Andy BerkeNASHVILLE – State Sen. Andy Berke, D-Chattanooga, is asking state Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman to conduct an independent review of the operations and effectiveness of a for-profit virtual school operating under contract with the Union County school system.
In a letter to Huffman, sent Wednesday, Berke cites a study released this month by the National Education Policy Center that is critical of the company, K12 Inc., based on an analysis of the firm’s national operations in 2010-11.
Among other things, the study noted that only 27.7 percent of K12 schools reported meeting Adequate Yearly Progress in 2010-11. About the same percentage of virtual schools reported making AYP. Nationally, some 52 percent of public schools met the standard.
While meeting Adequate Yearly Progress is a “relatively crude indicator of whether or not schools are meeting state standards,” the study says, it notes the “extremely large differences” such as the 25 percentage point AYP disparity “warrant further attention.”
In his letter Huffman, a copy of which went to Gov. Bill Haslam, Berke, a critic of K12, said he is “troubled” by the study’s findings. He noted it “illustrates why K12 Inc. fails to meet Tennessee’s high standard for academic achievement.”