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Senator Lehman did not consult with the parents, teachers or administrators from the online public schools when crafting this bill. His bill addresses issues not connected to the court decision and injects controversy that could undermine a bipartisan compromise that would keep virtual schools open.

The Lehman proposal does not save these schools. In fact, it would close them. None of the half dozen quality online public charter schools affected by this lawsuit could operate at the arbitrarily low funding provided by his bill. No quality public school could. If this bill were to pass, thousands of families across this state would be dealt a devastating blow.

Representative Brett Davis will introduce a competing bill similar to AB 1060, introduced by Davis in 2006. Passed by the Assembly and Senate, the bill was vetoed by our heavily WEAC-funded Governor. As I understand it, the 2008 Davis bill, like AB 1060, will address the issues raised by the court, i.e., charter law, open enrollment and licensure/teacher definition. It will not address funding, as the Lehman bill does.

WEAC’s focus is on funding because they don’t like to see dollars being paid to the virtual school providers – in Appleton’s case, Connections Academy. Funny that WEAC doesn’t object to a district paying for similar services, like science books or student testing or audio visual equipment or staff support or aides in the classroom.

Superintendent Allinger, in a letter to all northeast Wisconsin legislators asking for “legislative support for statutory language changes that will allow virtual education to continue to thrive as a viable educational option for all families in the state of Wisconsin,” addresses this funding issue:

The economics of operating WCA [Wisconsin Connections Academy] for the Appleton Area School District is a break-even proposition. For the 2007-08 school year there are 11.8 WCA staff members housed at the Morgan Building in Appleton. There are presently 20 Appleton Area School District students enrolled in WCA with 370 students open enrolled into WCA from across the state. Operating costs for the school total approximately $2.58 million. Revenues generated by student membership minus operating costs have WCA operating in the black this year in the amount of $22,000. WCA is not a revenue enhancer for the Appleton Area School District. It is viewed as providing a needed educational option for some families.

Here’s the deal. Virtual schools work. They work for a special kind of student – and these kids are finding success, over and over again. Indeed, why does WEAC turn its back on these kids?

Write your legislator. Support the Davis bill. Attend the hearings next Wednesday and Thursday. Attend the rally January 16 in support of virtual schools. Every kid deserves a great school – bricks and mortar or not.

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