A bill that would allow Iowa’s two online schools to stay in business has cleared an initial hurdle in the Iowa House. About seven-hundred students are enrolled in the for-profit K-through-12 online academies in Iowa. Amy Williamson is the chief of the school improvement bureau in the Iowa Department of Education and she has been keeping tabs on the two operations since 2012.
Officials in Iowa’s public schools complain they must send the online academy whatever money they’d spend on a student if a resident in their district enrolls in one of the academies. Tom Marek (MAIR-ick) is with the School Administrators of Iowa.
The Iowa Connections Academy operates under the umbrella of the CAM Community School District in Anita and the Iowa Virtual Academy operates out of the Clayton Ridge School District in Guttenberg. Advocates of the online schools say they’re an alternative for students with special needs.
Critics point to the 30 percent drop-out rate in the online academies and legislators are asking the schools to provide more information about those students. The state law which allowed the for-profit online academies to set up business in Iowa expires this year, so unless this bill clears the legislature the for-profit schools will have to close.
