Dan Forest Praises Charter Schools Advisory Board’s Unanimous Decision Recommending Temporary Expansion Virtual Charter Schools Amid Pandemic Panic

RALEIGH – A scramble is, perhaps, the best way to describe what many parents did upon learning Governor Roy Cooper prohibited public schools from opening fully to traditional in-person instruction, or that their local school district decided to go even further, opting for full remote learning.

Beyond the near impossible logistics faced by many working parents with school aged children expected to now learn from home, there is the issue of the efficacy of public schools all the sudden thrust into virtual education.

The worries about the latter maybe mitigated if parents knew the virtual education was coming from, not a panicked and reactionary public school administration, but rather educators who’ve been refining the option for remote instruction for years.

That’s why Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest is cheering the unanimous of the Charter Schools Advisory Board to temporarily expand enrollment in North Carolina’s Virtual Charter Schools.

From Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest:

“I commend the Charter Schools Advisory Board (CSAB) for unanimously recommending to the State Board of Education (SBE) that our two statewide virtual public charter schools be permitted to temporarily expand enrollment. These two schools have been exclusively focused on delivering virtual education for more than five years in North Carolina. This expansion will only be for this upcoming school year for children in districts that either do not have a virtual academy option or do not have access to internet and devices.

While the concerns brought forth by CSAB members and DPI staff are valid, there will always be some students who thrive learning in a virtual environment and others who struggle. Many of the larger districts across our state will soon discover this reality when they launch their virtual academies for the first time. 

No matter the concerns, this unanimous vote puts our students first and will offer a stable alternative to parents, especially those in our rural and under served areas. This could also help alleviate the issues we are seeing for those students with special needs and IEPs not currently being met. With the school year fast approaching, the SBE should swiftly consider this unanimous recommendation for the thousands of families looking for stability and certainty.”

Virtual charter schools, just like charter schools in general, have been under attack by the government-schools-only crowd because, presumably, it offers kids and parents too many options that are outside the control of the dogmatic Woke Warriors that seek to be the exclusive source for children’s education indoctrination in North Carolina.

Hopefully the State Board of Elections, in acknowledgement of the mad scramble for consistent and effective education faced by so many parents due to the fomented Pandemic Panic, approves this recommendation and gives kids at least one more option to learn.