Virtual class, real money
Last spring, Katie Rivera's daughter came home from the St. Francis Parish School in Bakersfield, Calif., with some unusual paperwork.
The school was pushing parents to sign their children up for a "unique pilot program" taught entirely online and run by a public school district in Los Angeles County.
Each student who enrolled in the Lennox Virtual Academy would get a free Chromebook computer to use at school, with access to online classes. All parents had to do was fill out the forms, authorizing St. Francis to share information about their finances and their children's health with the Lennox School District a hundred miles away.
"This partnership is expected to bring many benefits for St. Francis students," Principal Kelli Gruszka wrote to parents. "(I)t is IMPERATIVE that every family with students in grades 5th-8th return the paperwork being sent home today ...."
What the letter did not explain was the arrangement's financial benefits. By enrolling these students, Lennox stood to earn millions in additional state funding. St. Francis would profit, too. As part of the deal, the school would be paid a fee for each participating student.
The proposal was part of an unorthodox expansion plan by a small public school district headquartered three miles from Los Angeles International Airport.
That Lennox had created a virtual school was not so remarkable. Online public schools
