What kind of student enrolls in a course online? It could be someone who needs to do remedial work, or a student who wants to study more challenging material at a higher grade level. Students who are home schooled, whose high schools don’t offer advanced placement courses, who want to take an additional foreign language, or who just want to work at their own pace might all benefit from virtual school. These students are each looking for different things when they sign up for online courses. But under Missouri’s current Virtual Instruction Program, they have to settle for one-size-fits-all online instruction.
Other states allow students to choose between competing virtual public schools. Some virtual schools have developed their own curricula, while others use online instructional programs sold by private companies. If Missouri followed the lead of other states and offered more virtual school options, Missouri’s virtual school could give students the individualized education they want.
Washington is a good example of a state with a variety of online public schools. Washington students can choose from 26 different virtual public schools. Students don’t have to enroll in one program set up by the state; instead, they can enroll in online academies that public school districts have set up in addition to their brick-and-mortar buildings. Families can borrow the required computers and other materials from the districts. The equivalent of this in Missouri would be if students in Saint Louis City could enroll in, say, a Ladue Virtual Academy and receive the same education as students in the suburbs—without having to spend hours on a bus every day.
A state doesn’t need dozens of virtual schools to create competition. When even a few virtual schools compete, they’re responsive to parents’ requests. Missouri parents were upset when they found
