bill Scown
1:28 pm on Tuesday, March 19, 2013
BrI: Following your advice I found the Chicago Public Schools Report card for CVCS at http://www.cps.edu/Schools/Pages/school.aspx?id=400036 . The report card shows that:
CVCS’s performance rating is “Low Academic Standing (Level 3)”.
The number of Freshman graduating with in 5 years was 41.7% vs a CPS average of 61.2%
The drop out rate for CVCS in 2012 was 21.1% vs a CPS average of 6.7%
Meet or Exceed on PSAE for CVCS was 34.4% vs 31.5% for CPS
Students scoring 20 or higher on the ACT for CVCS was 26.5% vs 28.5% for CPS
I think the report card says is that at best CVCS is performing in line to lower than the average CPS school. But what CVCS needs to do is to make the case that they have a proven track record of improving the performance of the students that enter their program. To make that case I’d like to see data that shows significant improvement in individual student achievement from entry onward at CVCS
Geneva and the other school districts that K12 seeks to enter in the Fox River Valley have much higher test scores and much better outcomes than CVCS. In no small part this is due to better demographics, but none the less we have school districts here that are performing very well for their students. Why would we want to divert funds to a solution that performs marginally worse that the average CPS school?
Bri Boyle
2:00 pm on Tuesday, March 19, 2013
this year will only be our 3rd graduating class as the high school was started later than the k-8 school. We just had a meeting with CPS and they found there is no real standard by which to set our school since it is literally the first of it's kind being a hybrid model. The solution CPS came up with is to rate our students by the actual public school that would be in their district. Applying this model the students now rank 15 to 22% higher than the students in their corresponding school. Our school is also 61% low income with half the students of Northside Prep, which is the top rated school in Chicago and is selective, we are not. Also they have 31% low income so again. I am very proud of the strides my students as well as all the students at CVCS. Especially when I see what the "report cards" of the schools they have come from are. CVCS has proven and continues to prove significant improvement from when a student enters the program onward. Just look at the minutes of our Board meetings where we do monthly benchmarks tracking the progress of our students. I am glad to see that I have done what I set out to do is to get the parents and board members to DO THE RESEARCH. I keep saying whatever your decision it must be an INFORMED one.
Bill Scown
2:37 pm on Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Bri: If you and the folks at K12 can, then please show us the statistically valid data that supports the claim that K12 really has a track record of improving the performance of students that enter the program and that the program will address unmet needs of students in our districts. Anecdotes, especially anecdotes from folks who are associated with K12 and its affiliates, are nice but they aren't sufficient.
Bri Boyle
4:25 pm on Tuesday, March 19, 2013
here are some websites: http://www.isbe.net/charter/pdf/charter_annual_10.pdf
http://incschools.org/charters/charter-school-data-finder/data-school-performance/
http://incschools.org/docs/2012_Charter_Excellence_Awards_Submission_Guidelines.pdf
Bri Boyle
4:28 pm on Tuesday, March 19, 2013
here is one more: http://www.cps.edu/News/Press_releases/2009/Pages/03_17_2009_PR1.aspx
Bill Scown
7:29 am on Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Bri: This is the same data as reported on the CPS report card that I cited in my earlier response. It does not support the contention that K12 has a track record of improving the performance of students that enter the program.
Bri Boyle
8:06 am on Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Bill my only goal here was to get the other side out. At that forum not one board member was interested in that. I heard profits, salary and taxes. They all prefaced their questions with "I am voting no" without having asked for data on charters or even wondering why nobody from a charter or k12 was there. That is irresponsible. Their loyalty should be to the students of those districts period. Again I am not employed by k12 and I can only speak for my students charter school and that it has proven to work. Infromed decision Bill, that is all I have said here.