The legislation would have made it easier for Arizona junior- and high-school students to take online courses, which likely would have pushed further growth in the system. The bill also would have boosted accountability by creating a master list of approved courses and a state ranking and evaluation of each course.

In addition, Senate Bill 1259 would have required students to take final exams in online classes in the presence of another person to help prevent cheating.

For the rest of the article, go to Gov. Brewer vetoes bill making changes to online education

“Youth deserve a space that says ‘I will let you learn and get your education regardless’, and we do that,” says Micheal Weakley, one-n-ten’s deputy director.

The number of students who struggle to focus on their education because of what they go through in traditional school settings or at home is staggering.

“About one-third of our youth have dropped out of high schools, so we have dropouts and we have about half of our youth are homeless or have been homeless,” explained Cado Stewart, program director for One-n-ten.

For the rest of the article, go to New high school opens for LGBTQ students

As a leader in school choice, Arizona is the fertile ground for education innovation. More than any other state over the last two decades, we have put parents in charge of their children’s education. Our students enjoy open enrollment, charter schools, virtual schools, home schooling, dual enrollments, joint technological districts with great career and technical-education paths, and myriad opportunities to mix, match and customize their education.

It is possible to obtain a world-class education in Arizona if you are a diligent consumer of education, do your homework and exercise your best options.

While, for many students, Arizona can be the land of great educational opportunities, the education system, as a whole, is hampered by a major obstacle preventing our students from realizing optimum academic growth, limiting our teachers’ ability to be effective and causing our district and charter schools operational chaos: that obstacle is the Arizona Department of Education’s computer system.

It’s an enormous resource drain on education, siphoning funds out of our classrooms and creating limited value for students. Unfortunately, there is little incentive for legislators to fix it. Government technology systems don’t curry much public support or grab headlines. It is difficult to get voters to rise up and demand a fix to something they are not familiar with or that doesn’t touch them directly. But the Department of Education computer system is truly the silent enemy standing in the way of fixing our education system.

As a taxpayer, you need to know the state’s inadequate investment in technology infrastructure at the Department of Education results in you paying tens of millions of dollars to correct errors and to build and maintain redundant technology systems each year.

For the rest of the article, go to Barrett and Huppenthal: Outdated technology at agency stymies schools

For the rest of the article, go to Virtual school to host information session

Senate Bill 1259 would have the state pay virtual schools for completion rather than enrollment. SB 1255 would establish a board to administer tests to measure students’ proficiency in online course material.

The legislation is the “type of leg-up the virtual world needs to be the most effective,” Butcher said.

For the rest of the article, go to Arizona Legislature Addressing Online Education

Not surprisingly, Barrett doesn’t talk much about Arizona Virtual Academy.

Our schools need to improve, no question about it – traditional public schools as well as charters. Even “A” rated schools can be better than they are. But, Craig Barrett, though he seems to hold himself in very high esteem, clearly doesn’t have the answers. I’m not sure he even understands the questions. Unfortunately, Governor Brewer seems to share Barrett’s high opinion of himself and has put him in charge of shaping Arizona’s educational future.

For the rest of the article, go to Students “stuck” in public schools?

Colorado spent nearly $100 million in taxpayer money last year on online schools, a 10-month investigation by EdNews Colorado showed. Of the 10,500 students enrolled in the state’s 10 largest online programs, half left the schools within a year. The schools produced three times as many dropouts as they did graduates, according to the investigation.

“Everyone is just waking up to it,” Gene Glass said. “Now you are starting to see bills written in legislatures trying to clamp down or impose restrictions or demand certified teachers and proctored exams. In a few legislatures, they will win those battles, but mostly they won’t because these companies have spent so much in lobbying that they have fought off most politicians.”

For the rest of the article, go to Education chief: Online academies will face scrutiny

The proposals in the Legislature are being greeted with skepticism by some experts and school officials who think the accountability measures would be superficial and wouldn’t lead to improved online courses. Proponents say the bills would provide a strong financial incentive to schools to increase quality and would give parents more inform

For the rest of the article, go to Arizona online school bills seek more accountability, money

School choice is a multi-faceted concept that encompasses several education options, including the ability to enroll a student in a charter school, online school, homeschool or to receive school vouchers. If you’ve heard these terms before, you know that there is a debate over these options. If you’ve got five minutes, here’s a primer that will help to break down some of the components of school choice.

For the rest of the article, go to Five minute primer: School choice

The Life Skills Center of Arizona located in Phoenix will serve as a “home-base” for the distance learning students. “The differentiator between Life Skills Online and other online schools is a home-base that provides one-on-one attention,” says Administrator of LSC Arizona, Jared Kittelson, “it is extremely important for them to have someone to reach out to.”

For the rest of the article, go to Life Skills Centers Offers New, Online High School Program in Arizona