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Ruling supports virtual schools: Teachers union loses in Ozaukee court(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Mar. 18--A judge has handed a victory to virtual schools and the parents who use them to school their children at home -- and a defeat to the state's largest teachers union. The ruling stemmed from a union lawsuit charging that Wisconsin Virtual Academy violated state law depending on parents to educate their children, rather than state-certified teachers who help students access the online curriculum and complete their assignments. The suit also charged that the school violated Wisconsin laws regulating the creation of charter schools and misused the state's open enrollment program. Ozaukee County Circuit Judge Joseph McCormack ruled against the Wisconsin Education Association Council on all three issues. State legislators took up the issue this month, sending a bill to Gov. Jim Doyle designed to negate the lawsuit and prevent others. That measure, which Doyle has not acted upon, would define teachers in virtual charter schools as the people assigning grades to students -- which is not a task done parents using the virtual schools. Michael Dean, an attorney for a group of virtual school families that had entered the case to fight the lawsuit, said the ruling preserves the right of parents to help educate their children. "It can't be illegal for a parent to be too involved," he said. "If parents had to be certified to engage in any activity that might be considered teaching, that would make illegal much of the activity that goes on between a parent and a child in conventional schools." Because the ruling was at the circuit court level, it does not automatically set precedent for schools throughout the state. But William Harbron, superintendent of the Northern Ozaukee School District, which houses Wisconsin Virtual Academy, said it could help the Wisconsin districts with 11 other virtual schools and all those thinking of creating such schools. "I think those who understood this case knew it didn't just have implications for Northern Ozaukee, but for other virtual schools in the state, too," he said. "I think they're going to breathe a sigh of relief, and they're going to be able to move forward with their ideas." WEAC filed the lawsuit in 2004, and the state Department of Public Instruction filed briefs supporting the union's charge that parents assumed an illegally large teaching role at the virtual school. The suit came after WEAC filed an unsuccessful lawsuit against the state's first cyberschool in Appleton, which challenged the use of charter and open enrollment laws. The roles of parents and teachers were not raised in that suit. Paul Barnett, a state attorney representing the department, said state education officials have not yet decided whether to appeal McCormack's ruling. Lucy Brown, an attorney for WEAC, did not return calls seeking comment Friday. Northern Ozaukee's K-8 virtual academy was launched in 2003, a year after the Appleton Connections Academy opened. The virtual academy's students and staff are spread throughout the state, logging on to school-provided computers to attend or teach classes. In his ruling, McCormack said the school's partnership of parents and teachers falls within the broad authority of the School Board to determine what's best for its students. Also, he ruled, state laws don't require teachers to spend a certain amount of time in the same room with students. On the other issues, McCormack affirmed that the virtual academy was located, for legal purposes, at School District headquarters. WEAC had argued that the school was located where its students are -- online. McCormack said that was "patently absurd." He also ruled that the open enrollment program does not prohibit students from using the Internet to receive a public education. As evidence, he cited the Assembly's failure to pass a 2001 bill that would have banned students from using the program to sign up for virtual schools. Alyson Zierdt, an attorney who represents the district, said the judge's findings closely track the district's arguments. "I think he did a nice job of recognizing that the parents here and the teachers have distinct but complementary roles," Zierdt said. "They're really both contributing in different ways to the education of the students." WEAC and the department have 90 days to file an appeal. But McCormack's ruling would put the district at an advantage in any appeal, Zierdt said. "It's a very good start," she said. "It will give the Court of Appeals and perhaps the Supreme Court something to work with." |