K12 Education for a Lifetime

http://www.k12.com/ ^ | 2002 | William Bennett et. al.

[StopGlobalWhining]

Home schooled children attend Virtual Charter School

William J. Bennett, along with other leaders who are passionate about education, founded K12 in 1999. The goal was to create a world-class, traditional program in education--one that would empower parents to be effective teachers and empower students to explore the world around them thoughtfully.

Chester E. Finn, Jr., is one of the nation's most knowledgeable scholars of educational excellence and opportunity. He is president of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation and a John M. Olin Fellow at the Manhattan Institute. He recently co-authored The Educated Child: A Parent's Guide From Preschool Through Eighth Grade. A prolific writer of books and articles on education, Dr. Finn holds a B.A. in U.S. History, an M.A. in Social Studies Teaching, and a Ph.D. in Education Policy and Administration from Harvard University. Edwin P. Fredie has worked tirelessly to improve American education, and has led prestigious learning institutions. He was headmaster of the Milton Academy, where students' test scores are consistently among the highest in the nation, and he is now chief education officer at Charter Schools USA, an education management organization. David Gelernter, K12's chief technology adviser, is a leading authority on technology issues. He is a professor of computer science at Yale University, chief scientist at Mirror Worlds Technologies, and the author of numerous books and essays on art, technology, and other topics. Dr. Gelernter's "tuple spaces" idea is the basis for Scientific Computing Associates' Linda application, Sun Microsystems' JavaSpaces, IBM's T-spaces, and many other Linda derivatives worldwide. His book Mirror Worlds is said to have predicted the World Wide Web and to have partly inspired Sun Microsystems' Java Internet programming language and its Jini project. Paul R. Gross is a professor emeritus of Life Sciences at the University of Virginia (UVA). He was vice president and provost of UVA as well as director of its Shannon Center for Advanced Studies. His scientific research has focused on molecular, cell, and developmental biology, and he taught these subjects at New York University, Brown University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Rochester, and UVA. From 1978 until 1988, he was director and president of the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole. In recent years he has published several books on science, including Higher Superstition: The Academic Left and Its Quarrels with Science (1994), co-authored with Norman Levitt. Scott Hamilton is managing director of the Pisces Foundation, a San Francisco-based philanthropy created by Doris and Donald Fisher. He is also co-founder and president of the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) Foundation, a nonprofit organization that trains and supports school leaders who are starting their own independent public schools based on the nationally acclaimed Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) academies in Houston and New York. Previously, Mr. Hamilton served as associate commissioner of education in Massachusetts, where he established and oversaw the state's charter school initiative. Michael W. Kirst is a renowned authority on what works in education, including technology in education. He has been a professor of education and business administration at Stanford University since 1969. He is the author of many prominent books, articles, and reports, including The Conditions of Children in California. Tom Loveless is a preeminent scholar of American and international education as well as a former classroom teacher and professor. He is the author of several works, including The Tracking Wars, and is director of the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution. Louisa Moats is a well-known expert on reading, teaching, and speech. She is the author of numerous books, including Straight Talk About Reading, and is the project director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). Early Interventions Project. Her recent book, Speech to Print, is the basis for the innovative courses she teaches at the Greenwood Institute in Vermont. Theodore Rabb is a renowned professor of history at Princeton University; he also taught at Stanford, Northwestern, Harvard, and Johns Hopkins Universities. He has held offices in various national and public organizations, including the American Historical Association, the Renaissance Society of America, and the Social Science History Association. Professor Rabb holds a B.A. from Oxford University and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Princeton University.

[StopGlobalWhining]

What is interesting about this is the the 9 states listed in topics recognize Bennett's virtual schools as officially chartered by the state. That means you can homeschool and receive lesson plans and help with educating you child with official state approval. In Pennsylvania there is no tuition, and no extra cost or fees for books, a loaner computer with an internet connection, or classroom materials. It almost sounds too good to be true. (However, a curriculum for sex education is not included).

Check out the website.

[ConservativeDude]

I like classical education, though it would certainly be nice to get a one stop lesson plan resource. I have found veritas press to be an extraordinary resource. www.veritaspress.com

[tutstar]

bump for later

[Davis]

Here is whose to blame for state of education in American...Cold Facts and Adolescent Fantasies...

[Domestic Church]

This technically is a cyber charter school in Pennsylvania and it isn't homeschooling at all as you don't file the affadavit and educational objectives, have the portfolio to develope and be evaluated, nationally standardized tests etc. and you don't submit the homeschool paperwork to the district superintendent for his fine tooth comb and the cost(in thousands) is taken from the state and local school district. Also Home School Legal Defense doesn't cover this if you enroll as it legally is a public school and there is ongoing litigation in some of the districts.

[eno_]

I really hope K12 succeeds. It won't be for everyone, and I also hope other curriculae for home schooling also flourish. But harnessing the charter school funding mechanism is definitely the dagger aimed at the heart of the education establishment.

[Domestic Church]

It will help break the strangle hold of the NEA and if terrorism really hits and the schools are targeted this will be a very necessary educational modus. In fact if that happened rapidly neither the states nor the cyber schools would be able to process the switch over quick enough. Of course, this would mean less teaching jobs. The federal department of education had statistically predicted that home education would increase exponentially between the late 90's and 2015, more than doubling every 5 years. And this was based on projected terrorism and social breakdown.

[pray4liberty]

About time. Kids who are being expelled left and right due to insane zero tolerance policies have to have someplace to go other than a state "alternative school" which is basically a juvy school.

[StopGlobalWhining]

Bump for cyber schools-

[SuziQ]

I like classical education,

When our kids finish their American History studies, we're going to start a more classical model. We will have a curriculum, and it will cover everything except Math, and hard science if you're preparing for college. You can check it out Here
It involves the kids doing LOTS of research, and you can use textbooks or non-fiction to find the info. It also involves reading literature dealing with the time frame being studied. You can certainly use the 'Great Books' for this.

[ConservativeDude]

thanks.

homeschooling is like attending a magnificent buffet...so many good choices. what a great "problem" to have!

[ladylib]

At least you aren't stuck with a curriculum that isn't working like these poor kids are in NYC. As a homeschooler, if something doesn't seem to be working out, you can change it. Not these poor kids. They're stuck with the "experts" bad decisions, and they pay for it when they have to take "high-stakes" tests.

http://www.city-journal.org/html/eon_3_7_03mc.html

Ditto for poor reading programs.

[ConservativeDude]

i could not agree more....the fact that we stick the most vulnerable in our country with the most experimental ie the worst education, is a crime

[asformeandformyhouse]

Little help here! We will begin "officially" home-schooling our fourth child this fall and we are looking for video/computer/self-study curriculum for our oldest child. She will be 11 in May. We plan to attend a curriculum fair in April and any advance advice or warnings would be appreciated.

[phd2b]

Good for William Bennett!

I am waiting for Texas to approve K21.com as a public charter school.

I wonder why this is not covered more in the press. Hardly anyone knows about these virtual charter schools--even homeschoolers. K12 is not the only one, either. Seems like huge news to me since it can really change the nature of public school in this country. And we all know we need some kind of change!

[ladylib]

Here's another one. Great Books Academy which is a classical homeschooling curriculum is being offered in charter schools in PA and CA.

http://www.greatbooksacademy.org/html/gba_news.shtml

[ladylib]

Here is a Christian classical on-line curriculum.

http://classicalfree.org/

If you just type in home school curriculum, you'll come up with a lot of options besides classical education.

[ladylib]

Homeschooling and charter schools are rarely covered positively in the press. The NEA is totally against charter schools, and many politicians are against charter schools because the NEA is where they get the money for their campaigns.

In my state, it's a hassle to start a charter school because towns don't want money taken from the "marvelous" public schools and given to charters -- on-line or bricks and mortar.

[ladylib]

A lot of homeschoolers are against William Bennett's K12.com because even though it's considered a very good curriculum, they don't like the fact that he offers it to publically funded charter schools.

Many homeschoolers are afraid that states will mandate that homeschoolers only use approved charter schools in order to homeschool. That limits homeschoolers' freedom to choose the curricula they want.

[phd2b]

I think it is sad that homeschoolers would object to K12.com for those reasons. That is like saying I will not read National Geographic magazine because they offer it to public schools at a discount. That is absurd.

I agree that homeschoolers should have the freedom to choose their own curriculum. The only way to ensure this is to keep on top of legislative issues in your state and stay in contact with your senators and representatives.

The Homeschool Legal Defense Association offers a free e-mail alert service that provides detailed information on how you can get involved to protect the rights of homeschoolers. Check out--

http://hslda.org/elert/

HSLDA will also send you a free homeschooling packet with legal information specific for your state.