Summary HB 6704 (Open States or Connecticut Legislature) establishes the state’s budget for the fiscal years 2014 and 2015. It expands previously enacted K-12 education reforms as well as science and technology programs at the University of Connecticut. It also appropriates funds for longitudinal data systems and implementation of the Common Core State standards. Legislative…
In Plain English: CO SB 213
Summary SB 213 (Open States or Colorado Legislature) was a wide-reaching education reform bill that sought to restructure the state’s education funding system. It would have equalized online program funding with the statewide base per pupil funding, considered on-line students when calculating charter school funding, and established the Education Innovation Grant Program to fund innovative…
10 Jan 2014
In Plain English: CO SB 139
Summary SB 139 (Open States or Colorado Legislature) ensures that all high school students in Colorado have access to taking at least one supplemental on-line course each year by designating a single Boards of Cooperative Educational Service (BOCES) to contract and administer online courses with non-profit providers. It also requires annual parent, teacher, and student…
9 Jan 2014
In Plain English: AR SB 233
Summary SB 233 (Act 1309) (Open States or Arkansas Legislature) raises the cap at any K-12 open-enrollment public charter virtual school from 500 students to 3,000 students. Students in the 2,500 additional slots must have been enrolled in an Arkansas public school for the first three quarters of the prior school year. The legislation also maintains funding for…
9 Jan 2014
Smart Policy in the Age of Disruption
The classroom of the future is not a fixed blueprint. Just like a record producer in 1974 could barely imagine the world of music in 2014, so the future of education is one which will look little as it does now, evolving and morphing along with the needs of the students and the advances in…
7 Jan 2014
Learning Takes the Lead in Georgia
“Digital learning has the potential to leverage technology to transform our educational system by providing students, parents, and educators more flexibility over the time, place, path, and pace of learning. In other words, it individualizes each student’s educational experience and shifts the teacher’s role from being the source of information to being a guide alongside…
18 Dec 2013
Digital Learning Scores Big in Ohio
Note: State activity around digital learning continues to move at a rapid pace. One of the more exciting ideas is Ohio’s Straight A Innovation Fund. We’ve asked a voice on the ground in Ohio to dig into the applications and unpack what this might mean for Digital Learning in Ohio. Michael Harlow specializes in legislative and community…
11 Dec 2013
New FCC Chairman Praises Digital Learning in New Speech & E-Book
Policy either restricts or encourages innovation and growth. Now, more than ever, it is crucial to have leadership in government which recognizes the changing nature of our education system and understands that old models of support and regulation are not sufficient for the new normal in schools. This week, in a new e-book and his…
5 Dec 2013