Julie McInerney

2-20-03

SLM521 Sp03

Article Critique #3

The article entitled, " The Cyber Charter Challenge," by Glenn Cook brings up an important dilemma facing education today. The rise of cyber schools is taking money and students away from the large and small school districts in the United States each day. This article focuses primarily on the Akron Ohio school district, and speaks directly with the superintendent, Sylvester Small. Small speaks openly about how his district has lost about $320,000 to the Electric Classroom of Tomorrow (eCOT). Since Cyber schools have risen so quickly, school districts have been caught off guard as to the success and the high enrollment they have had. These schools appeal to the many home school students and parents. Many parents turn to these cyber schools because they admit that they are unsure of the level and the curriculum that their child should be learning. "I am not an educator," said Cindy Baird who has a fourth grader at home whom she home schools. "I was trying to do a home school, but I wasn’t sure my son was working at the right level because I wasn’t working from a fixed curriculum." The article goes on to show how many of these schools have grown out of control. There has not been regulation on them, so many districts are suing to maintain their own schools and classrooms. Many of these cyber schools are funded with state monies that were not added into budgets, so many other programs have been cut. This makes for very unhappy educators, students and parents. Because of these many problems, legislation has been passed in Pennsylvania that any charter cyber school has to go through the state’s education commissioner, Charles Zogby. Zogby will be able to review claims of tuition dispute to see if they are credible before any more money is withheld from school districts.

I found this article to be very informative. The other articles I have read have focussed on the immense positive impact that cyber schools have had on students and schools, and this was the opposing side. I wondered the impact that cyber schools would have on districts since these schools take money away from the brick and mortar schools. I found out that since these cyber schools have grown so fast that legislators have had to make rules to protect the schools from losing so many students and so much money. Another aspect that I had not realized is how many parents have put their trust into these cyber schools without much research on their part. This was pretty scary since many of these cyber schools do not have the capability to have a security system. I think this could be disastrous. I am glad to see the government get involved to provide quality control for these cyber schools.

Cook, Glenn.(2002). The Cyber Charter Challenge. American School Board Journal. September 2002.