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Most cyber schools not making AYP 9 of 10 used by local students failing; 'supers' question accountability
[December 19, 2010]

Most cyber schools not making AYP 9 of 10 used by local students failing; 'supers' question accountability


Dec 19, 2010 (The News-Item - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Just one of 10 cyber schools used by local students met the state's Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) requirements in the latest round of testing.

That frustrates local school district administrators, who already aren't happy with the funding formula they must use for cyber schools, and now wonder why those web-based institutions aren't being held accountable in the same manner as public schools.



"If Southern was in 'corrective action' or 'warning' (AYP statuses) as much as these cyber schools, parents wouldn't want their children attending these schools," said Southern Columbia Area (SCA) Superintendent Charles Reh. "There would be a revolt." "As hard as we work to make ourselves accountable for the PSSAs (Pennsylvania System of School Assessment)," adds Line Mountain Superintendent Dave Campbell, "it discredits the accountability if nothing's being done" to improve cyber schools.

Mount Carmel Area (MCA) Superintendent Cheryl Latorre believes the schools have become an ineffective alternative.


"The cyber schools are an avoidance to come to a brick-and-mortar school," she said. "It's a way out." Cyber administrators, meanwhile, say there's plenty of blame to share, and one cyber school has created an alternative structure that local districts have embraced.

187 in cyber schools A total of 187 local students -- 96 from Shamokin Area, 42 from Mount Carmel Area, 32 from Line Mountain and 18 from SCA -- are currently enrolled in cyber schools. The home districts in 2009-10 paid more than $1.3 million toward tuition of cyber schools, and yet 90 percent of them didn't meet state required standards.

"We don't like spending the money when it's not really working," said Shamokin Area Superintendent James Zack.

The four local superintendents all said they are not against the existence of cyber schools, but, as Reh said, "We're against the way they're being funded and not being held accountable." The districts are required by the state to pay for the education of each student, whether they are attending the physical building or using a cyber school.

"I am not opposed to school choice if children want to go to a Christian school or a private school. We'll bus them. I can respect that. Those schools have accountability," said Campbell. "The cyber schools have nothing to do with school choices. They're just taking taxpayer dollars." Moratorium in place In October, the state auditor general placed a moratorium on new charter and cyber charter schools until the Legislature establishes a funding formula based on actual costs.

Right now, districts pay the cyber schools whatever the home district's determined "per-student" rate is. At Shamokin Area, it costs an average of $9,400 to educate a "regular" student and $18,000 for a special education student. However, at MCA, those figures are $7,600 and $12,900; at SCA it's $6,900 and $16,000; and, at Line Mountain, $8,811 and $15,000.

So, where Shamokin would pay $9,400 to educate one of its regular students at a particular cyber school, SCA would pay just $6,900 for the same school.

"There are 500 different rates for all the (school) districts (in the state)," said Reh.

Also of concern is that the cost of cyber schools for local districts statewide has risen to nearly $1 billion a year over the last four years.

With that, the moratorium is a move supported by local superintendents.

It goes without saying, too, that the cost of providing education for a student through a "computer" is not the same as through a building, the superintendents argue, plus cyber schools don't have extracurricular or sports programs.

Furthermore, state law allows a district fund balance of 8 to 10 percent of operating costs. The district is prohibited from raising taxes if a fund balance is over 12 percent. The fund balance of many cyber schools, meanwhile, exceeds such an amount, but nothing changes with tuition, said Reh.

Additionally, the superintendents ask, how do cyber schools provide physical therapy, occupational therapy or speech and language for special education students? Repeating grades A major concern for superintendents is the issue of cyber school students returning to public schools behind on their education because the districts can't control the cyber curriculum. MCA Superintendent Cheryl Latorre said six students last year returned from cyber schooling and were required to repeat their grades.

"Repeating a grade is an additional cost and a detriment to the kids," she said. "It's difficult to get them back into the setting." For the most part, said Campbell, students who choose cyber school are often already struggling and behind before they leave. The public school district they're affiliated with, meanwhile, does not receive updates on the progress of students or whether they're even "attending" school.

"They send us a bill if the kid's enrolled. That's how we know if the kid's still there," said Campbell. "They're not our student anymore, but we pay the bill." A student's performance does not affect the school district's AYP, but when a student drops out, the home district is held responsible.

Because the cyber schools are not meeting AYP, the students don't have the same opportunities, Campbell said.

"That's frustrating," he said.

Meeting AYP To determine a school district's AYP, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) evaluates its individual schools on attendance or graduation rates as well as participation in and performance on PSSA math and reading tests.

Depending on the AYP levels, school districts may be forced to develop improvement plans, provide tutoring or be taken over by the state. The various statuses for those that don't make AYP are, progressing in severity: making progress; warning, school improvement 1; school improvement 2; corrective action 1 and corrective action 2.

Pennsylvania's target for 2008-09 scores was for at least 63 percent of students to be proficient in reading and 56 percent and above to be proficient in math -- targets that will increase until 100 percent proficiency is expected in 2014 under the No Child Left Behind Act.

Among Line Mountain, MCA, Milton, North Schuylkill, SCA, Shamokin Area, Shikellamy and Warrior Run, only Shikellamy as a district did not meet AYP last year, while three others failed to meet AYP in at least one of their individual schools.

Meanwhile, of the 10 cyber schools where local students are enrolled, only PA Cyber CS met AYP.

Blame to share Executives of Bloomsburg-based SusQ-Cyber Charter School, however, said there is blame to share.

"If they (the students) are already behind on their progress (when they enroll at the cyber school), it's a challenge for us to bring them up to speed to meet proficiency," said CEO Karin Shipman.

Struggling students are a reality, said James Street, former CEO and current administrative consultant.

"It's a lot of catching up to do for us. You can't take a student that far behind and bring them up to proficiency in five to six months," he said.

Street said public school superintendents shouldn't be concerned with student performance because it doesn't affect them.

"The student is with us. If they're not performing, it affects us," he said.

But local districts are footing the bill, so they are affected, local superintendents counter.

SusQ-Cyber, established in 1998, was the first cyber school in the state, and has 240 students currently enrolled. It is in "correction action 2" for the third year. A school reaches that status when it has not met state standards for five years.

But, back to Street's argument about "catching up," SusQ is a high school based school, so the longest it has to work with a student involving PSSA testing -- the last of which is administered to juniors -- is 2 1/2 years.

The school also has a larger special education student population, added Shipman.

Furthermore, class sizes are significantly smaller than a public school classroom; SusQ-Cyber had just 18 juniors in the 2008-09 school year. Therefore, Street said, one or two struggling students affect AYP more than one or two struggling students in a brick-and-mortar school.

"If you have 600 (students), the individual is lost in the mix," said Shipman. "In our school, every student is significant and can really hurt our scores." As far as the funding issue, Shipman said the cyber schools' hands are tied: the formula is determined by PDE.

In parents' hands Other than hoping for an overhaul, there's little local districts can do. While they cannot force a student to stay, superintendents said they meet with parents and students before they make the decision to attend a cyber school, but the choice is ultimately in the parents' hands.

"There's nothing we can do besides encourage them to stay here," said Campbell.

However, when discussing the pros and cons, Campbell said the district opinion is now backed by data.

"We're meeting AYP. They're not succeeding at our level," he said.

Latorre suggests making the cyber schools a separate entity, allowing PDE to run them and monitor them.

"Then it does not affect the school district," she said.

In the meantime, the superintendents argue, if cyber schools continue to receive public funds, they should be treated the same as public school districts.

Another option Three of the four local districts are now working with Pittsburgh-based Virtual Learning Network, which was incorporated in 2007.

In fact, more than 25 central Pennsylvania high schools in the Heartland Athletic Conference, including Shamokin Area, MCA and Line Mountain, collaborated with VLN to establish a common curriculum. In turn, the students receive diplomas from their home district and AYP is reflected on the district.

The cyber school is a separate entity that costs the districts an even $4,500 per student per year.

However, the district can only recommend the cyber service provider -- it cannot force a student to choose VLN.

Campbell said the program is just as rigorous and relevant; if a child returns from the VLN the districts are aware of their progress.

"With VLN, we know they're using the same grade levels. It makes the transition easier," said Campbell.

"We figure we can do better," he said.

Latorre said the students can be checked regularly.

"Those kids are not out of sight, out of mind. They are part of the school district," she said.

Zack said his acceptance of VLN is a case of, "If you can't beat cyber schools, join them." SCA, said Reh, doesn't participate because the cost is too much for the number of students they have attending cyber schools.

"For us to break even, we would have to have 100 percent of students attending. You can direct a child there, but you can't force them," he said.

Online 'here to stay' Despite the problems of cyber schools, Alex Stone, president and owner of VLN, defended the institutions and said they represent a movement more districts need to embrace.

"It's here to stay, and it can help a lot of people," he said.

If not for the trailblazing of cyber schools over the last decade, home districts wouldn't be inspired to work with programs such as VLN to develop online curriculum, he said.

Stone believes VLN's setup is the best way to provide cyber education.

"The districts and the region spend a lot of time and effort putting the curriculum together," he said. "It only makes sense to deliver that curriculum in the online environment." To see more of The News-Item or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.newsitem.com. Copyright (c) 2010, The News-Item, Shamokin, Pa.

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