9486 in the collection
Virtual Schools Turn Up Volume on Marketing
In a media blitz worthy of Madison Avenue, three statewide virtual charter schools are spending big bucks this month to attract even bigger bucks - in the form of hundreds of public school students and the hundreds of thousands of tax dollars they represent.
Wisconsin Connections Academy, Wisconsin Virtual Academy and, in particular, the just-approved iQ Academies at Wisconsin are using paid advertisements, billboards and direct mail to woo students during the state's three-week annual open enrollment period that begins Monday and runs through Feb. 20.
The marketing onslaught doesn't surprise the head of the Wisconsin Association of School Boards.
"I think the marketers are going to take over," said Ken Cole, the association's executive director. "We're entering into an era where choices and options are out there. There was a time when your opportunities for public education were as many as you could walk to or get a bus to. Now your opportunities aren't limited."
Open enrollment allows students to attend school in a district other than the one in which they reside. Districts that enroll non-resident students under the law receive additional state aid per pupil, while districts that lose students also lose aid.
Adding virtual charter schools to the mix has put new focus on the law's financial impact, since the schools enroll hundreds of students who live outside the sponsoring district. The schools are operated by public school districts in conjunction with for-profit companies that can then sell their curriculum materials.
In the virtual school model, students enroll in the sponsoring district but do not physically attend classes there. Instead, they learn at home under the supervision of their parents using curriculum provided by the for-profit company. Teachers monitor their progress electronically.
Larry Kaseman, executive director of the Wisconsin Parents Association, which provides support to home-schooling families, is concerned about the aggressive marketing efforts by the virtual schools' for-profit partners.
Kaseman says he has heard complaints from home-schoolers who wonder where the companies got their names. And even though the virtual schools emphasize that their approach is different than home-schooling, Kaseman sees the virtual schools' marketing as clouding the distinctions.
"It concerns us, because historically, and currently, there has been a great deal of effort by these for-profit entities to blur what they are offering and what home schooling really is," he said.
$300,000 blitz in three weeks
As the new kid on the block, iQ Academies is launching the biggest media campaign. The high school is due to open this fall under a contract between the Waukesha School District and KC Distance Learning.
Last week, officials held a press conference to celebrate the school's launch. The event, which was attended by several reporters including two television crews, came complete with press kits, a dramatic unveiling of the school logo and a testimonial from a 14-year-old prospective student from Eau Claire.
The event was a foretaste of an expensive media blitz. Keith Oelrich, president and CEO of KC Distance Learning, said his company expects to spend about $300,000 over the open enrollment application period to get the word out about the school.
Television, radio and print advertisements will run. Billboards will go up. And 120 information sessions will be staged around the state to offer information on iQ Academies to parents and prospective students, Oelrich said.
The early publicity push is critical to the new school's success.
The contract between the school district and KC Distance requires that at least 500 students sign up for enrollment at the school by Feb. 27 or the contract is subject to change.
Wisconsin Connections and Wisconsin Virtual Academy are mounting lower-key campaigns, although both schools will be competing for exactly the same type of students for the first time.
Opened in the fall of 2002, Wisconsin Connections is run by the Appleton Area School District and Sylvan Learning Systems. It has about 300 students in kindergarten through eighth grade.
The state's biggest virtual charter school, Wisconsin Virtual Academy, opened last fall under a partnership between the Northern Ozaukee School District and K12 Inc., a for-profit company headed by former U.S. Secretary of Education Bill Bennett. The school has about 400 students in kindergarten through seventh grade. Next year, it plans to add eighth grade.
Connections officials say they would like to sign up at least 200 new students in February while Wisconsin Virtual Academy officials hope to double their enrollment.
Mickey Revenaugh, vice president for partnership and outreach with Connections Academy, the arm of Sylvan that operates virtual schools, said the school would spend about $90,000 this year on marketing. The effort will include paid radio ads and direct mail, but the school's main method of recruitment will be information sessions featuring current parents, Revenaugh said.
"We're being strategic about how we reach out to parents," she said.
Parent information sessions and direct mailings also will be crucial elements of Wisconsin Virtual Academy's marketing campaign, according to Jeff Kwitowski, senior manager of public relations for K12. Kwitowski declined to reveal how much the company was spending on marketing the school except to say that it was "much, much less" than what KC was spending.
No matter what they spend, Northern Ozaukee school Superintendent Bill Harbron is asking K12 representatives to make some adjustments to their marketing approach this time around to avoid overselling the school.
After a short but intense campaign last year, the virtual academy received more than 1,000 applications. About 455 students actually enrolled, and the enrollment has continued to drop ever since as parents have discovered the program doesn't fit their needs, Harbron said.
"There's no sense recruiting a large number of students (and) then having them enter the program and drop out," Harbron said. "We want parents to make a very realistic choice for their child."
— Anne Davis
Virtual schools turn up volume on marketing
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
2004-02-02
http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/feb04/204381.asp
INDEX OF OUTRAGES
Pages: 380
[1] 2 3 4 5 6 Next >> Last >>
