Ashworth High School

-Thirty-two percent of Americans think Race to the Top is necessary to improve education, but 22 percent believe it is an intrusion into local government. However, 46 percent of those polled had no opinion. Teachers oppose RttT by a 2:1 margin, with only 22 percent saying they like the program.

-There was a surge in support for virtual schooling. Between 2009 and 2010, the percentage in favor of allowing high school students to take an online course increased from 42 percent to 52 percent, while opposition fell from 29 percent to 23 percent.

For the rest of the article, go to A gulf between teachers and the public on what works best in our schools, including merit pay and end to tenure

On Aug. 30, 148 students will boldly go where few of them have learned before – home.

The middle and high school students enrolled in the iAchieve Virtual Academy will get a Forsyth County public education without having to leave their houses.

Lunchtime will be whenever they’re hungry and there is no dress code. But the school district’s latest alternative education concept is not for everyone.

Susan Atkins, student support services and iAchieve director, said it’s designed for students who are disciplined and self-motivated to excel in a computer-based learning environment.

For the rest of the article, go to First class set for Virtual Academy

Early last week, the school board upheld a decision by the State Charter School Commission denying a charter for the Georgia Cyber Academy and another virtual school applying to offer classes for high school students.

Since June, administrators had been trying to find a way to continue offering courses to 660 rising freshmen, and now can finally begin to look for teachers and send out textbooks, according to Renee Lord, who serves on the board of the virtual school and is president of the Georgia Families for Public Virtual Education.

For the rest of the article, go to Cyber Academy freshmen OK’d

“Our per pupil cost is highly competitive at just over $6000 per student. And over a 12-segment school year that equates to $500 per course, per segment, per student.”
Commission executive director Mark Peevy was chosen to head the committee.

“We want to ensure that we have an equitable funding level for virtual schools in Georgia, and we also want to be able to have one that provides for a competitive environment.”

For the rest of the article, go to Commission Looks at Funding for Virtual Charter Schools

School choice took a leap forward Thursday as one state board supported the expansion of Georgia’s first cyber charter school and another moved to investigate funding virtual schools at a higher level.

After the outcries of parents and the embarrassment of having two approved cyber schools call off August openings, leaders of the Georgia Charter Schools Commission admitted that they may have low-balled the cost of virtual public education. The board has agreed to rethink its figures.

“The funding formula, I think we got it wrong,” said Ben Scafidi, chairman of the state commission. “We will get it right. I want a vigorous and competitive virtual education market in Georgia. ”

For the rest of the article, go to Cyber charter schools celebrate two state victories, may get more funds

ATLANTA – The State Board of Education upheld the denial of two online schools Tuesday, frustrating parents seeking options for their children.

But advocates hope the story will be different later in the week.

The board met, half via telephone, to allow members the chance to overturn denials by the Georgia Charter Schools Commission in June of the Georgia Virtual Academy and Mercury Online Academy. The commission rejected the two applications largely because it feared neither had a governing board that could act independently of the national companies contracted to operate the schools.

Five groups had submitted applications for online schools, but one withdrew before commission consideration. The commission accepted two of the remaining four but did not grant them as much money for operations as they had hoped, so they aren’t in business yet either.

For the rest of the article, go to State upholds denial of two virtual schools

Although the concept of credit recovery isn’t new – summer school is perhaps its oldest and most traditional form – little is known about the effectiveness of most recovery programs or even how widely they’re used.

But credit recovery is an essential part of efforts to increase high school graduation rates in urban, suburban and rural schools nationwide. Several big districts like those in New York City and Chicago have used credit recovery programs for a few years now.

Some entire states, like Florida and Georgia, offer a range of online courses, including credit recovery, through state-funded virtual schools. And every day school districts announce the creation of new programs or expand those they already offer.

For the rest of the article, go to Are education credit recovery programs really effective?

One major innovation this year for Forsyth County Schools is a virtual campus that offers an online education from home.

Called “I Achieve Virtual Academy”, the new program allows 6th through 12th graders to work toward a high school diploma without ever going to class.

The program is tailored for highly motivated self-starters and home-schooled students.

The virtual academy is free to Forsyth County residents and costs $3,000 a year for non-residents.

It just began this month and already has 100 students enrolled.

For the rest of the article, go to Same Sex Homerooms and Online Learning in Forsyth County

ATLANTA, Aug. 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — A coalition representing more than 5,000 public virtual charter school students, parents, teachers, and supporters from across Georgia charged the state’s Charter School Commission (Commission) with ignoring state law by refusing to create a funding formula based on sound research and actual costs of public virtual charter schools. As a result, for the third consecutive year, over 6,000 students in Georgia’s public online schools will receive only a fraction of funds the law provides for their education.

Georgia Families for Public Virtual Education released a letter today demanding the Commission immediately reconsider its decision to fund virtual public school students at one-third of the allotment of other public school students. Students at traditional brick-and-mortar public schools and brick-and-mortar charter schools receive an average of $8,800 per pupil. The letter, penned by Georgia attorney Douglas Rosenbloom, requests a meeting with the Commission to review the arbitrary and unexplained decision to fund virtual public school students at less than $3,200.

For the rest of the article, go to Parents to Charter School Commission: Obey the Law on Virtual School Funding