Since the concept of virtual charter schools first went before Maine lawmakers a few years ago, the Legislature and education leaders have grappled with how to measure, monitor and pay for them. The jockeying continues this legislative session.
Funding remains a key issue. Under current statute, when a “sending district” — say the Bangor School Department — has a student that decides to go to a charter school, whether virtual or bricks-and-mortar, that sending district receives a bill for the cost of educating that student. The sending school district then cuts a check and sends it off to the charter school.
The system is slow and overcomplicated, according to both charter school and traditional school administrators.
LD 131 aims to simplify the process by treating charter schools as their own “school district,” and having the state fund them directly for education costs. Under the current system, the state funds local school districts for the costs of students, even if those students attend charter schools, meaning that the school districts then have to cut a check to the charter schools for the costs of educating that student. Both school districts and charter schools say that is a time-consuming, convoluted process.
The change has strong, broad support from the Legislature’s education committee and education officials at both charters and school districts, and is expected to pass through the Legislature with relative ease. An original version of the bill also sought to place a moratorium on virtual charter schools, but that portion of the bill was amended out after receiving pushback from the Maine Department of Education and several charter school groups.
The House gave its unanimous consent to the bill earlier this week.
Some lawmakers and groups are questioning whether virtual schools are overfunded. Enter LD 306, proposed by Sen. Christopher Johnson, D-Lincoln. The bill would require the Department of Education and Maine Education Policy Research Institute to launch a review of virtual school costs compared with bricks-and-mortar schools.
Johnson claimed virtual schools were “perpetuating falsehood and waste, while other schools remain underfunded” in his testimony to the education committee.
The bill’s proponents question whether virtual schools need the level of funding they receive, as they don’t have to finance student transportation costs, typically have fewer teachers and staff, and don’t need to cover costs associated with running a large building.
Virtual charter school proponents counter that they face expenses that bricks-and-mortar institutions don’t — higher technology costs, sending computers to every student, shipping textbooks, among others, according to Francis. The school also reimburses families for a portion of their Internet costs and pays fees to their educational and administrative services contractors.
Francis said MCA’s annual operating budget is about $2.1 million
Maine Virtual Academy’s projected budget is based on $6,700 in funding per student, the average per-student essential programs and services, or EPS, funding rate in the state.
“This level of funding is consistent with national research that has found that the average cost of a virtual school is between $6,400 and $8,300 per student, which is less than average costs of facility-based schools at $10,000 per student,” according to Amy Carlisle, chairwoman of the school’s board of directors.
“The majority of MVA’s budget goes toward paying Maine educators and administrators and leasing a Maine-based facility where our educators and staff work,” she added.
The education committee voted that LD 306 “ought not to pass” during its work session on April 15. Several members were swayed against the bill after DOE and MEPRI officials said that reviews of how well the state’s funding formulas meet school expenses, including virtual charter schools, are planned for 2017. Education officials also expressed concerns that the expenses in the schools’ first years of operations wouldn’t provide the most useful data, as startup costs will be higher in the first years of operations, and also will involve a smaller number of students and teachers, as the schools expect to expand.
Roger Brainerd of the Maine Association for Charter Schools argued that it would be “discriminatory” for the state to fund virtual school students on a different level from other public school students.
Another bill, LD 472, seeks to place a moratorium on any more virtual charter schools opening in the state, effective date of the legislation, meaning that, if passed, Maine Virtual Academy wouldn’t be allowed to open in September in spite of being approved by the state’s Charter School Commission. The education committee voted on April 14 that the bill ought not to pass when it goes before the full Legislature, citing the fact that at this point there has been no evidence of significant problems with Maine’s virtual charter system.
Critics of the charter school model have questioned the role of for-profit companies, such as K12 and Connections Education, that serve as the educational service providers for the schools.
Francis said he’s bothered by those assertions, as the schools themselves are not for-profit, and school districts often contract with for-profit companies for everything from textbooks to custodial services.
Opponents also point to lawsuits and lower-than-anticipated performance results in other states.
The state’s Charter School Commission has said that it’s confident the checks and balances it placed in the schools’ contracts will allow the commission to effectively monitor the educational performance and operations of the virtual schools. The commission’s chairwoman has said she’s confident Maine won’t experience the problems that other states have had.
Another issue presented itself in Maine Connections Academy in its first year that will need to be addressed through future legislation, according to Francis — how virtual charter schools deal with truancy and chronic absenteeism.
Like many traditional schools, Maine Connections Academy sees “a handful” of students enroll who, for reasons ranging from lack of motivation to problems at home, don’t do the work, according to Francis. They miss live lessons, fall behind, and become truant.
Maine statute lays out a process for what to do when a student becomes truant, or has the equivalent of 10 full days of unexcused absences or seven straight school days of unexcused absences during a school year.
It can be difficult for a virtual charter school to follow that process, however, because the school’s offices can be a 5-hour drive or more from the student’s home, making it difficult to meet with the parents or collaborate with local police departments when welfare checks are needed.
Francis also would like to be able to withdraw a truant student from classes at Maine Connections Academy to make room for a student on the waiting list who has interest in pursuing an education there.
“We’re not for everybody, just like the traditional setting’s not for everybody,” Francis said. “But we’re going to work hard for those that are with us.”
Follow Nick McCrea on Twitter at @nmccrea213.