State Stepping in to Delay Virtual Online Learning

A one-year moratorium on the creation of virtual online charter schools is making its way through the Illinois legislature.

After school boards from around the Fox Valley area voted this week to deny Virtual Learning Solutions' K12 Inc. admittance to their curriculum, State Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia (D-Aurora) is crafting legislation that would stop the online learning proposals for up to a year, according to a report in the Kane County Chronicle. The moratorium would give the state more time to study virtual online learning and its effects on education.

The legislation, which is co-sponsored by State Rep. Kay Hatcher (R-Yorkville), passed Chapa LaVia’s House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee this week, and soon could make its way to the full House for a vote, the Chronicle reported.

“All my school boards voiced their concerns about this topic. Online learning has great value, but the (Illinois State Charter School Commission) was not created to address a totally virtual environment,” Hatcher said in a post on her Facebook page. “This gives everyone time to address our changing education platform.”

In March, K12 representative Todd Thorpe presented the company's plan to partner with Virtual Learning Systems to bring the online charter school to area districts during a Plainfield school board meeting. 

Known as Illinois Virtual Charter School @ Fox River Valley, the proposal drew criticism from Plainfield board members, administrators and even residents.

"Stay away from my tax dollars," Joliet City Councilman Larry Hug, a District 202 parent, told Thorpe. 

Board member Rod Westfall called the proposal "really pathetic, if you ask me." 

In response, Virtual Learning Solutions fired off a more than 1,000-page response blasting its critics.

Read the full report on Chapa LaVia's proposal from the Kane County Chronicle here. 

Related:

• Critics Sound Off on Plainfield Charter School Proposal