In a study by the RAND Corporation, ‘Remote Learning Is Here to Stay’, 58 out of 288 district administrators – about 20 per cent – said their school system had already started an online school, were planning to start one or were considering to do so as an offer for deferment.
“It’s hardly a miracle cure or a silver bullet for public education,” said Heather Schwartz, a senior policy researcher at RAND, who led the study. But, she added, ‘there are a minority of parents, a minority of students and even a minority of teachers for whom virtual schooling is preferred.”
Yet a surge in online schools carries risks. It can normalize teaching approaches that have had poor results for many students. It could also further divide a fragile national education system, especially if many Asian, Black and Latino families want to send their children back to school this year.
“My fear is that it will lead to further refraction and fragmentation,” said Jack Schneider, an assistant professor of education at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell.
Districts said they simply respond to the demand of parents and children who want to stick to distance education – some because of student health issues, others because of concerns about bullying or discrimination in their school, and others who just prefer the convenience of homeschooling.
Districts that do not start online schools could lose students, along with government education funding, to virtual academies run by neighboring districts, companies or nonprofits, administrators said. Some districts have said they use federal coronavirus assistance funds to pay for the new online offerings resources shifted from other programs.
Online schools began in the 1990s, some run by states or districts and others by private companies or organizations without charter management. But until recently, they played a niche role in many states.