Erika Graf-Webster, President, League of Women Voters of Greater Las Cruces
We appreciate in today's world that our youth cannot succeed in school and life without knowing how to effectively use modern information technologies as learning and communication tools. Additionally, we also appreciate the virtual learning resources available today for use by professionally credentialed and experienced teachers in our public schools, K-12. Used as another valuable resource to support and assist our classroom teachers in providing a quality education for every student, we can see the benefits for students and teachers. We are not opposed to private enterprise being involved and concerned about our American public schools. We appreciate those private enterprises and individuals who help produce online learning materials, and other products for teachers and schools. Some companies engage in this product development for profit and other organizations, such as the Khan Academy, do so as benefactors to the betterment of education and community life.
What concerns us is the rapid growth of for-profit businesses that make a profit by eliminating the role of professional, experienced public school teachers by creating a "one model fits all" solution through virtual schools, presumably designed for all students. Our public school education is not just about "learning to take a test" to demonstrate acquisition of subject matter. Our country has made a commitment to provide free, quality K-12 public education for every student that provides an opportunity to graduate with the skills needed to secure a meaningful job and live as a successful, responsible citizen in one's community.
The challenge to provide a quality public education must involve trained and experienced educators who understand the complex differences that each student brings to the classroom. Meeting the needs of our students requires face-to-face relationships with trained educators who can provide effective assessment and develop strategies to aid their learning on an on-going basis.
Current research provides evidence that technology used for blended learning, which mixes the use of online learning with face-to-face interaction with the professional teacher, bears by far the best results in terms of education outcomes. The research also indicates that all online learning is not equal in quality.
Teaching students is not like making a product or service for human consumption. Assembly line techniques might succeed with a few students, but will definitely fail to meet the standards and goals of American education for most students. Teachers do not presume to tell trained and experienced business persons how to run the best company possible. That is not their area of expertise or training.
Therefore, we respectfully ask that for-profit companies and individuals limit their involvement in public education to offering products and services for educators to assess and not presume to know how all students should be taught. That is the area of expertise and training of professional teachers.