Mainstream districts across Texas support online learning options

Previous posts have documented poor policy ideas in several states including Texas. Recently, 30 mainstream districts in Texas including Houston—one of the largest districts in the country—published a letter in support of online learning options for their students. The ideas in the letter are less important than the fact that this support is coming from mainstream districts in a state that has lagged the leading states in creating digital learning options for students.

Key text from the letter (which is embedded in the article), addressed to Governor Greg Abott, includes:

Throughout the 87th Legislative Session, school districts watched as both the Texas House and the Texas Senate considered legislation that would expand parent choice in public education by providing opportunities for local school districts to serve their own students according to their unique and individual needs…due to partisan disagreements over unrelated legislation, time expired on the session without legislative action on this vital topic. As a result, many school districts have already announced that they will be unable to provide virtual learning options for families next school year…

Over the past year, many students have discovered that virtual learning provides them with an opportunity to learn and grow in their own unique way. A number of students have been able to accelerate their learning and pursue outside interests to broaden their experiences. Some students have been able to work to support their family while still focusing on learning. Others, such as elite athletes, have taken advantage of more flexible scheduling to pursue their passions while continuing to prioritize their education. Still others have benefited from the ability to remain enrolled in their own school while receiving treatment for life threatening illnesses or mental health challenges. To be clear, the vast majority of students are better suited to an in-person environment, but there are thousands of students across the state of Texas who thrive in a virtual environment and we have an obligation to ensure that they receive the best education possible by providing them with the choice to receive their learning virtually. We have an opportunity to expand public school choice for families and meet our students where they are instead of letting them fall through the cracks of a system that was not built for them.

In one sense, little of this is groundbreaking. Digital learning advocates have been saying for many years—if not decades—that different learning modalities should be available to meet varied student needs. But, as we have documented in previous posts, many sources continue to conflate well-planned and implemented online learning with hastily created emergency remote learning, and push for all students to be back in their traditional schools, ignoring the fact that better options are available.

The value of this letter is that these mainstream districts are making the arguments that would have been more common from school choice advocates, in many cases, pre-pandemic. Certainly, district online programs have existed for years. That more are being implemented or expanding, and finding their voices as exemplified in this letter, is a good sign for students. The tragedy is that too many policymakers are missing—or actively blocking—this opportunity.

(H/T to Ray Rose for keeping us on top of what’s happening in his home state of Texas—and plenty of other states.)