Commentary
Politicians: Stop Blocking the Online Charter School Door!
Online
charter schools are a promising new innovation that’s providing an expanded
range of educational opportunities for a growing number K-12 students.
Unfortunately, many states, including Michigan,
restrict those benefits by capping the number of students who can take
advantage of these “virtual” schools.
A
recent news story
from Louisiana
demonstrates how out-of-touch these artificial enrollment caps are with market
demand: One online charter school is being forced to turn away about 1,300
students due to such caps.
It’s
happening here, too. In this
video, the principal of a Michigan online charter school notes that
he had thousands of students wanting to get it, but by law could let only 400 through
the schoolhouse portal.
A recent Mackinac Center study
of online learning in Michigan argues that these caps do virtually
nothing to ensure educational quality, and actively prohibit saving taxpayer
dollars, given that online charter schools generally cost less to operate. Just one group
benefits from such caps: Incumbent employees of the entrenched “brick-and-mortar” public school monopoly.
Michigan should stop
shorting-changing parents when it comes to expanding educational choices. Every
student in an online charter school is there for one reason: A parent made a deliberate choice based on his or her uniquely well-qualified
knowledge of what’s best for his or her child. The politicians of this state or
any other have no valid reason to artificially limit the number of children
able to take advantage of this opportunity.
Politicians: Stop Blocking the Online Charter School Door!
Online charter schools are a promising new innovation that’s providing an expanded range of educational opportunities for a growing number K-12 students. Unfortunately, many states, including Michigan, restrict those benefits by capping the number of students who can take advantage of these “virtual” schools.
A recent news story from Louisiana demonstrates how out-of-touch these artificial enrollment caps are with market demand: One online charter school is being forced to turn away about 1,300 students due to such caps.
It’s happening here, too. In this video, the principal of a Michigan online charter school notes that he had thousands of students wanting to get it, but by law could let only 400 through the schoolhouse portal.
A recent Mackinac Center study of online learning in Michigan argues that these caps do virtually nothing to ensure educational quality, and actively prohibit saving taxpayer dollars, given that online charter schools generally cost less to operate. Just one group benefits from such caps: Incumbent employees of the entrenched “brick-and-mortar” public school monopoly.
Michigan should stop shorting-changing parents when it comes to expanding educational choices. Every student in an online charter school is there for one reason: A parent made a deliberate choice based on his or her uniquely well-qualified knowledge of what’s best for his or her child. The politicians of this state or any other have no valid reason to artificially limit the number of children able to take advantage of this opportunity.
Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.