Tuesday, May 14, 2013
State delays go-ahead amid questions about legality, viability of virtual classrooms for kids
The nation’s largest online education company, K12 Inc., is once again registering kids and offering jobs to teachers for the debut of New Jersey’s first virtual charter school – all without knowing if the school will even open. The New Jersey Virtual Academy Charter School was one of two applications given preliminary approval by the state Department of Education two years ago. But it was forced into a delay last summer, when state Education Commissioner Chris Cerf wouldn’t grant the final charter amid ongoing questions – legal and otherwise – about the school’s merits and viability. Almost a year later, answers to those questions remain hotly debated, including in the courts, and K12 Inc. is taking a wait-and-see approach to what Cerf …
Monday, July 30, 2012
Senate committee strips "acting" from commissioner of education title, full senate approval virtually certain
The hearing in the Statehouse committee room was ostensibly for the confirmation of Chris Cerf as New Jersey’s education commissioner, a formality at this point for a man who’s been on the job as acting commissioner for more than 18 months. In the end, the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmed Cerf by a unanimous vote, releasing the nomination for an all but certain confirmation by the full Senate on Monday. But the committee’s four-hour-long interview yesterday was also part of the continuing power play by the Legislature to show its relevance in what has become an increasingly aggressive education agenda under Gov. Chris Christie. Time and again, Senators pressed Cerf to work more closely with the Legislature in crafting its policies, …
Thursday, July 26, 2012
With fully online schools out of contention, critics take up charters that mix virtual with conventional education
The Christie administration’s decision to postpone the opening of two virtual charter schools may have put off one challenge, but its decision to approve two other schools that rely heavily on online lessons could spark off another challenge. A coalition led by the New Jersey Education Association sent a letter to acting Education Commissioner Chris Cerf this week asking him to reconsider the approval of the Merit Preparatory Charter School and the Newark Preparatory Charter School, both in Newark. The groups contended that the schools, which would bring students into a common space everyday and mix online learning with face-to-face teaching, are a significant departure from what is currently permitted under state statute. Several of the …
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Two charters that blend virtual teaching with traditional classroom education have been approved by state DOE
They are the online charter schools that haven’t gotten much attention in New Jersey, the ones that will blend online tools with in-person teaching. That lack of attention is likely to change soon, however. Acting Education Commissioner Chris Cerf on Monday cleared the way for two of the so-called hybrid or blended charter schools to open out of Newark next month, offering students a full-day experience in the classroom, along with a heavy dose of online learning. It’s a big distinction from the all-online programs that generated so much debate in the past month, where students would be taking classes out of their homes. The state on Monday postponed the opening of two such virtual schools for at least a year. The founder of the Merit …
Monday, July 16, 2012
Proposed online charter schools could lead to legal action, NJEA says
The relationship between the New Jersey Education Association and charter schools has been a checkered one. In the early 1990s, the powerful teachers union fought against the state’s charter school law before ultimately signing on. Since then, it has openly said it supports charters -- and has organized unions in a dozen of them -- while raising protests about some aspects of the alternative schools. Now, the union is again mixing it up, as the Christie administration is about to announce the latest round of final charters for schools opening this fall, including possibly New Jersey’s first all-online schools. Last week, the union led a group of eight prominent education organizations in urging acting Education Commissioner Chris Cerf to …
Friday, July 13, 2012
Leading education organizations ask Cerf to hold off final approval until outstanding legal issues can be resolved
The prospect of New Jersey's first online charter schools continues to stir up debate, even as the Christie administration moves closer to announcing its decision on the virtual schools. A group of a half-dozen of the state's most prominent education organizations delivered a letter to acting education commissioner Chris Cerf this week, asking him not to approve final charters for two all-online schools until a number of legal and policy issues could be resolved. The letter was signed by the New Jersey Education Association, the Education Law Center, and the New Jersey School Boards Association, as well as state associations representing principals, superintendents, and other administrators. Also signing were the state NAACP and the Latino…
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Legislation halts the approval of new virtual charter schools pending a taskforce examination.
The state Assembly's Education Committee advanced a bill last week that creates a 12-month moratorium on the approval of new virtual charter schools in New Jersey, pending a review by a government task force. Bill A-3105, sponsored by Assemblymen Patrick Diegnan Jr. (D-Middlesex), and Gordon Johnson (D-Bergen), prevents the Commissioner of Education from approving any application for a virtual charter school for one year, while a task force develops recommendations for the structure that governs virtual charter education. "This task force will play an important role in determining whether virtual charter schools should play a role in the future of education in New Jersey," Johnson said via release. "It's important to proactively examine …
Legislation halts the approval of new virtual charter schools pending a taskforce examination.
The state Assembly's Education Committee advanced a bill last week that creates a 12-month moratorium on the approval of new virtual charter schools in New Jersey, pending a review by a government task force. Bill A-3105, sponsored by Assemblymen Patrick Diegnan Jr. (D-Middlesex), and Gordon Johnson (D-Bergen), prevents the Commissioner of Education from approving any application for a virtual charter school for one year, while a task force develops recommendations for the structure that governs virtual charter education. "This task force will play an important role in determining whether virtual charter schools should play a role in the future of education in New Jersey," Johnson said via release. "It's important to proactively examine …
Thursday, June 14, 2012
The state Assembly's education committee will meet Thursday to consider a 12-month moratorium on the establishment of new virtual charter schools.
The state Assembly education committee will hold discussions on Thursday to consider slowing down the establishment of new virtual charter schools in New Jersey. The committee will discuss establishing a 12-month moratorium on new virtual charter schools and the creation of a Virtual Charter School Task force. Five charter schools that are full-time or online hybrid schools were already approved, but have not yet been granted final charters by the state Department of Education. The New Jersey Virtual Academy, which has 850 students signed up for next year, would be managed and staffed by the nation's largest provider of full-time public virtual schools, K12 Inc. The publicly traded K12 Inc. received criticism in the New York Times for …
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Innovation chief approved as BOE seems unlikely to slow down charter push
The State Board of Education yesterday got an earful on the Christie administration’s push for charter schools and other so-called innovations, both pro and con, some quite public and some a bit quieter. The public part was further deliberation and a crowded public hearing on the administration’s controversial regulations proposed for charter schools, including some new powers for the commissioner and new language that will codify online charter schools. Forty people signed up to speak, a far bigger crowd than usual and voicing a host of concerns about the new rules, from the philosophical to the logistic. Nevertheless, while the state board members listened intently, few of them seemed all that intent to slow down the changes. The quieter…
Diane Schwarz
9:20 am on Saturday, July 28, 2012
The legislature better set up some stiff requirements for charter schools in general and at least require investigation into the sucess of new types of education like on line schools. What is the history of success in this type of school? Why experiment with our kids? And WE pay for it! more ›