New accountability and quality standards for online schools won approval from the State Board of Education on Wednesday.
With little discussion, the board unanimously gave its OK to revised rules that establish new quality standards for online schools and make them subject to the same scrutiny as the state’s other schools when they don’t meet those standards.
In addition, the state will more thoroughly scrutinize new applications for online schools.
The revisions result from 2011 legislation and come on the heels of outcry over what critics charge is poor performance of online schools.
However, the board’s action — the result of months of work and examination of computer-based schools by the Department of Education — is potentially not the last change the burgeoning online-education field may face. At least one state lawmaker intends to introduce legislation that could potentially change how online schools receive funding.
