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Minnesota Teachers Union Sues to Stop K12 Because State Law Requires Licensed Teachers
The state teachers union went to court Thursday to shut down an online education program popular with hundreds of home-schooling families.
Education Minnesota argues that state officials erred when they certified Minnesota Virtual Academy to receive public funding because the school relies mainly on parents to deliver the instruction, but state law requires licensed teachers do the teaching.
"Is it public education, or are we funding home schooling?" asked Education President Judy Schaubach. "... What we are talking about is, what is the definition of public education."
State officials said Minnesota Virtual Academy meets the requirements of state law, which says a licensed teacher must "assemble and deliver" the online learning product.
"We believe the school has been properly certified," said Bill Walsh, Education Department spokesman. The agency was reviewing the suit Thursday.
Minnesota Virtual Academy is a partnership between the small southeastern Minnesota school district of Houston and K12 Inc., a Virginia-based company founded by former U.S. Education Secretary William Bennett. The school opened in fall 2002 with about 150 students. It has 280 students this fall, serving kindergarten through seventh grade.
In Wisconsin, the state's largest teachers union filed a similar lawsuit. Such conflicts are part of the growing pains associated with the increasing acceptance of online learning, said Dennis Pierce, managing editor of eSchool News.
"The concerns and criticisms whether virtual education is a viable alternative seem to be lessening. But there are still questions that remain and the No. 1 question is funding," Pierce said.
In the Minnesota lawsuit, two school districts — Hopkins and Burnsville-Eagan-Savage — joined Education Minnesota as plaintiffs in the case filed in Ramsey County District Court, saying their online programs have been hurt because of the funding Houston receives for its program.
The programs in Hopkins and Burnsville differ from Houston's. Hopkins teachers interact with students regularly through e-mail and chat rooms. Some classes have real-time lectures.
At the Minnesota Virtual Academy, parents receive materials from the academy through the mail and online. The school's Web site says that "responsible adults (usually parents) guide students through their daily coursework.'' Students at the school must take state tests. The 10 academy teachers are available to respond to parent inquiries.
"Education Minnesota is diminishing the work of teachers who are employed by Minnesota Virtual Academy," said Houston Superintendent Kim Ross. "It fails to recognize our licensed teachers and the quality of service they provide."
Schools with state-approved online programs receive the same state funding for online classrooms as their bricks-and-mortar peers. The Legislature also set aside $2.25 million for the current two-year budget cycle to pay for new students who weren't enrolled in a public school program, including home and private school students.
Minnesota Virtual Academy has qualified for the bulk of that funding but still sent out more than 600 rejections to parents of students who previously were not enrolled in a public school because the money appropriated for online learning for new public school students was not enough to meet the demand.
Education Department officials said it was the Legislature's intent to fund programs like Minnesota Virtual Academy that rely on parents or another adult to help the student through the curriculum. At least one lawmaker on the Senate Education Committee agreed.
"If you have distance learning, you have to have some freedom at one end," said Sen. Gen Olson, R-Minnetrista. "To require teachers at both ends is clearly not the intent of distance learning or the legislation."
— John Welsh
Suit seeks to stop online program
Pioneer Press
2003-10-10
http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/living/education/6976944.htm
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