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Kansas Audit Critiques Virtual Schools
by Michael Martinez
Auditors in Kansas this week said the state's rapidly expanding virtual school system is cause for concern.
In a report prepared for the legislature, the Legislative Division of Post Audit criticized oversight of the cyber programs and warned that students may suffer if more attention is not paid to the virtual schools. There are currently 28 virtual schools operating in 26 school districts.
"The fact that students don't have to be physically present to attend a virtual school gives this form of education a tremendous amount of flexibility -- students can go to school at anytime and in anyplace," the audit said. "Unfortunately, when students don't have to be physically present, it also creates certain risks to both the quality of the student's education and to the integrity of the public school system as a whole."
The auditors said better oversight of virtual schools has become urgent because more students are enrolling each year. They found that more than 2,000 students are attending cyber schools.
According to the report, more than 60 percent of students in the Mullinville school district attend virtual schools. Auditors identified 130 cases in that district where Mullinville officials "gave" virtual students to other school districts to count for funding purposes.
The report said three districts received state funds because they accounted for students that were enrolled in virtual schools in Mullinville and kept those funds after paying a fee to a service center that runs the cyber programs. Auditors did not find evidence that the approach provided financial benefits to Mullinville's superintendent or its school district.
"Even so, allowing districts to decide where virtual students are counted creates the risk that districts could manipulate state funding ... or state assessment results," the report said.
The report said it remains unclear whether virtual students receive the same quality education as those attending traditional schools. But it said lawmakers have not paid sufficient attention to the administration of the programs and their growing popularity.
Auditors recommended that an interim study be conducted on the growth and funding of virtual schools, as well the quality of the education provided. They also suggested that Mullinville be required to account for all of its virtual students in its own enrollment.
In a letter to the auditors, Mullinville Superintendent John Jones said state law does not prohibit his district from allowing other districts to count Mullinville's virtual students. He said he understands that virtual enrollment figures can be manipulated to secure funding but insisted that there is no foul play involved in his district.
Still, Jones said he accepts the auditors' recommendations and will implement them. "We will do whatever [the division] decides we should do," Jones said.
In his response, Education Commissioner Dale Dennis agreed that better oversight of the state's virtual school programs is necessary. He said the state Education Department would establish a new committee to review the risks associated with cyber-schooling.
Glitch Hits Minnesota Online Testing System
More than a quarter of Minnesota's school districts could not run a program for a new online test this week.
The Star Tribune reported that computer glitches caused malfunctions in 26 of the 99 districts that attempted to administer a new online alternative math test for students who speak English as a second language. A state Education Department spokesman said the errors either kept students from logging on to the system or kept them from finishing their tests by cutting off their connections.
Education Commissioner Alice Seagren said neither the schools nor the students would be held accountable for the technical problems with the test, which was administered to measure student performance as required by the federal education law known as the No Child Left Behind Act.
The online testing system was designed by the Iowa-based firm Pearson Educational Assessment. Department officials said the company has deployed teams to repair the problems. Schools have been given an extension until May 11 to complete testing.
Illinois Residents Warned About Lottery Hoax
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan warned consumers in her state this week about fraudulent, unsolicited e-mails they may receive telling them they just won the state's lottery.
Madigan said the state has launched an investigation into junk e-mails, also known as spam, that bait consumers into surrendering personal information by telling them they just won the lottery and instructing them how to collect their imagined winnings. The e-mails, she said, tell people to wire money to a bank in Africa so the bank can cover the courier costs of sending the prize money from there.
"Contrary to these assertions, the Illinois Lottery does not conduct any business in Nigeria or any other foreign country," according to the warning issued by Madigan.
She said the lottery scam is a spin-off of the so-called Nigerian letter ploy that has been hitting millions of consumers online for the past several years. Her warning included a tip sheet on how to avoid getting hustled.
"Whether you're being offered a 'lottery jackpot,' an overpayment for something you're selling, or the opportunity to help 'deposed royalty' transfer the family fortune to another country, if someone is sending you a check and asking you to wire some portion of it back, you are being set up for trouble," Madigan said.
Florida Clears Bill Targeting Online Predators
Florida lawmakers have cleared legislation that would require registered sex offenders to give law enforcers their e-mail addresses and screen names for online chatting programs.
Both chambers of the legislature late last week passed the bill, S.B. 1004, which has been sent to Republican Gov. Charlie Crist.
The measure also would enhance the state's penalties for possession of child pornography and soliciting minors for sex online. Under the bill, those caught attempting to meet children whom they contact online would face up to 15 years in prison.
State Attorney General Bill McCollum said the legislation would dramatically enhance the ability of his office's cyber-crimes unit to tackle the problem. He urged Crist to sign it into law.
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