Cyber Academy has long proved its educational value

A wise man once said “If you’re going to be a pioneer, you have to be comfortable being misunderstood.” Seeing the misinformation around virtual K-12 schools, it’s clear how easy it can be to misunderstand Georgia Cyber Academy, Georgia’s largest online public charter school.

Only nine years into our existence, we see a combination of hostility and high expectations around GCA not already outperforming the state (on certain traditional school metrics) with half the funds and more academically at-risk students — including nearly three out of four new high school students off track for graduation when they enroll. But much of the story of GCA is missing from the media narratives.

We could talk about the AJC’s own calculations showing GCA saved Georgia taxpayers over $40 million in 2015 by educating nearly 14,000 students at half the cost of traditional schools. Taking into account both academic performance and funding, GCA is one of the state’s best bargains.

Among the little-known facts: After their transition to virtual education, GCA students actually outperform the state in academic growth, and 85 percent of students who started at GCA as ninth-graders graduated in 2015 (7 percent higher than the state). GCA met or exceeded the state’s academic standards for charter renewal for the three years prior to 2015 (the first year based on the new Georgia Milestones tests, about which this newspaper stated: “Highstakes consequences — student grades, teacher evaluation, school ratings — should not be attached to a test that had such a flawed execution.”)

There is our 2014 valedictorian, a presidential scholar at Georgia Tech; our recent graduate competing in the Olympics; our students each year who graduate while receiving their associate’s degrees; or hundreds of other GCA students taking dual enrollment classes for free at Tech and other universities across the state. And there are GCA’s special education and family support programs, which have been praised as state and national models for effectively serving students online.

Georgia suffers a lack of public school choice, and for many students, a school like GCA is the only option if their local school has already failed them (either academically, through bullying, lack of challenge, drugs, socially, or otherwise).

We certainly agree that nine years into their existence, virtual schools in Georgia have yet to achieve their full potential. Our nearly 600 Georgia teachers and staff work tirelessly to improve the experience for our students, and our board prioritizes investment in supports for teachers and transition for new students.

Accredited by Advanced; annually audited and reviewed for nine years, GCA is proud of the journey we’ve started and the transparency and accountability under which we’ve done it. Georgia’s results with virtual schools stand out compared to other states (and look nothing like online higher education), but the story is just beginning, and we are excited for the success still to come.

Full-time public virtual education is not the right choice for every student, and we hope that sometime soon every Georgia student will have the opportunity to choose a public school that works best for them. In the meantime, we remain focused on providing our students an engaging and individualized education — and leading the way for innovation and choice in Georgia public education.