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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2013 - 2014
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | March 6, 2013 04:04 PM |
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| From: | Representative Ryan P. Aument |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Online Education Initiative |
| In the near future, I plan to introduce legislation that would increase learning opportunities for students through the establishment of a new program for online education in public schools. This program would create a clearinghouse for online courses to be administered by the PA Department of Education and which will be made accessible to school entities, including school districts, joint school districts, charter and cyber charter schools, intermediate units, and area vocational-technical schools. The clearinghouse I am proposing would encompass any online course for students in grades three through twelve which has been reviewed and approved by the Department. The online courses submitted for use under this program would be developed and submitted by organizations, businesses, institutions of higher education, and school entities. An online course would be approved for use under this program if it is aligned to the state academic standards, provides a detailed and quality curriculum and accountability program, possesses an assessment component, and if it is properly adapted to the age and needs of the students. The Department would create an online database of all the approved providers and all the approved courses submitted by those providers and make this database available to school entities for the purpose of reviewing and purchasing those courses which complement the curriculum and needs of the school entity. My bill would also require each school entity in the Commonwealth to offer its students in grades three through twelve the opportunity to participate in approved online courses from the clearinghouse beginning in the 2015-2016 school year. In providing this opportunity, the school entities would establish their own policies and procedures governing eligibility and participation, including a policy on the selection of courses made available to students by the school entity. The bill further establishes parameters for administrative fees, approval periods, and purchasing of online courses; and requires the State Board of Education to promulgate any regulations necessary to implement the program. Finally, the legislation would require the Secretary of Education to submit a report on the program to the Governor and the General Assembly by June 30, 2020. Thank you for your consideration of this proposed legislation. |
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| View Attachment | ||
Introduced as HB983