A Representative's Response

Last week, you remember, I stopped at my representative's offices and left very very specific questions in regards to State Bill 767. I just got one of many canned responses I have seen from legislator's. Please keep reading, because I also attach my response to her placating me. Here is Jackie's:

"Dear Ms. G,

Thank you for emailing Sen. Dingfelder with your thoughts on these
bills, which relate to virtual public charter schools. Computer-based
education is now a part of our public education system in Oregon, and
some experts believe that in the near future we will see about 10% of
all classes taught online. Whether that happens in the next few years
or not, online education offers additional opportunities to learn and
can be a part of a successful academic plan for many students.

However, online learning has grown quickly in Oregon and raises
questions that we must address now in order to ensure that students
receive a quality education. Some of those questions include: Should
single districts operate statewide schools? Should online schools
receive the same level of funding as traditional brick-and-mortar
schools? Are there any problems transferring commercial education
programs to the public arena? What might be the impact on a small rural
district if a large number of its students enroll in a virtual school?

These are questions that educators, parents, the State Board of
Education, and others have been wrestling with for some time. It is
Sen. Dingfelder's hope, as a sponsor of SB 767, that this bill in
particular can be used as a starting point for discussing how to resolve
these issues. Thank you, again, for your email. If you have any
additional thoughts on this issue, please do not hesitate to contact the
office again.

Sincerely,

Jill Gray
Legislative Aide to Sen. Jackie Dingfelder"

Here is my response to Jill, not Jackie:

Hello Jill,

Well I am going to give you my opinion of your response and hope that you would pass it on to the Senator. I have been a little weary in this whole process of trying to communicate with my representatives, and finding avoidance.

With all due respect Jill, I know this response is a canned response and it does not answer my specific questions I left at the Senator's office. I know it was meant to be an upbeat, positive answer, to placate me and maybe make me think the Senator is really on my side with this issue. Jill, again, with all due respect, I don't believe this answer, and I feel condescended to and pushed aside. That response did not answer any of my specific concerns I drove all the way to Salem to present to the Senator.

Online schooling has grown rapidly, yes it has, and the Senator needs to take notice of that and investigate it. Let me give her some starting points. Please be sure she reads this. I know it's lengthy, but this is not a simple issue, and needs consideration.

* Online students are succeeding where they were failing in regular schools. Online students that are gifted are getting challenged and able to move forward at a fast pace that regular schools couldn't provide.

* Online schools are providing for rural communities that have ONE lousy local school and giving those kids an alternative where they didn't before.

* Online schools provide for city kids (mine) where our only choice of schools are red listed and we live in a district that does NOT give boundary waivers at all. It's almost like living in the country.

* Online schools have provided for children with severe illness who can now do their school work in bed or the hospital where before, they would have missed school and fallen behind, or the parents would have to incur the cost of a full time (expensive) tutor. Is that fair for that family? Is it fair that child doesn't have free education available to them? Virtual schools offer that to those kinds of families, and have in spades.

* Online schools are providing for those kids who are behind, have an IEP, need one on one attention, and for the most part, are hard to teach in a classroom setting because of their special needs. Time and time again, our online parents tell of teachers who did not follow mandated IEP's for whatever reason. When they enrolled in a virtual school, because there is one on one attention, the child flourished.

* Online schools keep kids in the public school system, and continue to receive tax monies for being in public school. When this bill succeeds in shutting down virtual public schools, those monies are gone. A recent poll taken of online parents in Oregon revealed absolutely NONE of the parents would return their kids to public school. Funding completely gone.

I am frustrated by the wording in this response that this bill "in particular can be used as a starting point for discussing how to resolve these issues".

Again, with all due respect, that is a diversion and a political statement meant to placate me. I don't believe the Senator's intentions for one moment. Why?

* If the senator wanted to open a discussion, why do it with a bill that would shut down virtual schools and hinder regular charter schools permanently? That isn't opening a discussion, that is shutting a door. I think if we wanted a discussion, a town hall meeting would be a great place to start. I see none of that on your website available to me for this discussion. Especially since a town hall meeting would mean our district would be there, not the union officials.

* If the senator is concerned about rural schools, so are parents. Parents in rural schools have NO choices for schools right now. I talked to a mom at the rally on March 9th who said in her community of Willamina over half the kids are homeschooled because the one school is so bad. I find it ironic that a day after the rally, Willamina schools were in the news regarding providing students with birth control. It sounds to me like Willamina needs to focus on the basics and quit starting controversy. Birth control is the least of it's problems, keeping families enrolled is their biggest problem.

* Online parents and advocates are not saying shut down all public schools and use only a charter school and online charter school system. What we are saying is that charter school and online charter schools are a great alternative for many students and gives them a great public school education that wasn't working for them before. Obviously the majority of students do well in regular public schools. However, there are way too many falling through the cracks and charter school and online charter schools seem to be filling the niche for many of them.

It needs to focus on learning and retaining students. In other words, the Senator's concern for rural schools would be because they would feasibly shut down?? In these uncertain economic times, where education in our state is funded to the max, and you have an underperforming school, and the community is showing it by pulling their students out--dare I say, maybe it should be shut down? As a taxpayer, where 40% of my taxes go to fund schools, it frustrates me that we are funding mediocrity and worried about shutting down mediocrity. I don't like that wasteful attitude and I wish legislators would see that all of us are sick of this. Unions don't care about this.

My other concern that was not addressed in your reply--the teacher's unions. Jill, they have this state by the neck. Every year the school budget has to increase by 6% just to maintain the contracts for the unions. Unless we have a booming economy, this doesn't happen. In a recession, the only option for the state is to cut school days. The only option, and it happens every time we have bad economic times.

And who's names are following the Senator's name on State Bill 767? Five teacher's unions. Of course they don't want charter and online charter school. It would take away from the money they have already got. Can I be bold? The unions are Oregon's mafia! They have all of us by the neck's with no hope. They funded the Senator's campaign, and probably wined and dined her, then asked her to co-sponsor this legislation. It is not too far off of an analogy is it?

I would also venture to say those same union officials don't live in my district, do not know the condition of the only public schools near me, do not know that I have nothing but lousy choices for schools. Again, with all due respect, the Senator should be representing me, a resident of her district, not the unions. Our district, our state, needs choices for schools. Right now our only choice is a dying public school system.

Unless and until the Senator and others see this for what it is. This state absolutely cannot keep funding a dying system with perpetuity, and that online charter schools and regular charter schools could be the fiscal and academic answer, you will find that parents will continually pull their kids from schools, homeschool, move, fight, disagree, and make sure you know where are not in agreement with you.

Put aside quality of education. This state cannot continue to fund this mess! A 6% increase annually will eventually break the state's back.

Jill, can you please pass these concerns onto the Senator? I would like specific answers to my concerns, not a canned political response. As her constituent I am asking for her ear on this, and as my representative, she needs to give it to me.

I also invite the Senator to come to my home any day! Come observe what I do every day with Connections Academy, how we are in touch with our Connections Academy teachers, how we do school, our projects, our schoolroom, and how rigorous the program is, the attendance I need to record, etc. Trust me, we are not sitting around eating cold cereal watching TV.

AMG