NC school board looks at virtual charter schools

By EMERY P. DALESIO
Associated Press

RALEIGH, NC (AP) — North Carolina’s statewide school board could decide next month whether it’s time to launch the state’s first online charter schools run by companies and depending heavily on parents or other adults to guide students.

A committee appointed by the State Board of Education on Wednesday cleared applications by a pair of proposed charter schools that will hire online education giants K12 Inc. and Connections Education. State lawmakers last summer ordered a test involving two online charter schools, which could operate under fewer rules than other public schools.

The online schools could enroll more than 6,000 students and cost taxpayers $66 million a year by 2017.

Thirty states operate fully online charters. North Carolina is among more than two dozen to offer online courses that supplement but don’t replace neighborhood schools.

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A previous version incorrectly stated the year as 2020 that the online schools could enroll more than 6,000 students and cost taxpayers $66 million

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