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Davis and Roblyer see this role including counselor, assistant, teacher, and designer. The new demands on the teacher will require pre-service programs to become well versed in these emerging competencies.
Legislation
Two legislative actions took place in 2006 that impact virtual charter schools. The first action involved a lawsuit in Wisconsin and the other was a policy action taken by the California Board of Education. In Wisconsin, a pro-virtual charter verdict was made public in March 2006. The state’s largest teacher’s union, an affiliate of the National Education Association, was defeated in the Ozaukee lawsuit that began in 2004. This was the second time in 3 years that a legal challenge to a virtual charter school in Wisconsin failed. The union, Wisconsin Education Association, charged that Wisconsin Virtual Academy violated state law in creating the school, misusing the state’s open enrollment program, and by depending on parents to educate their children rather than qualified teachers. The circuit court ruled against the union on all three counts and it was determined that the charter was not violated. Judge McCormack said that the open enrollment program did not prohibit Internet use and that the school’s partnership of parents and teachers allows its school board to determine what is best for students with no regard to time constraints imposed on either parents or teachers. Though only at a circuit court level, this victory set a tone of acceptance towards the state’s other 11 virtual schools (Goodloe, 2006) and begins to whittle away at the bigger question of who ultimately gets to have the power in making such determinations.
The second action was taken by the California State Board of Education in May 2006 granting 100% funding to California Virtual Academies (CAVA). Legislation for virtual education is still in the formative stages and creating laws that address the unique needs of this type of school is critical. In this case, Jim Konantz, Head of Schools for California Virtual Academy (CAVA), and a team of educators have been working diligently for 2 years to help get appropriate legislation in place that is particular to the needs of virtual charter schools, especially in the area of state funding.