Creates the New York state web academy and virtual charter schools

BILL NUMBER:S1133

Title of bill

An act to amend the education law, in relation to creating the New York state web academy and virtual charter schools to provide online instruction

Purpose

The purpose of this legislation is to develop and implement virtual charter school courses via the Internet to allow pupils access to courses they otherwise would not be able to access through conventional instructional methods.

Summary of provisions

Section one amends that the education law by adding a new article 56-A, which creates subparagraphs 2900-2903 of the education law concerning the Web Academy and Virtual Charter schools.

Sub-paragraph 2900 contains the definitions section, and defines a "virtual charter school" as a charter school in which at least a portion of the instruction is provided through means of the Internet.

Sub-paragraph 2901 Provides that the department shall establish the New York state web academy comprised of virtual charter schools to partner with school districts, cooperative educational services, private schools and the chartering entities of charter schools which will throughout the state to offer online courses at a reasonable fee for middle and high school students.

Subparagraph 2901 further provides the Board of Regents shall establish the content of the online courses, provide for online certification for New York state certified teachers and provide technical support for the academy. All online courses shall meet New York state and national standards.

Sub-paragraph 2902 provides that teachers shall be required to undergo special training before teaching an online course. Furthermore, shall limit the number of students enrolled in a virtual charter school, and shall ensure pupils enrolled part-time in online courses have direct with a teacher, each week school is scheduled, for at least twenty minutes for each online.

Justification

This legislation seeks to expand the options that parents have in selecting the right school for their children by creating a New York State Web Academy, within which non-locationally based charter schools might operate. Certain children do not perform as well inside of traditional classroom settings due to such things as a lack of sufficiently challenging academic offerings, or other reasons why a student might not thrive in a given school district's "brick and mortar" schools. For those students, "virtual" charter schools can

provide a necessary alternative to traditional location-based schooling.

Those wishing to be teachers in virtual charter schools must go through additional educational training in order to provide the sufficient amount of education to their pupils. Furthermore, enrollees in the virtual charter schools will be required, similar to other types of home schooling, to spend socialization time with both teachers and students at bricks and mortar schools in their physical school district.

The State of Wisconsin enacted Act 222 in 2007 that allowed virtual charter schools to operate with public funding. Although New York State's experiment with virtual charter schools will not begin with public funding, it is hoped that by establishing in law the right to create virtual charter schools, the quality of education will increase for pupils in the state of New York.

Legislative history

2009-10: S.7017 - Referred to Education

Fiscal implications

None.

Effective date

The act shall take effect the first of July next succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law.