Education Week August 29, 2012 - A Special Report on E-Learning - S11

Schools Open Doors to New E-Learning Rules, Ideas

EDUCATION WEEK AUGUST 29, 2012 > www.edweek.org/go/elearning-rules
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S11

Unions See Opportunities In Online Charter Schools

the same checks and balances in place?” Those questions are even more critical, he added, given the number of states— Pennsylvania, interestingly, is among the most recent—that have moved to curb collective bargaining rights for teachers.

By Robin L. Flanigan
n online charter school in western Pennsylvania claims to have made virtual education history three years ago by becoming what is thought to be the first cyber charter school in the nation—and the only one to date—to unionize. In June 2009, teachers at the PA Learners Online Regional Cyber Charter School voted 42-14 to have the Pennsylvania State Education Association represent 76 teachers, counselors, and other employees. Those involved in making that happen say the move could signal the start of a different kind of relationship between teachers’ unions and virtual education, one that, despite continuing concerns over how online schools are managed, results in more collaboration. “As an association, as a union, our job is to do what we can for students, so we’re going to continue to attempt to organize school workers, wherever they are,” said Mike Crossey, the president of the psea, an affiliate of the National Education Association. Though it’s still too early to tell whether the unionized Pennsylvania cyber school, which is changing its name to stream—or Science, Technology, Research, Engineer-

ing, Arts, and Math—Academy as of the 2012-13 school year, will spur similar partnerships. But it does offer a contrasting view of teachers’ unions that more typically make news for their attempts to block or limit virtual schools. Those attempts have taken place in several states in recent years. In July, a group of prominent education organizations in New Jersey, including the New Jersey Education Association, asked acting Commissioner of Education Chris Cerf to decline approval of two virtual charter schools, citing numerous legal and policy concerns. Less than a week later, the State of New Jersey Board of Education granted the New Jersey Virtual Academy Charter School and the New Jersey Virtual Charter School a planning year, allowing the schools additional time to develop their academic and operational components to ensure a successful opening in 2013-14. With the number of virtual schools continuing to grow, teachers’ union leaders insist that, while their primary role is to represent their members, they are not against online education. Instead, they see themselves as cautiously supportive, particularly when it comes to for-profit ventures. “This is the kind of thing we want,” Mike Kaspar, a senior policy analyst for the 3 million-member nea, said of alliances with online schools. “But with more charter schools being privatized, what does that mean in terms of quality, accessibility, and accountability? Will there be

DEFINING NEW ROLES
Others are curious to see how blended learning, which combines aspects of brickand-mortar and online instruction, might influence future relationships between teachers’ unions and the virtual world. The nea released a policy brief in 2011 expressing support for the blended approach. “There’s more activity in this area than anywhere else right now, and there are going to be roles that are defined that don’t necessarily look like the roles we’ve traditionally seen in schools,” said Matthew Wicks, the chief operating officer for the International Association for K-12 Online Learning, or inacol, based in Vienna, Va. As it is, there is still hesitation to get too friendly just yet. In May, despite a substantial recruitment campaign by the psea, teachers at the Agora Cyber Charter School in a close vote—214-200—rejected the opportunity to unionize. The

teachers for that Pennsylvania school had responded to the campaign with one of their own, contending that the psea’s past attempts to slash charter school funding likely would have forced Agora, and schools like it, to close. Agora served some 9,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade in 2011-12. Doug Tuthill, who now runs a nonprofit scholarship program based in Tampa, Fla., for low-income children across the state, held leadership responsibilities in teachers’ unions at the local and state levels for years. He has long pushed for a change in the way unions operate and views virtual education as a prime testing ground to do just that. “I have argued since the early ’90s that we’ve needed a new unionism, that instead of protecting teachers from a dysfunctional system, we ought to be in the business of empowering them to change the system,” Mr. Tuthill said. Meanwhile, the nea has just begun revising its distance education policy, last written and adopted in 2002, which will address future connections between unions and cyber schools. “It will talk about what that relationship would look like, and what we think needs to be in place to make that relationship happen,” said Mr. Kaspar of the nea. “We are definitely adapting.” n

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the Atlanta-based Southern Regional Education Board, both of which have national standards for online teaching. “I believe there should be standards for teachers who work for an online school, but my biggest concern is that the very best instructors aren’t necessarily the ones who have state-mandated credentials,” said Terry Stoops, the director of education studies at the John Locke Foundation, a think tank based in Raleigh, N.C. He contends that competent higher education faculty members, private-sector professionals, private school educators, and independent scholars without those credentials are disqualified from employment in virtual schools when they could be offering a valuable service in a fast-growing market. “Requirements are restrictions that don’t equal quality,” Mr. Stoops said. “It would be a much smarter idea to open these schools up to as many candidates as possible, and to focus on skills, relevant knowledge, and experience rather than credentials that seldom correlate to high student performance and teacher quality.” Those considering whether to offer a certification or endorsement program often ask whether it would be easier to establish a universal certificate that would outline specific, objective performance standards and allow for true reciprocity across state lines.

A national alliance of nonprofit organizations, universities, and education agencies founded the Leading Edge Certification in 2010 to do just that. As the first of five certification areas, the alliance’s online and blended teacher certification, based on inacol standards, was launched in 2011 to guide professionals in educational technology and curriculum innovation. Yet the real question, given that targeted professional development for online teachers already exists, is whether formal certification programs should even be a priority, said John Watson of the Evergreen Education Group. “It’s easy to envision a policy requirement getting us into places that make it hard for innovation to happen,” said the founder of the private consulting and advisory firm, based in Durango, Colo. “If we can come up with a different way of doing things, it should be allowed. Policies, if we’re not careful, can undermine that flexibility.” Whatever answer makes the most sense for each state, with predictions from inacol that half of all high school courses will be taught online by 2019, Ms. Patrick is hoping that training efforts for virtual teachers pick up momentum. “I’m always looking at things from a global perspective, and we’re getting so far behind with this,” she said. “We have a lot of work to do.” n

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Education Week August 29, 2012 - A Special Report on E-Learning

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