One of two online public charter schools that offer statewide enrollment will ask permission from the state to double the size of its virtual classrooms after 1,900 students applied for the school’s 600 spots.
According to The Monroe News Star, Louisiana Connections Academy, a state-approved online virtual charter school, has seen “overwhelming” interest from parents seeking alternative choices to traditional public schools.
Students from across the state who enroll in the Connections Academy will take traditional school courses through home computers, web conferencing, e-mail and other tools beginning in the fall. In its original charter application to the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, the online school asked to accept 500 students. That number was increased to 600 without amending the charter, but school officials plan to ask BESE for 600 more slots when the state’s top school board meets in August.
The state’s other virtual charter school, Louisiana Virtual Charter Academy, has a 1,320-student capacity and 1,400 applicants, 80 percent of which have already been approved for enrollment:
Jeff Kwitowski, spokesman for LVCA, said the high interest in virtual education is related to the parents’ desire for choice in public education. “Virtual charter schools are a public education choice available to any student in the state regardless of geographic location or socio-economic status,” he said. “With virtual schools, your public school is not determined by where you live. We can deliver school to any student based on their academic need with a highly individualized approach to learning.”
Wood is careful to say that the virtual charter schools are not in competition with traditional brick and mortar public schools but offer another avenue for Louisiana’s students to seek an education at a high level.
“The virtual learning opportunity provides a new learning environment and new opportunities to learn at a different pace,” [Virtual Charter Academy Regional Vice President Karen Ghidotti said. “Students are not structured by the bells of a traditional brick and mortar classroom. The virtual school provides students the opportunity to spend more time in one class if needed and structure their day to fit their needs.”
Enrollment is still going on at both schools. Find more info on Louisiana Connections Academy and Louisiana Virtual Charter Academy by visiting their websites.
Read more here.
JUNE 19 Former Saint Steve Gleason, who is paralyzed by ALS, released a statement Tuesday in response to the Atlanta radio station's skit making fun of him and the disease, this Picayune post reports. What did he say? He said he'd accepted the apology of the DJs who did it, notes that at least the incident has got people talking about ALS, and asks anyone who is burning to take action about it to do so -- by helping him fight ALS.
JUNE 19 Blogger Ian McGibboney takes a look at the Gleason incident in this post. He makes a good argument about the difference between having free speech and being free from consequences for your speech (which none of us is). He also admits that many of us got upset before we listened to the skit -- but lets us know that the reality is far worse than we can imagine. It was the incredibly bad judgment, even more than the actual speech, that probably got those DJs fired, he opines.
JUNE 19 Washington Post blogger Aaron Blake writes about Sen. Guillory's switch to the GOP in this post. He writes what most political watchers in Louisiana know: Guillory was a Republican before he decided to run for the senate seat in a mostly-D St. Landry district, and has switched back now that he plans to run for Lt. Gov. in a mostly-R state. But how come Blake missed Guillory's appearance on a TLC pageant show? Now that is a video we'd like to see. (Again).
JUNE 19 Here's another Washington Post blog post about a Louisiana politician, and it's just plain scathing. Ezra Klein says Jindal's Politico post was "insulting" to the intelligence of voters, and adds that Jindal is personifying the "stupid" he's railed against, by being an "elite" who convinces GOP activists of "things that aren't true." Me-ow.
JUNE 19 Here's Gov. Jindal's post in Politico, in which he asks the GOP to get over losing to Obama (again) and stop "the bedwetting." (Uh, what?) He gives his Republican buddies what is probably a nerd's idea of a coach's motivational talk, which starts with a list of accomplishments that they can't seem to exploit and ending with an absurd description of liberals that sounds like a character treatment for a Fox "News" movie scripted by Gordon Liddy. Sure, he's preaching to the choir, but even the choir's not this gullible.
JUNE 19 Lamar Parmentel read Gov. Jindal's post on Politico, but thinks it was so dumb it probably was published in the wrong paper. This post by Lamar on the Daily Kingfish opines that possibly Jindal's post was destined for the Onion -- because the governor couldn't possibly be serious here. If you listen closely, you can hear the staff of the Kingfish giggling.
JUNE 19 Blogger Robert Mann posts from Turkey, a country he has visited several times in the past few years. Mann gives an interesting overview of the current political and societal climate of the country, which -- if you're living under a rock and don't know -- is experiencing protests and turmoil these days. Mann promises to post as much as he can during his trip, which should be fascinating reading.
JUNE 19 Blogger CB Forgotston says the legislature is keeping the vicious cycle going with its funding of new buildings for the community college/technical college system. Universities across the state need maintenance and improvement on existing buildings, and the solution is to build new buildings at other schools? By the time the bonds are paid off, those buildings will be falling down, too, CB says.
Most Read
in case you missed it
Subscribe to this comment's feed