2 Indiana online charter schools face being forced to close

[TexasTowelie]

DALEVILLE, Ind. — Two Indiana online charter schools that state officials say inflated their enrollments by thousands of students could soon be forced to close.

The state Department of Education stopped providing state funding to Indiana Virtual School and Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy as it seeks to recover more than $47 million from them over the improper enrollment figures. A state audit found that more than half of the schools' some 7,000 students weren't active in any classes for at least six months during the 2017 calendar year.

Those schools have shared administration and are authorized under state law by the Daleville School Board, which voted Thursday to move toward revoking their operating charters within several weeks.

The board held its meeting after being notified last week that the two online schools were no longer operational and after receiving calls from many parents saying they couldn't obtain their child's transcripts, Daleville Superintendent Paul Garrison said. Representatives of the online schools maintain they are still functioning.

Read more: https://www.nwitimes.com/news/education/indiana-online-charter-schools-face-being-forced-to-close/article_df77f782-9685-59d7-92aa-d951092d972f.html
(Northwest Indiana Times)

[mr_lebowski]

1. Aside from perhaps as accommodation for sick/disabled kids, there should be no 'online' school, IMHO

Kids should be at school, physically.

Also, I'm no fan of homeschooling in general.

[TexasTowelie]

2. I agree.

The instructor in the class needs to pick up non-verbal signals as part of the process to determine whether the student is absorbing the lesson and learning. While online classes may involve a video link to the class, it is doubtful that the instructor receives that feedback since they are also teaching to the remainder of the class.

My overall experience watching my friends and my brother take online classes show that the students don't absorb much learning. A few weeks after the class has ended the students retain almost nothing.