Controversial Online Learning Rule in Idaho to be Reviewed

Lawmakers in Idaho are to begin a review of a controversial plan that would see the state become the first in the country to require high school students to take at least two credits online to graduate.

The state Board of Education approved the online learning rule despite heavy criticism. The requirement is now going before lawmakers for review in the 2012 session.

The Senate Education Committee took public testimony Tuesday, but Chairman John Goedde, R-Coeur d’Alene, said testimony against Idaho adopting the plan altogether was “not appropriate,” writes Jessie L. Bonner at the Associated Press.

Under last year’s signing into law of state education reforms, avoiding online credits is no longer an option. As part of the overhaul, backed by public schools chief Tom Luna and the governor, the state will see an introduction of merit pay, a limit on union bargaining rights and phasing in laptops for every high school teacher and student.

Luna had wanted students to take up to eight online course credits to graduate high school, but that provision came under fire from parents, teachers and some lawmakers. It was subsequently ditched in the 2011 Idaho Legislature.

The legislation that was approved, however, directed the state Board of Education to determine how many online courses should be required of students, writes Bonner.

The board settled on two credits, requiring one in the form of an asynchronous course, where students move at their own pace and interact with their teacher as needed.

But the plan doesn’t seem popular. The head of the state School Boards Association was among those who urged lawmakers to leave the delivery of the online courses up to school districts, rather than the one that the board settled on.

Idaho School Boards Association Director, Karen Echeverria, said:

“We understand and do not object to the requirement for two online courses, what we object to is how those courses must be taken. We feel that decision should be left at each local school district.”

Proponents of the plan say that online classes will save money and better prepare students for college. But critics believe the measures will only serve to replace teachers with computers and shift state taxpayer money to the out-of-state companies that provide the online curriculum and laptops.

The Senate is set to vote on Wednesday.