I never thought it was a good idea to begin with, but my local paper loved the idea:
"State’s first-ever virtual school under probation threat; Student learning low, officials say" by James Vaznis | Globe Staff October 20, 2014
The state’s first-ever virtual school is under threat of probation by state education officials because of low academic achievement and a failure to meet state curriculum standards.
If the problems persist at the Greenfield Commonwealth Virtual School, which serves 720 students from around the state, it could be forced to close in two years.
“Academic achievement is quite low, and we have tremendous concern about that,” said Mitchell Chester, the state’s commissioner of elementary and secondary education, who pushed for probation.
The review also questioned the school’s arrangement with a private company that helps it, including hiring and evaluating teachers....
Oh, no! Corporate corruption has come home to roo$t!
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Also see:
Patrick touts progress in school achievement gaps
State places 2 schools on probation
Cyber-education in Greenfield: Virtual schools, real scrutiny
Bus ride home all too real:
"An Ashland man was arrested this weekend on accusations that he drunkenly drove a school bus filled with high school students, police said. Around 10:30 p.m. on Saturday, a Hopkinton High School cross-country coach called police and said she thought her team’s bus driver was intoxicated. Twenty-five cross country runners were on the bus returning from a meet, police said. Officers arrested Robert E. Murphy, 59, after he failed a series of sobriety tests. He is scheduled to be arraigned in Framingham District Court Monday morning, police said."
"No bail for school bus driver in alleged drunken driving case" by Eric Moskowitz | Globe Staff October 21, 2014
HOPKINTON — Spent from a long day competing at a Cape Cod cross-country meet, some students on the Hopkinton High School team dozed or listened to music on the return trip, noticing nothing amiss. Others considered the bus ride “unusually jerky” — speeding up, slowing down, hitting the rumble strip — and began to worry when the driver took the wrong exit, made a sudden U-turn, or straddled the highway lanes, they told police.
“Upon boarding the bus, I thought I smelled alcohol but wasn’t certain,” one student added, in a written statement. “At one point it almost seemed like he lost complete control of the bus and was going to fly right off the road,” another wrote.
After driver Robert E. Murphy allegedly ran red lights and could not explain why he exited for the wrong highway, an alarmed coach quietly called police Saturday night. Murphy failed field sobriety tests, refused a breathalyzer, and was arrested on charges of endangering children while operating under the influence, negligent operating, and operating under the influence/third offense....
What the hell was he doing driving a school bus?
Police found no evidence of alcohol or empty bottles on the bus, and Hopkinton Police Chief Edward Lee said they are trying to determine when and where Murphy may have consumed alcohol during the five-hour meet.
Check the bars. That's where he went to kill time.
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Maybe he was up to something else, too.
