Online Public Charter School’s Fail to Meet Expectations

Public charter schools proving incapable of delivering acceptable test scores. Private organizations such as The Cambridge Academy are trying to pick up the pieces.

[ClickPress, Tue Feb 20 2007] Public charter schools have been unable to keep up with the already flagging traditional public school’s test scores, according to a recent report from a prominent homeschool advocacy group.

“In 2006, statistics from the Idaho Board of Education indicate that 81.8% of all Idaho public school students scored “proficient” or above, but only 72.1% of PSAH (Public School At Home) students did,” the report concluded.

Despite pouring millions of dollars of taxpayer money in public home education programs, the situation is similar all over the country. In Pennsylvania, only one out of eleven public virtual charter schools was able to meet the Adequate Yearly Progress standards set forth in the No Child Left Behind plan.

It is clear that there is a need for online education, and several private organizations are attempting to meet this demand where the public school system cannot, by re-inventing the PreK-12 education rather than simply duplicating the failures of the public school online.

One of these schools is The Cambridge Academy.

Principal Maribel Markins states, “Public virtual charter schools offer the same poor curriculum, the same one-size-fits-all learning structure, and the same unbending educational philosophy that we’ve come to expect from public schools. It would seem that parents who enroll their children in a private Academy do so to provide their children with something better. It’s unfortunate that students of these charter schools only get more of the same old thing.”

Markins claims that public charter schools entice families with offers of free internet connections, curriculum, and several other perks. “Make no mistake;” says Markins, “You get what you pay for.”

There is also a concern regarding the freedom that parents give up in order to enroll in public charter schools. “Once they enroll, their hands are tied,” declares Markins. "Parents are unable to add or subtract course material to the curriculum, they are bound to lesson plans decided by the state, and they are unable to tailor the curriculum according to the specific needs of the child. Furthermore, families are subject to home visits from school administrators."

The Cambridge Academy is an Online Private PreK-12 Academy that allows parents to educate their children free from the influence of public schools. For more information about The Cambridge Academy, visit www.TheCambridgeAcademy.org.

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