Cyber Schools
Cyber Schools are educational institutions which allow children to do public school online instead of attending a brick and mortar school. Cyber school is offered by school districts as well as private institutions in 24 different states, and the private companies get money from the state per student that they have. Cyber Schools are free.
In March, when brick and mortar schools closed down and teachers scrambled to provide the best online education they could cobble together in a week or two, I was surprised I didn't hear more about cyber schooling: online schooling already offered by school districts and private companies, that the provide the public school curriculum to students free of cost.
Below is an interview I conducted with Hilda, a mom who has used cyber schooling for her three children for more than six years. I have included links to Pennsylvania's cyber school website as well as the Charter cyber school Hilda uses, PAcyber.
PAcyber
PAcyber
PA Cyber actually came into being because a large high school out somewhere near Slippery Rock closed down because it didn’t have enough students and somebody wanted to provide a quality education to people who were rurally spread out and they wanted to provide them with a really good quality online education to overcome the fact that the students out there were very far spread and that’s how PA Cyber came into being. It’s been around for a little bit more than 20 years I believe.
Do you think it’s a really high-quality school?
I don’t know whether they are super quality, but I think that they are a very good quality for what they do. I know there is a lot of controversy about quality and cyberschools, but I think the actual quality of the teaching and the actual service that you get and the quality of the actual teachers that you get is very good.
Have you used a Cyber School?
I would guess that the quality of schooling may differ depending on the Cyber School you choose. I would love to hear about experiences students had at different Cyber Schools. Please contact me through the "Who" section of this website to let me know about what Cyber School you chose and your experiences there.