So Much for Virtual

California is not making virtual schooling easy for the parents and teachers participating in the California Virtual Academy (a.k.a. K12). The newest rule the state has imposed is that each child and/or parent has to sign an independent study contract with the teacher. One of the stipulations of the contract is that the child and the teacher must meet in person every twenty days. This means that the teacher must come to our house, we must go to her house, or K12 must provide a place for us to meet. What a pain. I'm not saying we would never want to meet with the teacher, but a rigid rule that we have to meet every twenty days, seems to defeat the point of virtual schooling. This also seems like it will be very problematic for any students that live far away from their teachers. No wonder homeschoolers are wary of virtual charter schools. This is a California thing. Other states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Idaho seem to get what virtual means and do not require any physical visits between the teacher and the student.

Our teacher was a first grades teacher in the Corona-Norco Unified School District. She has an 8-month-old baby boy. Working for K12 lets her teach 25 virtual students and stay home with her son.