GiaQuinta: When will our state realize that virtual charter schools must be reined in?

INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana House Democratic Leader Phil GiaQuinta from Fort Wayne issued the following statement in the wake of the Daleville School Corporation considering revoking the charters for two virtual charter schools accused of numerous violations, including counting thousands of students who never signed up for or completed classes:

“While I’m disappointed to learn of yesterday’s news regarding Indiana Virtual School and Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy, I don’t think anyone should be surprised that these types of problems have erupted in a business that has such a potential for nefarious behavior. What should be questioned is the state’s seeming inability to want to do anything about oversight and accountability of virtual charter schools. The concerns over virtual schools are not new, but the disinterest by Republican legislators to do anything to rein them in grows even more worrisome as these stories start to appear.

“House Democrats offered numerous proposals to increase transparency and accountability in Indiana’s virtual charter program, only to be rejected by House Republicans. Now we are starting to see people get worried about an industry that is more interested in taking taxpayer dollars than educating children. I hope what is happening in Daleville sends a wake-up call that we cannot wait for more scandals to erupt. We must act now.”