State closing down N.M.’s largest online charter school
Public education secretary says Connections Academy fails students academically
When online school New Mexico Connections Academy began operations some five years ago, its supporters said it would offer students who did not do well in brick-and-mortar facilities a chance to learn at their own pace from home and thus improve academically.
But the state’s largest online charter school, with close to 2,000 students, has failed to measure up to that potential and needs to close, Public Education Secretary-designate Christopher Ruszkowski said last week.
Ruszkowski’s decision not to renew the school’s charter echoes a recommendation made in December by the Public Education Commission, a panel tasked with approving charter requests and overseeing charter schools. The academy is scheduled to close June 30, said Lida Alikhani, a spokeswoman for the Public Education Department.
But former Republican state Sen. Mark Boitano, who was one of the initial supporters of the school, said its leaders might appeal Ruszkowski’s decision in state District Court.
“It’s uncertain, but I think we do have a case,” Boitano said Tuesday. School leaders planned to huddle this week and make a decision soon, said.
Boitano referred further questions to attorney Susan Fox, who said she does not comment on pending litigation. Connections Academy leader Ramoncita Arguello could not be reached for comment.
Boitano said he was not surprised by Ruszkowski’s decision, which the Public Education Department publicized Tuesday.
The Public Education Commission voted 6-3 to reject a renewal application from the school, saying student profi-
ciency rates in math had dropped to 11 percent and that the school had received an F two years in a row in the New Mexico’s school grading system.
In December, Boitano said one problem the school faced is that it grew too quickly, from fewer than 500 students in its first year to nearly four times that many.
The school, which opened in 2013 with an annual budget of $2.4 million, got off to a bumpy start when the Public Education Commission initially denied its application. But then-Public Education Secretary Hanna Skandera overturned that decision.
The commission’s efforts to overturn Skandera’s ruling in court failed, allowing Connections Academy to open.
Connections Academy is part of the Baltimore-based Connections Education LLC, which has schools in about 30 states. Connections Education is part of the British-owned Pearson Education Corp., which sells textbooks and tests to the state.
Connections Academy is not the only online public school in the state. The Pecos Connections Academy, also part of the Connections Education LLC family, is in Carlsbad, while the New Mexico Virtual Academy, chartered by the Farmington school district, contracts with Virginia-based K12 Inc., an online learning company.
Advocates say such schools are at the leading edge of education. Opponents argue the schools draw money away from traditional schools and don’t necessarily reap more academic rewards. Online schools’ connections to private corporations also raise concerns about privatization ofthe nation’s public schools.
A 2016 report by the Legislative Education Study Committee said New Mexico’s three online charter schools needed more oversight. They also receive more per-student state funding than traditional schools, according to the report.
And a national report in 2015 from the Center for Research on Educational Options at Stanford University said students at virtual charter schools receive far less learning time than students in traditional schools, and that none of the online schools in the study outpaced traditional schools in academic achievement.