Dive Summary:
- Massachusetts is set to open two more online public schools in the next year, and districts are clamoring to establish their own as a new state law allows 10 online schools to open by 2020.
- The move comes as test scores show one virtual academy in the state has math proficiency that is half the state average and a state education official calls the scores “nothing to write home about.”
- Advocates defend the online schools and say enrollment is geared toward students expelled from conventional schools, kids who are chronically ill, teen parents, actors and bullying victims — students who might typically be left out of the school system altogether.
From the article:
... “It’s another way we can meet the educational needs of kids that are often very hard to educate, left out or left behind,” said former state Rep. Marty Walz, the bill’s author. “It’s a small subset of kids, but it’s kids whose needs are almost never being met by our schools. I don’t want to leave anyone behind if there’s a way to reach them.” ...
