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 Annette Walaszek, an Algoma High School science teacher and Wisconsin Virtual School instructor, testified that SB 396 contains several key ideas that will ensure the quality and availability of online courses and require that teachers and administrators of online course programs be accountable for student learning and success. |
Virtual public school legislation must ensure that quality instruction is provided to students, that virtual schools are accountable to taxpayers, that they provide equal access to online learning and that local school districts retain control, a WEAC legal counsel testified this week at hearings on bills introduced in the State Senate and Assembly.
WEAC on Wednesday (January 17, 2008) registered in support of SB 396, sponsored by Senator John Lehman (D-Racine), because it provides all of those assurances, WEAC legal counsel Lucy Brown said. WEAC on Tuesday (January 16, 2008) voiced its opposition to a virtual public schools bill (AB 697) proposed in the Republican Assembly because it does not provide the necessary safeguards for ensuring quality virtual public schools.
The Legislature took up the bills relating to virtual public schools after a court of appeals unanimously ruled in December that Wisconsin Virtual Academy (WIVA), an online taxpayer-funded charter school, violated the state’s charter school and open enrollment statutes, and relied on parents to serve as teachers in violation of the teacher certification law.
 Sen. John Lehman (D-Racine) has introduced virtual school legislation designed to promote innovation while ensuring quality public education in Wisconsin. |
The court also ruled that WIVA could not use the open enrollment statute (its primary source of funding) to provide education to students who receive their education outside the borders of the district to which they had open-enrolled.
WEAC is eager to work with the state Legislature and with other education groups to develop legislation, as other states have, that encourages innovation, protects taxpayers and students, and ensures that all students attend great schools, Brown told both committees.
Among the details she pointed out:
The safeguards that are of primary importance for the Legislature to consider when crafting a virtual education law that provides assurances of quality and funding fairness are:
Finally, Brown testified, using the open enrollment payments to fund virtual charter schools is problematic. The open enrollment formula has no relationship to the actual costs of educating a student in a virtual charter school.
 WEAC legal counsel Lucy Brown explains the key reasons an Assembly bill regarding virtual education will not address key issues raised in a court of appeals ruling. |
“I believe the Legislature has taken an important first step with Senate Bill 396 in addressing the question of whether taxpayers of the state of Wisconsin should pay the full open enrollment amount for virtual schooling if that schooling provides fewer services to the students than a brick-and-mortar school,” she said.
Annette Walaszek, an Algoma High School science teacher and Wisconsin Virtual School instructor, testified that SB 396 contains several key ideas that will ensure the quality and availability of online courses and require that teachers and administrators of online course programs be accountable for student learning and success.
In a statement, WEAC President Mary Bell agreed, affirming that virtual education can play a vital role in today’s great schools, and many WEAC members throughout the state use virtual education technologies in their classrooms every day. “WEAC calls upon the Wisconsin Legislature to establish standards for fiscal and academic accountability to the taxpayers, parents and students,” Bell said.
Posted January 17, 2008