Putting things in perspective

I agree that we need education reform. I disagree that the funding formula should be balanced at the expense of cyber students.  In regards to the former auditor general’s findings, my point was that we should be investing in innovation. Are you suggesting that we make school districts funded through state funding measures? Unless we get rid of local school boards this will not happen. If cyber tuition rates are flawed, then Pennsylvania funding rates are flawed and cutting cyber education funding will not solve the problem.  Our school has also eliminated several teaching positions this year because of the funding cuts that all school districts are facing.

If the pension funding measures are changed now it is likely to result in inferior funding measures for future cyber school employees. If this is the case there is likely to be divisiveness among the teachers.  This is likely to result in more unions in cyber schools. Unions in cyber schools will not promote change. It will promote stability which will hinder short term innovation efforts.  Innovation is not always efficient, but it is critical in light of global competition in education. 

Some cyber schools are operated by for profit companies. Laws could be passed that would limit upper management’s salaries, and advertising could be restricted or even forbidden. I would not oppose such targeted changes. 

I disagree with Susan Spicka's article because everyone has vested interests. She has a vested interest in getting elected to be a state representative, and I have a vested interest in keeping my job as a cyber teacher. I have written another BLOG post to address education reform in light of vested interests. 

I think you must look at the churn rate of cyber schools in light of the high school dropout rate. Students choose Cyber School because they are failing in traditional schools. In the current state of traditional education we are in free fall of 7000 students dropping out every school day. 

As far as the personal attacks go I would be open to anyone checking the individual achievements of the students my wife’s teaches. Last year I paid for my son to go to China with me. My wife came because she is the best English teacher our school has, and the Chinese wanted an English teacher. She works harder than any teacher I know at PALCS. I asked for people to take the China trip three years ago and I had no takers. I have not been to Panama in three years. I only went to Quebec this year because a teacher left the school. I do not see these trips as a vacation. They are a lot of hard work. Teachers go on these trips because they take the initiative to put the trips together.  I do not ask for payment for the time that I am working when I would normally be off the clock. The biggest part of the hard work is recruiting the students to fund raise in the first place. Our school does not subsidize these trips.  

I am currently attempting to negotiate oral English classes online for Chinese students. If anyone wants to help me I am all for it. Blog.palcs.org/ila We have our first teacher heading to China in 2013. He is going there voluntarily. I recruited him at no expense to our school.

Virtual Schools are schools of the future.

Virtual schools are schools of the future. They provide the ultimate level playing field for students living in poverty or affluence. The phenomenal growth of internet learning is happening across the education spectrum. This has been played out in the growth of massive open online courses (MOOC). In 2012 one internet platform provider had 300,000 students. Also, 6.7 million or a third of all college students now learn online according to the Babson Survey Research Group. The 200,000 students already enrolled in K-12 virtual schools are only about 3% of this number. At this rate of growth, virtual learning has surpassed the number of K-12 students in public schools in the US. In light of these developments, perhaps, there are too few initiatives in internet learning. 

I work at an independent Cyber Charter School in Pennsylvania. We live in a changing world that is requiring our students to change with it. Cyber Schools are schools of choice. Parents who have a negative experience at a cyber school can choose another form of education. This is not the case with traditional schools. They have a default population who are assigned to a school on the basis of where the family resides.

Students and teachers at Cyber Schools collaborate online. At our school, (www.palcs.org) we use an open source Moodle platform to teach asynchronously. Students are assigned a learning module where teachers have placed a motivational hook, review, a lesson, and an assessment. Students can contact teachers at our buildings by instant messenger, built into the platform, or phone which allows for quick collaboration to catch a student processing their learning. We also teach synchronously and use Adobe multi-media classrooms. In addition, we have six centers where students can meet and collaborate in a blended learning environment. Virtual schools rent hundreds of rental facilities across the Commonwealth to implement standardized tests. In addition, students can travel to locations on leadership, language immersion, and family trips. They can stay current on their school work and travel the world at the same time with the aid of a laptop and an Internet connection.

We have 1100 high school students who are members of a student government organization at our school. They create and implement student funded projects and trips like... a Chinese exchange program, Panama, Quebec, Washington, New York City, and Harrisburg trips, proms on both sides of the state, talent shows, a protected social media discussion board, a Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) event, a yearbook, numerous fundraisers, and community service projects. There is a certain irony in these activities because our school receives 25% less funding than other public schools because we are not paid to provide extracurricular activities.

Pennsylvania Representative Dan Truitt has introduced two new bills to protect Cyber Schools. House Bill 970 and 971 will allow Cyber School funding to be reformed by having schools report their expenses versus their revenues on an annual balance sheet. Unfortunately, cyber schools currently seem to be an easy target for funding cuts. When Dan attempts to defend cyber schools, he has heard one consistent rebuttal, “Cyber schools deserve a cut because they have no buildings.”  When you ask someone if they have ever visited a cyber school they normally respond, “no.” Many people will never believe that we have buildings until they visit. We welcome them to come to 1332 Enterprise Drive, West Chester, PA 19380 or any of our other five centers. I am sure that the other cyber schools will be happy to invite you as well. The truth is Cyber Schools have many of the same expenses that traditional schools do at the K-12 level. However, charter schools only receive 75% of the tuition allocated for a student at his or her local public school. 

In an age where no child should be left behind pulling Cyber School funding has already created an uneven playing field. Recently Monica Allison, the President of the Pennsylvania Families for Public Cyber Schools sent me this question, “Is my child a second-class student?” I present the following question to you as you consider the online education debate, “Do we want to relegate any child to the status of second-class student?”

Pension funding double dip correction on cyber schools may be done incorrectly. #edchat,@PALCS

Please consider writing your representative on this crucial issue. Representative Truitt has a good solution to the over funded pension double dip in Pennsylvania HB 971. http://legiscan.com/PA/bill/HB971/2013
The current solution in PA HB 618 would cut cyber school funding by at least 25%. 

Write your representative now. http://savemycharterschool.com/take-action/ They are expected to vote on PA HB 618 on Monday. This bill will cut cyber school funding. Another possibility is that since pensions will need to be cut for new employees, then their will be a greater chance for unions to organize based on unequal pension plans. School unions are forces for stability, and will decrease innovation in cyber schools. 

Joe Emrick the sponsor of HB 618 may have a blind spot here. I know that he is endorsed by the National Federation of Independent Businesses which would be against the future unionization of cyber charter schools. A vote for HB 618 is like a vote to unionize cyber charter schools.

Falls & Sugar Shack on the last Day!

fall

I am home now, and have just returned from the eastern picnic at the United Sports Center. I am sorry this last video took a while to post. Here is the link. http://locker.palcs.org/~pparris/Quebec/Day%205a/Day%205a.mp4
On the last day we visited the Falls at Montmorency.  It is an amazing site. The falls are actually higher than Niagra Falls. Unlike Niagra Falls, there is a foot bridge that allows you to walk over the falls.
Quebec is a distinctly Catholic country. We visited a famous cathedral of Saint Anne. We also drove to the Island of Orleans and drove to the tip of the island where we climbed an overlook.
Our dinner was very special. We visited a sugar shack where they manufacture maple syrup. We had maple syrup on all of our food, and finished the night with some line dancing.
What fun!
Mr.  P.

WHYY Newsworks Rebuttal

This post is directed to Rhonda Browstein's article on cyber schools. She recently published an article about cyber schools entitled, "The true cost of unchecked cyber growth." 

I only read your article today because I was in Quebec last week with a group of students on a French immersion trip. I am a teacher and administrator at a cyber school in Pennsylvania. I found your article unfair and misleading.

Students on language immersion trips can stay current on their school work and travel the world at the same time with the aid of a laptop and internet connection. We live in a changing world that is requiring our students to change with it. Cyber Schools are schools of choice. Parents who have a negative experience at Cyber School can choose another form of education. This is not the case with traditional schools. They have a default population who are assigned as part of the compulsory education act.

I also take exception to the idea that students learning through cyber education are not collaborating. We have 1100 high schools who are members of a student government organization at our school. We have 50 student senators who create and implement projects like... two proms on both sides of the state, talent shows, a protected social media discussion board, Students against destructive decisions event, Yearbook, numerous fundraisers, and trips to Washington DC, Harrisburg, Panama, China and Quebec. We also spend a week with 20 high school students each year to complete the Points of Light Youth Leadership Institute training to implement service learning projects in communities across the state. We complete team building and leadership training at blended education centers.

Many people make judgments about cyber education before actually visiting one. We welcome you to visit us before you write your next article.

Carriage & Bicycle rides in Quebec. @PALCS

As I write this post, we are packing to return to our home. This trip has been wonderful for our students and adults. If I had to summarize some take away points I would say...
The students were very respectful and bonded quickly. Yesterday our youngest member Luke was swinging with his friends on the courtyard.
We learned much French, and had a wonderful time with all the activities that Madame had planned.
We could do it again with more students, reduce the price and use the same facility. :)
I am in a rush to pack the vans so here is the link from our carriage & bicycle rides yesterday. The 2370 is an inside joke. :)
Mr. P.
http://locker.palcs.org/~pparris/Quebec/2013%20Quebec/Day%204a.wmv