Virtual schools and real profits: Industry shapes state policies | Get Schooled

Virtual schools and real profits: Industry shapes state policies | Get Schooled:

Virtual schools and real profits: Industry shapes state policies

by Maureen Downey

The Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram published an impressive investigation on a trend that we are seeing in Georgia: For-profit online k-12 schools “aiding” legislators in writing laws that create a demand and favorable climate for their product.
One of the changes pushed by the for-profit online sector: Statewide requirements that all students take at least one online course. We saw that effort here in Georgia. Senate Bill 289 initially mandated that all Georgia high

Teaching in Atlanta and Korea: Students are students, no matter geography or mythology

by Maureen Downey

Here is a great essay by former APS teacher Cindy Lou Howe, who is now an education and diversity consultant  in Atlanta. She taught in Atlanta Public Schools from 2003-2007 and in South Korea from 2008-2012.

By Cindy Lou Howe
As Atlanta kids returned to the classroom last month, some friends and I gathered at an Inman Park taqueria for lunch. Two of us are former Atlanta Public School teachers and two of us are