Is the third time a charm? In Maine, two groups are once more searching for state approval to open online colleges. This is a third try by Maine Connections Academy and Maine Virtual Academy to seek out approval from the state Charter College Commission. The state twice rejected their ideas for virtual charter schools, writes Noel K. Gallagher of Portland of Press Herald.
In 2011, the lawmakers passed legislation to enable charter schools in Maine. The charter colleges are publicly funded but operate independently of public school districts, providing alternatives for students. As several as ten colleges can be authorized in the state in the very first ten years and so far 5 schools have opened.
Two other groups filed applications for brick-and-mortar charter schools. The first application is for Lewiston-Auburn Academy Charter College, although the other application is for the A lot of Hands Montessori School in Windham.
On December 3rd, Maine Connections Academy and Maine Virtual Academy gave presentations to the Charter School Commission on virtual charter schools. Both groups are backed by national businesses. College students in virtual schools learn largely from home with lessons delivered on the web.
Maine Virtual Academy is backed by Herndon, Va.-primarily based 12 Inc. and Maine Connections Academy is backed by Connections Understanding of Baltimore. Those companies had been the subject of a Maine Sunday Telegram investigation, published last yr, that showed that they were shaping Maine’s digital education policies and that their schools in other states had fared poorly in scientific studies of students’ achievement.
The Charter College Commission designed new requirements and a new application this summertime just for virtual charter schools. The commission made new requirements soon after rejecting the virtual charter school applications for a second year.
The new requirements, among other folks, incorporate weekly face-to-encounter time for college students and instructors, and a school board that is clearly independent of the school’s schooling services supplier, which normally is a nationwide business.
Commission Chairwoman Jana Lapoint mentioned the level of detail the applicants provided indicates that they are considering about problems the commission raised. “There is a whole lot more accountability here, a lot much more about (in-man or woman get in touch with with students),” Lapoint said right after the presentations. “All of the items we had excellent concern about.”
The proposed charter college in Lewiston-Auburn would be part of a network of 800 schools operated internationally by followers of the Turkish imam Fethullah Gulen. The group’s application for a charter school in Bangor was denied in early 2013.
Followers of Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, have been involved in starting up at least 120 charter colleges in 26 states, according to investigations by The New York Times, “60 Minutes,” USA Today and other news organizations.
The schools are typically prime performers and have an completely secular curriculum, but they have drawn criticism for their lack of transparency, their hiring and economic practices and considerations about their motivation, which experts say has as significantly to do with shaping the evolution of Turkey as it does with educating younger Americans.
For Third Time, Two Groups Seek Virtual Charter Approval In Maine
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