^{The Bottom Line} Do What’s Best for Children

Liv Finne, Director of the Center for Education at the Washington Policy Center, recently explained how State Superintendent Reykdal is abandoning families who enrolled in online schooling.

She notes that according to the spokesperson of the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, districts that students previously attended will continue to receive funding even if a student transfers to an online school.

Finne notes that Washington State has an “existing, well-established system of free, public, state-approved and fully accredited, online schools.” The $8,500 in state funding should follow the student.  But this will not happen due to the state policy of establishing district funding levels based on student populations in February.

Reykdal is constantly talking about making decisions based on what is best for the children.  Yet denying funding for students to pursue an online option is clearly not what’s best for children.

With the coronavirus, we are seeing changes in curriculum, testing, and teaching methods–a change that will become the norm for some. Families have already started saying they will be homeschooling after the virus is behind us.

Children and families are struggling to keep afloat during this crisis. We need state leaders to adapt to the times — encouraging innovational education models rather than discouraging them by denying the funding that would enable more to take advantage of them.