Pennsylvania Virtual Charter School
Encyclopedia
The Pennsylvania Virtual Charter School (PAVCS) is a public virtual charter school. According to its website, PAVCS has roughly 4,000 enrolled students. Cyber charter schools enroll mostly homeschooled students
and also children with special needs
teaching them remotely via computer.
(PDE) in 2001 and then renewed in 2005 for an additional five years. Initially serving kindergarten through 2nd grade, , it serves kindergarten through 12th grade.
(PSEA) retains about six lobbyists, each making between $90,000 and $160,000 a year, while school choice proponents have spent $250,000 lobbying against the bill.
A spokesman for PAVCS said, "If we're not funded properly, and you take away our teachers, we're not going to be able to operate."
Homeschooling
Homeschooling or homeschool is the education of children at home, typically by parents but sometimes by tutors, rather than in other formal settings of public or private school...
and also children with special needs
Special needs
In the USA, special needs is a term used in clinical diagnostic and functional development to describe individuals who require assistance for disabilities that may be medical, mental, or psychological. For instance, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and the International...
teaching them remotely via computer.
Background
PAVCS was approved by the Pennsylvania Department of EducationPennsylvania Department of Education
The Pennsylvania Department of Education is the executive department of the state charged with K-12 and adult educational budgeting, management and guidelines. As the state education agency, its activities are directed by Pennsylvania's Secretary of Education, Gerald L. Zahorchak...
(PDE) in 2001 and then renewed in 2005 for an additional five years. Initially serving kindergarten through 2nd grade, , it serves kindergarten through 12th grade.
Governance
Originally chartered by Norristown School District, the Pennsylvania Department of Education now serves as PAVCS' charter authorizer and monitors PAVCS' compliance with the stipulations of its charter. The school's current charter is for a period of five years from July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2011.Funding
The school is funded by state tax dollars. In 2007, the Pennsylvania state legislature passed a bill that caps the amount of money paid to cyber charter schools based on an average of such schools that achieved academic standards in 2006-2007. Both sides of the controversy have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars lobbying for or against passage. The Pennsylvania State Education AssociationPennsylvania State Education Association
The Pennsylvania State Education Association represents more than 193,000 teachers, educational support professionals, counselors, curriculum specialists, librarians, health care workers, school nurses, school dental hygienists, school nurses, school psychologists, school social workers,...
(PSEA) retains about six lobbyists, each making between $90,000 and $160,000 a year, while school choice proponents have spent $250,000 lobbying against the bill.
A spokesman for PAVCS said, "If we're not funded properly, and you take away our teachers, we're not going to be able to operate."