About Public Schools

Just as the internet has changed the way Americans shop, date, and stay updated with the news, it is also changing the landscape of American education. Across the country, elementary, middle, and high school students are opting out of traditional public schools in favor of attending virtual charter schools.

Virtual charter schools provide students with online courses of study taught by licensed teachers. According to the International Association for K12 Online Learning, 200 virtual charter schools were in operation nationwide during the 2008-09 school year. Experts expect this number to grow, as the K-12 online learning industry is expanding at an estimated annual pace of 30%.

As the number of students who choose to enroll in virtual charter schools swells, critics of this new educational trend have begun voicing their concerns. Opponents believe that virtual charter schools could become a disservice to all students, and worse, a dangerous final nail in the coffin of an already weakened public education system. Meanwhile, advocates for the online educational model maintain that the individualized and customized learning that virtual charter schools enable is exactly what many modern-day students need.

This video answers common questions about virtual charter schools.

Advantages of Virtual Charter Schools

Customized, Personalized Learning

The largest advantage of virtual charter schools is their ability to offer students customized, individualized programs of study. In traditional public schools, teachers often have to

President Obama’s Race to the Top education initiative strongly supports charter schools, but can these institutions save failing public school districts? While there are currently more than 4,700 charter schools in America, their track record is mixed. Some campuses have garnered tremendous accolades and accomplishments, while other charter schools are negatively impacted by financial management issues, spotty performance, and disruptive conflict with teachers' unions and districts.

Charter Schools: Campuses that Outperform

Charter schools can provide students with a medley of benefits that the traditional public school finds difficult to rival. Typically, charter schools have smaller classes, which foster discussion and allow teachers to spend more time with each student. Other schools have experimented with innovative teaching methods, including curriculum focused on AP coursework or even virtual learning. For example, as reported by the Washington Post, the students at the Basis Scottsdale Charter School in Arizona are required to take a minimum of six AP exams before their senior year.

While charter schools overall may have a mixed record of performance, research does demonstrate that the top charter schools outperform their traditional counterparts. As an MIT study reveals, after attending a Boston-area charter school for just one year, middle school students improved their academic performance by 15%. Another Stanford University study discovered that students attending New York City School District’s charter schools had a greater probability of closing performance gaps between themselves and their more affluent counterparts.

As E.coli outbreaks grow with regularity, public schools are being scrutinized for their lunches. According to Associated Press reports released in early November, the leader of the House Education and Labor Committee is investigating the health and safety of public school lunches.

After California’s representative, George Miller, brought attention to a deadly outbreak of E. coli that resulted in two deaths and dozens of reported illnesses, the government is working to ensure that school meals are protected from these dangers. Although there were no reported schools specifically impacted by the recent E. coli outbreak, Miller believes that the Government Accountability Office should take responsibility for ensuring that schools are not purchasing their meats and produce from contaminated facilities.

Are School Lunches Safe for Consumption?

In examining many political leaders’ demands for increased food safety measures in public schools, the Associated Press further reports that “Federal authorities had failed to tell schools about recalls of potentially tainted peanut products and canned vegetables, and cafeterias may have unknowingly served them to children.” Expanding on this concern, the Government Accountability Office also discovered that the U.S. Agriculture Department was inconsistent with its efforts in contacting schools about distributed food recalls.

While students from all socioeconomic backgrounds commonly purchase school lunches, an estimated 30 million students depend upon federally funded lunch and breakfast programs from school cafeterias as their only source of nutrition and sustenance. This fact alone has prompted community leaders to express their outrage over the

Today’s physical education classes have undergone great transformations and reforms. Yoga is replacing laps around the gym, aerobics takes the place of dodge ball, and some students can even take “online” gym class! Through these innovative changes at many public schools, students are rekindling their enthusiasm for physical education.

The Shakopee Public Schools explain some of the benefits of PE as follows:

• "Improved Judgment: Quality physical education can influence moral development. Students have the opportunity to assume leadership, cooperate with others; question actions and regulations and accept responsibility for their own behavior.
• Stress Reduction: Physical activity becomes an outlet for releasing tension and anxiety, and facilitates emotional stability and resilience.
• Strengthened Peer Relationships: Physical education can be a major force in helping children socialize with others successfully and provides opportunities to learn positive people skills. Especially during late childhood and adolescence, being able to participate in dances, games and sports is an important part of peer culture.
• Improved Self-confidence and Self-esteem: Physical education instills a stronger sense of self-worth in children based on their mastery of skills and concepts in physical activity. They can become more confident, assertive, independent and self-controlled.
• Experience Setting Goals: Physical education provides children the opportunity to set and strive for personal, achievable goals."

Online Gym and Fitness Classes

For students who dread the thought of gym class, physical education may literally be just a few mouse clicks away. In fact, some Minneapolis public schools are offering online fitness courses to

As we enter into the height of the flu season, the spread of the H1N1 virus has already closed down many public schools across the country. Although schools are preparing against campus outbreaks, will your child’s school take the necessary precautions to shut down the campus?

According to MSNBC, the Brookings Center on Social and Economic Dynamics estimates that closing down schools and daycares for an average of four weeks could ultimately cost between $10 billion and $47 billion. Shutting down campuses results in a loss of productivity and financial resources, while the schools simultaneously incur cleaning and reopening costs. Because closings can result in such severe costs, “The government is urging schools to close only as a last resort, such as when large numbers of kids or staffers come down with swine flu.”

While officials are hoping that schools can avoid the costly and dreaded inconveniences of school-wide closings, reality may not align with their ideals. According to reports, approximately 200 schools closed before early October 2009, which affected an estimated 80,000 students.

This video offers professional insight into the H1N1 influenza outbreak.

When a School Decides to Shut its Doors

What level of an outbreak will prompt a public school to shut its doors? While each school’s leaders may utilize a different set of criteria, it appears that most public schools will close the campus once 30% of their students have influenza