Update on Florida Legislation to Curtail Virtual Schooling

On Monday, I wrote about pending legislation in Florida that would severely curtail educational choices available through the public, state-run Florida Virtual School. The bill would eliminate enrollment in any elective courses and funding for any courses beyond a standard six periods. Students would no longer have an option to take electives, including some AP courses, beyond those offered at their traditional schools (especially painful for small or rural schools), nor would they have the opportunity to take extra courses to catch up on graduation requirements or accelerate. The legislation was approved in committee and now goes to the full State Senate. An AP article reporting on the legislation quotes the committee chair:

Sen. Stephen Wise [R-Jacksonville], the committee's chairman, said the measure would encourage public schools to enroll more students in virtual courses and that the Senate plans to increase Florida Virtual School's funding by 29 percent.

I don't understand how the Senator's first statement is possible, but I can check the budget figures on the second. In the committee's proposal (see page 27), the overall statewide per student funding remains flat at $6,860 per student. Here's the proposed budget for Florida Virtual School:

Yes, funding is increased by 29%. But enrollment, which is entirely based on student demand, is projected to go up 40.5%. Per student funding for the virtual school declines by 8.1%.

I live in Washington, DC, where one of the biggest issues is the rapidly declining enrollment in our city's public schools. Our schools are generally considered a mess and ground zero for reform battles.

In Florida, there is a public school program that is seen as a national model, rapidly increasing enrollments, and proving that public schools can compete for students and educate in new and different ways. This public school is being rewarded with significant budget cuts (double the per student cut of any other district) and significant limitations on its programs.

PS - A commenter on Monday asked for more information about Florida Virtual School (FLVS). I just finished work looking into the school's data for an article that will be published next month. My interest in the school stems primarily from the fact that it breaks free from many stereotypes common in education policy debates. The school is extremely innovative and has built a distinct educational philosophy, approach, and culture. At the same time, it is state-run, has maintained its identity as a public school, and remains part of the system. For persons who want to see innovation within public schools, this is an extremely important model. A few quick facts from that article:

• The school is a supplemental virtual school—students attend bricks-and-mortar schools and take FLVS courses in addition to their traditional classes. While the vast majority of FLVS students come from public high schools, the school is open to charter, private, and even home-schooled students.


• The school has been extremely popular with students and their families. In the 2008–09 school year, approximately 84,000 students will complete 168,000 half-credit courses, more than a tenfold increase since 2002-03. Much of the school’s recent growth has been driven by minority enrollments. Between June 2007 and July 2008, African-American enrollments grew by 49 percent, Hispanic enrollments by 42 percent, and Native American enrollments by 41 percent.


• The school employs more than 715 full-time and 29 adjunct teachers—all Florida-certified and “highly qualified”under the federal No Child Left Behind law.

You can read more about the school in a December 2007 Department of Education profile on "Innovations in Education" and more about virtual schooling in Education Week's 2009 Technology Counts publication.