Should Tennessee Consider Cyber School

Tamiko Holloman To whom it may concern: I read an article titled, “Cyber Charters in the Volunteer State: Education Options for Tennessee’s Forgotten” and the article was about having cyber schools for the state of Tennessee. The article also stated that this will allow students who live in rural areas the opportunity to receive the same education as other students in big cities by being able to take the same classes while sitting at home on a computer because they may be in another state or country. Is it the same as being in the classroom? I don’t think that it is. I think the classroom setting is excellent because if you need to ask a question the teacher is there for you, otherwise you would have to email the teacher and wait on a response. If a child is kicked out of school because of disciplinary actions, they have the opportunity to take the cyber school classes. Does that mean if a student is acting up in school that they want to be at home doing school? I wouldn’t think so; the majority of the students that do get expelled don’t want to be there in the beginning. Now students who are very ill and cannot leave their home, I can see this working for them, but isn’t that what home school is for. We are already short on teachers and now we would have to find more teachers that are willing to do the Cyber School. Even though, you stated that some of the other states have excelled with their schools doesn’t mean that we will. If we try it and succeed that will be our gain but what will happen if we fail. Will we ever receive funding for another iffy idea? We are struggling now to receive funding for schools we already have. Don’t get me wrong, this is a good idea because like you said, schools are limited to the students they can enroll. Not only can students from that district attend online but across the world students can attend. Will a Middle School student be able to go to a High School once they are ready for a classroom setting? Will the student receive a High School Diploma? Will the High School Diploma be accepted at any University or Community College? According to DiplomaGuide.com, 90% of Universities accept GED, although some require a letter of recommendation, while others would like for the recipient to take additional tests like the SAT or ACT. The student can always go to a Community College, but why. Many people have trouble finding a college or job with a GED, how will finding these be any better for a High School Cyber Graduate? I believe this Cyber program will work on the college level because something similar already takes place, it’s called Regents Online Degree Program through the Tennessee Board of Regents, but on a middle or high school level, I don’t think this will excel. College students have a different mindset then younger students. I don’t think that we have been forgotten, I think that we as a state need to improve the schools we have by making sure each school has the materials they need, incorporating parents to interact with their child more in school, and we need to have more programs that is appealing to students while they are learning. The article also added that 23% of people in urban areas are college graduates, while only 11% in rural areas are college graduates. Do you think that is because there are no colleges available in these areas? I don’t think that is the why because the majority of rural area people have farms or companies that their children will run one day and the child decides if they want to run the family business or attend college. All people no matter where they live aren’t college material or some could have been like me. When I graduated high school, I decided to take a year off to explore the world before I go to college and I explored for 12 years and decided to return when I was 31. I am still in college working on my degree and I wouldn’t change my decision if I could. Tennessee is lacking in the education department but before we choose to add a new program lets work on the one we have.