MNPS accountability

I'm pulling this comment from the MNPS-PD thread below as a jumping off place for some additional comments about MNPS accountability.

din819go said...

Kay -- everything in this district is under-reported when it comes to violent episodes and uniform infractions. The checks and balances on the tests scores is the State of Tennessee report card. Tennessee even selected which kids could and could not answer the NAEP questions so its scores would look better. Hmmmm...so how can we believe anything of what we are being told about this district?

Three things immediately to mind.

One way is to actively encourage fuller vetting of the information provided by the system.

While on the school board in the summer of 2006 I quickly realized that the agenda provided to the public (all of two pages) was no where near the full agenda. Additionally, the web page to access the agenda and minutes had fallen more than 6 months out of date. It was one of the very first things I complained about when I got on the BOE. I did so 5 days later at MNPS Director of Schools Dr. Pedro Garcia's regular Monday meeting with his staff.

Without the full agenda no interested citizen had half a chance at being able to counter information that was being carefully crafted at taxpayer expense for presentation just 5 days later. The 2 page BOE agenda would be made public on Thursday or Friday for the following Tuesday evening's meeting. 2 days of that 5 day notice were weekends which would make it difficult to contact offices to verify or research information needed to rebut or clarify the administration's position. I took it upon myself to create .pdfs and started publishing portions of it to KayBrooks.com and this blog, eventually uploading entire "Board packets" for the public to peruse over the weekend. It was still too small a window to adequately prepare counter information, especially when the deadline for getting on the agenda for a mere 3 minute comment had already passed.

At most BOE meetings a portion of the time is set aside to grade the BOE's one employee, Dr. Garcia, on his performance. The plan is that over the entire year all aspects of his job performance would be examined by the BOE and in the fall when it came time to evaluate his performance it would just be a matter of adding up the scores and we'd know whether he'd done a good job or not. The problem with this system is that the only side the BOE formally hears is their employee's. It takes a man of remarkable integrity to self-disclose all his faults. We shouldn't rely on that. The BOE must make provision to formally hear alternative views. Then weigh the information they've received and then vote on his job performance.

Eventually, after conversations with the BOE secretary, the BOE packets were regularly uploaded to the website. Sadly, I see they've fallen out of date again the last agenda uploaded is dated September 11, 2007 and the last set of minutes is dated August 30, 2007.


I'd like to see a subscription service similar to what the Metro Council, Planning and Zoning already provide where the agenda and minutes, or links to them, are routinely sent out.

Another way to get full information is to vow not to shoot the messengers of information that conflicts with the agenda of those in charge.

We need to get past the constraint that criticism of the system is equal to not supporting public education. It does not always follow. So when groups like Save Our Students present comparative information about our district and others in the state they were not given a legitimate hearing. They were immediately shouted down by people who had much to gain by keeping the SOS information out of the public eye. Instead of examining the information in an effort to improve the education of the children in MNPS their motives and political affiliations were used as a distraction technique. My own run for the school board was regularly questioned by these same people. In their eyes despite my tax money and my vote being necessary for running the system I had no business helping run it because my children weren't in public schools. What they could not accept was that public education requires public input and sometimes, sometimes, not being in the system provides a perspective that could be used to improve the system for the children.

Finally, we need to ask much more of our BOE members. Elections are coming up for 4 of these slots in August.

From Left to Right:
MNPS BOE Chair Marsha Warden, on the BOE since 8/24/2004 , George Thompson, 4 months on the BOE in 1991 and then continuously since 8/1/1996, Gracie Porter , elected in August of 2006 , Ed Kindall , on the BOE since 7/9/1985.

I suggest folks take a serious look at their track records (and most of them have long histories on the BOE or in public education itself) and if they find they've done an inadequate job advocating for the children, work at recruiting, funding and electing a replacement.

MNPS-PD

Inglewood residents were shocked to discover after a teacher had been assaulted at Jere Baxter Alternative School last spring that there is no police officer in this school specifically designed to hold students that have 'issues'. In fact, neither of the alternative schools had a police officer. There was only one campus supervisor assigned to the school that day of the assault. I was told that campus supervisors do not carry weapons and aren't required to have any formal security training. That made no sense.

Residents had known for some time that the students in this school made a habit of being delivered by city buses to the building and promptly heading into the neighborhood or neighborhood businesses. Local merchants had to take it upon themselves to chase the students off in an effort to keep them from intimidating their legitimate customers. Police cars regularly appear at Baxter ALC. It's hard for mere citizens to see the wisdom of letting something happen and then calling for a police officer when having one there and available could head off serious trouble.

When the police department was called and asked about why there was no police officer in the school they said it was the call of Metro Schools. When I asked Metro Schools they said it was a police department decision. What became clear was that no one was stepping up. The Inglewood Neighborhood Association invited school board rep, Gracie Porter to the May 2007 meeting to discuss the recent assault, the loitering and the lack of a police officer. She provided some basic information regarding the school, the churning of the student body population and the turnover in administration there to give us a larger picture of the situation. She also told us that she learned the day before that Nashville Chief of Police Ronal Serpas , MNPS Director of Schools Dr. Pedro Garcia and Assistant Superintendent of Student Services Ralph Thompson were going to meet about discipline issues and police presence in schools the next week. When she was asked if she was going to attend considering how concerned we all were about this issue her reply was "I'm not going to crash Serpas' meeting." She did say she expected some restructuring to be done by the next school year that could help the situation.

So Thursday we read in the Tennessean that there is talk about school systems creating their own police forces. The legislature created a study committee (they're very good at that). The legislation is HB1765/SB1451 sponsored by State Rep. Ulysses Jones (D-Memphis) and State Senator Reginald Tate (D-Shelby County) . I'm very concerned about this. My biggest concern is that we'll not have any way of knowing exactly what has happened on those campuses. I look back at college campuses that regularly didn't report serious crimes out of concern for their image. The same could easily occur in MNPS. The Tennessean wrote:

The school district Tuesday released statistics on student offenses in Metro during the 2006-07 school year, but they weren't broken down by school.

And that's exactly correct. They report this information by cluster. There is no way for a parent to know if the school their child attends is safe, let alone exactly what happened and how many times. These are our children. We have a responsibility to ensure their safety. We have a right to know as much as possible about how safe they are while there.

And the Tennessean reports the disincentive there will be if MNPS is allowed to handle all these issues:

But creating a self-run police department can put school districts at odds with the federal No Child Left Behind law, which requires states track the number of serious incidents that occur at a school. If over three consecutive years a school meets the "unsafe" requirements defined by law, students are allowed to transfer to another school.

Because police officers are responsible for recording some incidents in school, an officer employed by the school district could have an added interest in making sure a school in his district doesn't wind up on the list.

KnoxNews has an article on this issue also. The issue of who will pay for this is huge and they provide some important editorial comments about that.

It might make things simpler for the school systems, but it would make things more expensive for the taxpayers.

The push is on to create taxing authority for local school boards. Can you see it coming? Not only do we need more money to get the job of education done (as if money was the answer) now we'll need more money to create a police system. We are underfunding MPD, how are we going to afford to create an MNPS-PD?

The public education system has lost its focus. Every year, for what seems like good reasons their mission expands. It currently includes feeding, clothing, nursing, transporting, parenting and now policing children. All the while the original mission fails regularly. The school system doesn't need to expand. It's my opinion we should let the school system do the teaching and let the police department handle the crime.


For further info:
National Association of School Safety and Law Enforcement Officers (NASSLEO).

What are you listening to?

We’ve enjoyed the free radio programs that have been provided by http://www.homeschoolradioshows.com for several years now. Each week they'd send a reminder email providing the URL of that week's free program. Even when we had a dial-up connection they were worth the wait. Today they’ve added a premium membership that provides access to the archives (previously if you didn’t get it that week, it was unavailable), listening guides and other unnamed bonuses. Until October 1 the membership is $14.95 per year---after that it goes up to $29.95. The free programs will still be available once a week, regardless.

They have provided everything from classic radio programs to audio dramas of famous books and events in MP3 format. I’ve transferred many of these to an SD card for us to use while at the dining/school table and it’s easy for my children to transfer them to their own MP3 players. It's not hard to transfer them to audio CD either and pop them into the car CD player while commuting. (They provide instructions about all of this.)

I’m not affiliated with these folks, don’t know much about them but have been thankful for the free service I’ve taken advantage of over all this time and am quite happy to pay the $14.95 for the premium package AND wanted to let you know about the initial discounted membership package. Even at $29.95 getting more than 50 radio programs a year is a great bargain.

If your child isn't inclined to read much, consider these to pique their interest. Do you have an audio learner? Here's the ticket. Not everything available is as daunting as this week's bonus for the premium membership, Orson Wells' nearly 4 hour dramatization of "Les Miserables". Some of the offerings have been very light and silly. There is plenty of variety for different ages and interests and, as I've tried to say, it's a wonderful resource for this family and probably will be for yours.

http://homeschoolradioshows.com

Jena timeline

The Jena 6 coverage has contained a lot of heat but not enough facts for me to come to any conclusion other than the obvious, high school boys do stupid stuff and sometimes the consequences are way more than anticipated.

I was thankful this morning to come across a timeline of events published by the local Jena paper in response to requests for it (scroll down).

I didn't realize that initial this story is over a year old. The nooses were hung under the tree on August 31, 2006. The paper also reports that they were removed from the tree by 7:15 am before most of the student body had come to school. The principal wanted to expel the three white students who placed the nooses in the tree but he was overruled by an expulsion committee that recommended suspension instead finding there was no racial motivation behind the prank. How nooses in a tree can have no racial connotations in Louisiana is beyond this white woman--but they say it was a prank based on a movie. Obviously, I didn't see that one.

You might want to read through this Jena Times accounting to get a better frame for all the accusations and rhetoric being thrown around. It does contain some editorializing comments here and there but just getting the events in their proper order will be tremendously helpful.

Inaugural at Courthouse

Just got a note from Councilman Erik Cole [East Nashville] (a co-chair for Mayor-elect Dean's campaign). The inaugural activities will be at the courthouse, not the Parthenon as was rumored. Here's a snip from the e-mail the council office sent out today:

From: Hayes, Roseanne (Metro Council Office) [mailto:roseanne.hayes@nashville.gov]
Sent: Monday, September 17, 2007 12:48 PM
Subject: Revised Information on the Inaugural Festivities
(snip)
This correspondence is being sent at the request of Vice Mayor Diane Neighbors.

Dear Members of the Metro Council & Council Staff:
Tentative Council & Mayoral Inauguration Activities
September 21, 2007
12:00 pm-approximately 12:45 Inaugural Ceremony
Location: Courthouse Square
(snip)

I'm very glad to have this corrected information. I'm glad to read the event will be in a more appropriate location. This is a much better beginning than rumor control was reporting.

Disappointing first step?

If it's true, that newly elected mayor Karl Dean is going to be sworn in at the Parthenon, it will be a very disheartening first step by the new mayor for many in Nashville. I understand that the Parthenon is seen by some in this city as not really a house of worship but many more will see it otherwise.

I suggest that he move it to the band shell instead or Riverfront Park, the Bicentennial Mall---almost any other non-religious space. There is no compelling reason to offend so many by insisting on the use of the temple of Athena as the place he begins his tenure over this city of many faiths. Yes, the band shell is a much humbler space but if Karl Dean wants to keep those connections he talked about so often, he should find another venue.

Update: Maybe even the steps of the newly renovated courthouse?

Powerless over alcohol, lives unmanageable

Rob Briley isn't my state representative. I've never voted for him but the fact remains he's a voice in the Tennessee House of Representatives and so his criminal conduct is my business. His behavior and subsequent arrest are very troubling. Based on what I've read and seen in the news reports and what I know about alcohol addiction I believe that it is past time for Mr. Briley to put his personal life first and hand over his responsibilities to the citizens of the 52nd District to another. To those who will be charged with finding a replacement--it should not be his brother David Briley, a recent Councilman-at-large and mayoral candidate who might be a logical choice. I believe David needs to stay available for Rob and his family during what is likely to be a very difficult healing process.

Rob should resign now so that our new representative can have as much lead time as possible in preparing for January's legislative session. There is no way that Rob can do any sort of 30 day in-patient program to deal with his alcohol addiction, conclude a divorce, handle the emotional fallout from both that surely is greatly impacting his children and still do a good job for the citizens of District 52 come January. He needs to free himself from this political responsibility in order to do justice to the more important ones to himself and his family.

It's frustratingly familiar to read in this morning's Tennessean these quotes from Rob Briley:

"I have been dealing with substance abuse my entire lifetime, whether that was with a grandparent, a parent or me," he said.

and then he goes on to say:

"I regret what I have done tremendously,'' he said. "But what I would like to do, hopefully, is to learn from it and use this as a means to highlight substance abuse, the need for treatment, treatment facilities and to kind of shed some light on what I think oftentimes is a disease that is kind of kind of swept under the carpet."

The best way he could 'highlight...the need for treatment...and shed some light on [alcoholism]' is to devote himself to getting well to the exclusion of all else and then tell his story. We don't need him to create more treatment facilities or become the latest face of this awful family curse. We need him to get through this journey to wellness. It's an old and already tried path to try and control the uncontrollable. Likely there are people in his life that have tried and tried to help, but some cannot stop until they get to the bottom. I hope this is it for Rob Briley. It'll be my prayer that this man will realize that now is the time to understand how powerless this politically powerful man is against alcoholism, to devote himself to those steps to health, to stop sweeping IT under the carpet himself and reclaim the rest of his life.

Someone's been busy this week.

Wikipedia now has articles on Metro Councilmen courtesy of someone named Daniel Bush whose main interests seem to be zoning at Percy Priest Lake, Lower Broad and the Westin development, Gaylord Opryland Resort and the Nashville Sounds.

I got curious and started checking all the current council member names and if a person isn't listed, either Mr. Bush didn't create the entry, there is none or there is no mention of Mr. Bush's core issues of Westin, Gaylord, Percy Priest, Sylvan Park and the Nashville Sounds.

Feller Brown started on September 12, 2007 by Daniel Bush.

Under Political Views: "Brown voted against canceling zoning in Percy Priest Lake, for Lower Broadway historic zoning, and for rezoning Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center. ^[4] On the third reading, he voted in favor of the proposal for a new ballpark for the Nashville Sounds,^[5] which included provisions for hotels, condos, shops and other businesses on the land adjacent to the stadium.^[6]"

Erik Cole started on September 11, 2007 by Daniel Bush.

Under Political Views: "... He also voted against canceling zoning in Percy Priest Lake. ^[7] On the third reading, he voted for the proposal for a new ballpark for the Nashville Sounds,^[8] which included provisions for hotels, condos, shops and other businesses on the land adjacent to the stadium.^[9]"

Michael Craddock started on September 10, 2007 by Daniel Bush and already edited by LeoNomis and again by Daniel Bush.

Under political views and votes: "Michael Craddock voted against canceling zoning in Percy Priest Lake, for Sylvan Park historic zoning, for Lower Broadway historic zoning, against a Westin Hotel on Lower Broadway, and for rezoning Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center.^[3] ...On the third reading, he voted against the proposal for a new ballpark for the Nashville Sounds,^[5] which included provisions for hotels, condos, shops and other businesses on the land adjacent to the stadium.^[6]"

Eric Crafton started on September 12, 2007 by Daniel Bush.

Under Votes: "Eric Crafton voted against canceling zoning in Percy Priest Lake, for Sylvan Park historic zoning, for a Westin Hotel on Lower Broadway, for Lower Broadway historic zoning, and for rezoning Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center. ^[7] On the third reading, he voted against the proposal for a new ballpark for the Nashville Sounds,^[8] which included provisions for hotels, condos, shops and other businesses on the land adjacent to the stadium.^[9]"

Buck Dozier started on September 11, 2007 by Daniel Bush.

Under Political Views, Bills and Proposals: "Dozier voted against Sylvan Park historic zoning, for Lower Broadway historic zoning, for a Westin Hotel on Lower Broadway, and for rezoning Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center.^[6] On the third reading, he voted for the proposal for a new ballpark for the Nashville Sounds,^[7] which included provisions for hotels, condos, shops and other businesses on the land adjacent to the stadium.^[8]"

Adam Dread started on September 12, 2007 by Daniel Bush.

Under Votes: "Adam Dread voted against canceling zoning in Percy Priest Lake, against Sylvan Park historic zoning, for a Westin Hotel on Lower Broadway, for Lower Broadway historic zoning, and for rezoning Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center. ^[8] On the third reading, he voted in favor of the proposal for a new ballpark for the Nashville Sounds,^[9] which included provisions for hotels, condos, shops and other businesses on the land adjacent to the stadium.^[10]"

Jim Forkum started on September 11, 2007 by Daniel Bush.

Under Votes: "He voted against canceling zoning in Percy Priest Lake, for Sylvan Park historic zoning, for Lower Broadway historic zoning, against a Westin Hotel on Lower Broadway, and for rezoning Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center.^[5] On the third reading, he voted for the proposal for a new ballpark for the Nashville Sounds,^[6] which included provisions for hotels, condos, shops and other businesses on the land adjacent to the stadium.^[7]"

Brenda Gilmore started on September 10, 2007 by Daniel Bush.

No political views, vote or proposals are listed.

Jim Gotto started on September 9, 2007 by Daniel Bush.

No mention of Mr. Bush's core issues.

Ronnie Greer started on September 12, 2007 by Daniel Bush.

Under Political Views "Ronnie Greer voted for Sylvan Park historic zoning, for a Westin Hotel on Lower Broadway, for Lower Broadway historic zoning, and for rezoning Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center. ^[7]

Pam Murray started on September 10, 2007 by Daniel Bush.

Under Political Views and Votes: "Pam Murray voted against canceling zoning in Percy Priest Lake, for Sylvan Park historic zoning, for Lower Broadway historic zoning, for a Westin Hotel on Lower Broadway, and for rezoning Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center.^[3] On the third reading, she voted for the proposal for a new ballpark for the Nashville Sounds,^[4] which included provisions for hotels, condos, shops and other businesses on the land adjacent to the stadium.^[5]"

Diane Neighbors started on September 9, 2007 by Daniel Bush.

No political views or votes are listed.

Rip Ryman started September 12, 2007 by Daniel Bush.

Under Votes: "Rip Ryman voted against Sylvan Park historic zoning, for Lower Broadway historic zoning, and against a Westin Hotel on Lower Broadway. ^[6] On the third reading, he voted in favor of the proposal for a new ballpark for the Nashville Sounds,^[7] which included provisions for hotels, condos, shops and other businesses on the land adjacent to the stadium.^[8]"

We may need a Wiki entry for the very busy Mr. Daniel Bush to explain why these issues are of such a concern to him that he's expended so much time and energy on this project. In the meantime here's his entry for Wikipedia adminship.

3. Have you been in any conflicts over editing in the past or do you feel other users have caused you stress? How have you dealt with it and how will you deal with it in the future?
A: All of my articles have been rather noncontroversial, centered on mostly on low profile politicians and executive branch positions. On the whole, I don't think I have never entered an edit conflict. Daniel Bush 04:56, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

And here's his UserTalk page.

Councilmen may want to keep an eye on their newly created pages for accuracy.

And it doesn't stop there. Rob Briley has a newly minted page courtesy of Mr. Bush as of September 13, 2007.

Too late now

This has got to be frustrating. Clement spent lots of money on on a slick, oversized plea for support and it arrives the day AFTER the election.

No wonder the electorate is clueless--

when the paper of record gets the simple things wrong.

It's C-R-E-I-V-E C-R-I-E-V-E Hall. ::oops::

From the Tennessean blog.

Cat Comments

While I was out dealing with a broken tooth the folks at Tiny Cat Pants jumped on yesterday's post about high school and have gone on at great length about the renewal of a suggestion made almost 60 years ago regarding the value of high schools. If you're interested in education issues you will find some valuable (and not so valuable) comments there. I should probably have provided a bit more commentary instead of assuming that folks would find the idea intriguing and be willing to provide their own point of view and be willing to discuss it. If I had perhaps all those page views would be showing up in MY Adsense check. :-)

There are a couple of things in the comments section there that should probably be cleared up:

I NEVER suggested, or even thought, that ‘most kids shouldn’t have access to a high school education’ as Samantha Y wrote or that it’s just for the ‘best and brightest’ as Aunt B starts all this with. I’m all for them having a high school education–I just don’t think it has to be obtained via the current system.

For years I've said that if the public has a responsibility to provide an education we need to decide what that education is and where society's obligation ends. To date we've only half defined the obligation as 6 to 17 years old inclusive (or until you get into so much trouble we throw you out) and some end of course tests. However, they can't just leave after they're 18 and have passed the end of course tests. They still have to warm a seat. This only ensures employment for adults and frustration for many students. You can't even test for your GED in this state until you're 18, 17 with a waiver. What's the reason for that? Does that protect students or the system?

I believe that once a student obtains that education they ought to be cut free to go on with their life. If that means more academics, or trade school or working in the family business until you figure it out, fine. If they're still minors, btw, parents would still be responsible for their behavior. I don't see any upside to compelling a person who has obtained the education to continue to be compelled to attend school. I see a big upside to giving students a specific goal to meet and rewarding that effort with their freedom.

So it is clearer? Kay Brooks supports educating children. Maybe not in the way, shape or form others insist is proper. It's the results she's most interested in, not the method.

AIM does NEA

Accuracy in Media reviews this summer's NEA convention and titles their piece "Conflict of Interest".

In 2003, the United Nations International Children's Fund (UNICEF) ranked the United States 18 out of 24 competing developed countries in educational effectiveness. In the face of such negative results, one would—mistakenly—expect to hear American teachers passionately call for systematic reform of our public schools. After all, education is about the students, right? Apparently not.

(snip)

Other organizations have similarly noted the possibility of an NEA conflict of interest, prompting the NEA to emphatically deny these claims. The NEA web article "Setting the Record Straight: Responding To Attacks On the Association" asserts that "NEA is a union and a professional organization. It exists to improve the quality of public schools and the salaries and working conditions of its members. The two purposes are closely related." (emphasis original). The NEA also accuses "ultra-conservative teacher organizations" of hypocritically opposing NEA unionism while being simultaneously quick to take advantage of union benefits.

And from "Setting the Record Straight":

Accusation 1:

NEA is a union, not a professional organization. It cares about improving salaries and working conditions for its members; not about school quality and student achievement.

NEA is a union and a professional organization. It exists to improve the quality of public schools and the salaries and working conditions of its members. The two purposes are closely related. Better working conditions for teachers mean better learning conditions and higher educational quality for students. Higher salaries are important to help schools retain qualified teachers; and low teacher turnover is key to high school quality. And when teachers earn decent salaries, they don't have to take second jobs and can spend more time on classroom preparation.

Granted, the 'purposes are closely related' but what many of us see is the union putting their goals as a union above the goals of a professional organization. Better working conditions does not necessarily result in a better education for the students. Happier teachers, perhaps, but smarter students...that's a connection I don't think can be made. Too often protecting employees trumps legitimate accountability or reform that would be better for the reputation of the profession as well as the education of the children. Somehow it's ok to sue the medical profession for malpractice but not the educational. Despite the fact that both are inexact sciences.

And I'll put my usual disclaimer in here: there is a difference between union leadership and how the union is run and most classroom teachers.

Do away with high schools?

From the everything old becomes new again file:

Now, we're told, a distinguished psychologist proposes putting most people to work at age 12, with a knowledge of the basic three Rs and nothing more.

It will make them grow up, he says. This is hailed as a revolutionary new concept, never heard of before.

In fact, it isn't new at all.

One of those old-style teachers, who died in the early '50s, was Sir Richard Livingstone, a classics prof and educational philosopher.

He was Dewey's contemporary but held very different ideas. Livingstone defined what he called "educable ages" of human beings.

We are most educable, he said, when we're very young, least educable in the teen years and early 20s, and become highly educable again as adults.

He therefore proposed the high school system be abolished, except for the very brightest of students, and that the money thereby saved be directed instead into community schools for adults. Calgary Sun

Meld this will the renewed calls for vocational education, by those who recognize academics isn't for everyone, and we may be on to something. I'm certainly not encouraging shipping off the new teens to sweatshops but some honest labor may help many of these students 'find themselves' and also solve many truancy and discipline issues as well.

Hamilton County leads the way again.

Ben Cunningham pointed out this small paragraph at the Tennessean:

Williamson County schools will pilot online learning this year. A group of 30 students will be chosen to take Latin I through the Hamilton County Virtual School. The class is a state-approved option for traditional Latin instruction, school officials said.

Students will be chosen based on the availability of the course at their schools or if they can't fit the class offered at their school into their schedule.

Online learning is growing by leaps and bounds across the nation. It's the answer to having AP courses in all the middle and high schools. Only have 5 students for an AP, language or other class? Not a problem with virtual classrooms. These students can stay in their zoned schools and still not miss out.

Homeschoolers across the state have Chattanooga library cards because of their online offerings--and they're willing to pay for the privilege.

Hopefully, Tennessee will soon enter the age of 21st century education and greatly expand virtual options.