SB65 complicates online learning

Is it that Utah legislators dislike public education and are trying to dismantle it with a thousand cuts, or are they sincere in preparing students for the digital age?

By passing SB65, lawmakers have focused attention on the timely need to renew our state's capacity to prepare all students to succeed in the information age. And that should be the bottom line rather than simply promoting private providers and creating needless and costly regulations.

SB65 appears to be wasting valuable tax dollars by adding needless bureaucratic layers to what has been a successful program, the state's Electronic High School, or EHS. It has been in existence for over 15 years and keeps improving its ability to meet the changing educational needs of students.

Last session, lawmakers passed SB65 which will add private providers to compete for courses offered in the new electronic high school program through the Utah State Office of Education, or USOE; the direct funding for the current EHS to the USOE will end this year. Funding will now follow the student instead of the local school district getting all the money for the student.

Local school districts will have to pass on half of the online fees to private providers, while still having to pay for administrative and other services. Taxpayers ought to note that SB65 calls for using a portion of local school district's property taxes raised for building and maintenance (which is the responsibility of local school boards) to pay for the new program and that translates to a decrease in local control.

What legislators have done with SB65 is to create a needless and confusing funding scheme with more regulations and hoops local school boards, parents and students must jump through. Legislators claim SB65 is needed to give students more options in selecting private providers and class courses when, in fact, it does the opposite. It limits the number of classes students can take online (only two in 2012 and 2013) and the classes they can take in school. Without conducting a study of the effectiveness of the current EHS, lawmakers say it only has a 30 percent success rate in students completing their selected class, however, education officials say a 75 percent success rate.

The current EHS lets students statewide take unlimited online courses to fulfill core requirements freeing their school day to take elective classes such as AP, debate, music and student government to meet their educational needs. A lot of elective courses are also available online. For many students who are advanced in their education achievement, it gives them flexibility to explore options that further their education.