Tag Archives: Colorado Coalition of Cyberschool Families

It’s Lego-time around here, so I don’t have long to blog right now. But I did want you to hear about how Colorado families and schools are working together to enhance the online education experience and make our state’s thriving cyberschool community the talk of the nation. Click the play button below to listen to a new iVoices podcast as my Education Policy Center friend Ben DeGrow discusses with Judith Stokes of the Colorado Cyberschools Association and Lori Cooney of the Colorado Coalition of Cyberschool Families about their collaborative effort to benefit students: As always, you can learn more about ALL your Colorado education options at our fabulous School Choice for Kids website. And now back to my Legos….

Because of the fact that I communicate with you over the Internet, you’d probably guess I’m a big fan of online education. Well, I am. It doesn’t work for every kid, but it sure deserves to be treated fairly as another educational option. Cyberschools well may be the wave of the future, and it’s growing more popular with parents and students in Colorado all the time. In today’s Rocky Mountain News, Nancy Mitchell sheds light on the rising trend of cyberschools: Growth in the programs, which had spiked from 166 students in 2000 to 9,150 in 2006, eked up to 9,222 in 2007. But in fall 2008, that number grew to 11,641 students – an enrollment that would rank it 19th among Colorado’s 178 school districts in size…. In return for greater accountability, the law provides more funding. Before, online schools were prohibited from receiving funding for students who had been home- schooled or were in private schools the year before they enrolled in virtual classes.

In the spirit of the day, I looked for something scary in education to tell you about. But instead of that, I wanted to let you know about an exciting new national group that has formed: This week a committed group of parents from around the United States officially launched the National Coalition for Public School Options (NCPSO) to support and defend public school options in their states and throughout the country. The group was officially launched during the North American Council for Online Learning (NACOL) Virtual School Symposium. “As parents, we want the best possible education for our children,” said Lori Cooney NCPSO president and parent of online public school students in Colorado. “Our founding board believes parents everywhere should have more public school options available to them, and we will help give those parents a voice in their state capitals and in our nation’s capital.” Cooney joined two other parents to help form the organization: Briana LeClaire from Idaho and Christine Beard from Ohio, both fellow parents whose children are enrolled in online public schools. The Coalition supports the creation of public school options, including charter schools, online schools, magnet schools, open enrollment policies and other innovative education […]