Welcome to the Twenty-First Century!

Based on the article "More Districts Offering Online Summer School: http://www.ydr.com/ci_18398710?IADID=Search-www.ydr.com-www.ydr.com

Well, well, well, I must say it is with great pleasure that I welcome York County school officials into the twenty-first century. The same group of people who have continually bemoaned the existence of cyber schools as an unfair competitor that drained needed financial resources from their districts are now singing its praises.

Some of the comments from these newly enlightened leaders include:

"It seemed appropriate to provide the opportunity (for students) to use talents and skills they learned in school with regard to making use of the computer in a real positive manner.” -Shelly Merkle, York Suburban

The move toward online was both an economic issue and a way of trying to provide every student an opportunity… -Phil Livelsberger, Dover

"It just provides a more flexible learning environment that's really reaching out to the kids," – Sandra Lemmon, Southern York County

Interestingly there were plenty of other educational ideas that came to mind to our newly enlightened leaders. They have suddenly realized that the cyber educational setting provides opportunities for “enrichment courses,” “credit recovery,” “flexibility,” and “can be tailored to students’ needs.” I suppose that just maybe, cyber school is so bad after all. In fact, based on this article, I am looking forward to our local school districts promoting the idea to the student body.

I must say though, the article did end with a bit of humor. Cyber schools have been a legitimate and popular option for years however Bryan Tayman of Southwestern School District commented that, “"We're trying to be more proactive than reactive." Well, it’s a little late for being proactive.

While that comment is humorous in light of the circumstances, the following comment is sad, and a clear indication of why our public schools are in such disarray.
“The online programs put the responsibility for completion largely on the students, school officials said.”
Really? The responsibility for completion is largely on the students in the online program? Whose responsibility is it for the brick and mortar students? Don’t tell me the teachers. It is always the student’s responsibility!