OKLAHOMA CITY – Though most students in public schools attend a regular ‘brick and mortar’ school, the number of alternatives to the traditional classroom continues to grow, members of the House Common Education Committee were told last week.
OKLAHOMA CITY – Though most students in public schools attend a regular ‘brick and mortar’ school, the number of alternatives to the traditional classroom continues to grow, members of the House Common Education Committee were told last week.
And, at the same time, student data from a 2017 study by the state Department of Education shows that more than 694,000 students were enrolled in Oklahoma public schools, an increase of more than 21,000 from 2012.
INTERIM HEARING
House education committee members spent Wednesday- day, Sept. 18, examining school choice, blended and virtual learning and possible revision to teacher certification during an interim hearing. The meeting was the third meeting this fall for the committee.
Brad Clark, chief legal counsel for the SDE, said the state has an open transfer policy that allows student and family choice.
Clark said many school districts have begun offering new options including a blended learning center, on-line courses, conversion schools, and virtual schools.
INDIVIDUAL DISTRICT NEEDS
But those offerings, he said, differ from district to district. “What works in design in Tulsa, may not fit the need of another community in Oklahoma,” he said. Rebecca Wilkerson, executive director of the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board, said enrollment in virtual charter schools has grown dramatically over the past few years. Wilkerson said the board began studying the sharp increase in enrollment.
“We need to understand the families making these choices,” she said. “We wanted to know why so many families so quickly were choosing virtual schools. Why did we see the growth of virtual schools?”
SCHOOL SAFETY
Wilkerson said there were many reasons but added that “school safety was mentioned more often than any other choice.”
“Flexibility and the ability to meet the specific needs of a student were also listed,” she said. She said many military families also chose an on-line education for their students.
“It’s not an easy choice for most families to make,” she said.
John Federline, executive director of secondary education at Tulsa Union Public Schools said that public schools were not what they used to be.
“Students and families have a wide variety of needs,” he said. “We have an extremely diverse school district.”
Federline said officials at Union schools recognized that their students had a diverse set of needs and developed to programs to be responsive and forward-thinking. He said the district created a 100% virtual program in addition to a blended model.
“Previously we had limited virtual offerings,” he said.
Federline said Union schools have about 35 students enrolled in its virtual program.
“Many families that have enrolled in this program have (previously) been homeschooled,” he said. “It has a very rigorous curriculum and they (the students) are able to work at their own pace from home.”
EXTRACURRICULAR PROGRAMS
Because the program is housed within the Union District, Federline said students have access to extracurricular programs, too.
“They can participate in any and all of Union’s activities. It’s the entire high school experience,” he said.
Unlike virtual offerings by other schools, however, Federline said Union schools’ vets each applicant and only allows students who “were already academically successful” to enroll in its 100% virtual program.
Growth in state-funded virtual charter schools has continued to decrease over the past five years. Since 2012, when the state began oversight of virtual charter schools, the number of students seeking on-line education has grown beyond 35,000.
Federline said his district is working with Union students in the district.
“We want to make sure that the students who come through Union Public Schools have every possible choice that will be offered in a private or charter or anywhere else. Whatever the opportunity is, we want to be able to provide it.”
State lawmakers will continue their interim hearings on education and public safety this week.