CONCLUSIONS: Why settle for less than the best?

Enrollment in a virtual charter school can be a tempting option for the parents of students struggling in the public school system. But before making the switch, there are some important questions to answer.In deciding what will be best for your child, the first question to ask is why? What is it that you hope to accomplish by switching your child out of the public school system.

  • Is it a desire to give your children the best academic education possible?
  • Perhaps it reflects a need to make sure that your child’s education is consistent with your perspectives on world views and spiritual matters?
  • Is it an effort to reduce the destructive peer influences on your son or daughter’s life?
  • Or is it a desire to save money on the child’s education?

TutoringEach of these can be a compelling reason to search for an alternative to enrollment in the public schools. But the truth is that enrolling a child in one of Idaho’s virtual charter school programs will have unfortunate effects.

Although the move from public school to enrollment in a virtual charter school will certainly diminish the destructive peer influences on a child, that benefit comes at the expense of mediocre academic achievement, an education sanitized of crucial spiritual perspectives, and tedious parental record-keeping for less than minimum wage savings.

And above all else, it comes at the cost of the loss of the great joy and liberty that the parents could have received from independently teaching their own child at home.