Data Shines Unfavorable Light On Colorado Online Schools

The Colorado Springs Gazette (10/3, Hubbard, Mitchell) reports, "Colorado taxpayers will spend $100 million this year on online schools that are largely failing their elementary and high school students, state education records and interviews with school officials show. The money includes millions in tax dollars that are going to K-12 online schools for students who are no longer there." Students returning to traditional schools drain those schools' resources, but the state must continue to fund the online schools. "The I-News Network, a Colorado-based news consortium, and one of its partners, the nonprofit Education News Colorado, spent 10 months investigating what's happening with the thousands of Colorado K-12 students who try an online school each year." The Denver Post (10/3, Augé, Simpson) also covers this story, noting that the data calls into question the value of the schools.