Miami District Enrolling Students In Virtual Labs Without A Teacher

The New York Times (1/18, Herrera) reports that more than "7,000 students in Miami-Dade County Public Schools" are "enrolled in a program in which core subjects are taken using computers in a classroom with no teacher. ... These virtual classrooms, called e-learning labs, were put in place last August as a result of Florida's Class Size Reduction Amendment, passed in 2002," which "limits the number of students allowed in classrooms, but not in virtual labs." According to the Times, other districts across the nation are implementing similar programs, as in "Chicago Public Schools, high schools have 'credit recovery' programs that let students take online classes they previously failed" and "Omaha [NE] Public Schools also have similar programs that require physical attendance at certain locations."