By Ben Velderman
EAGnews.org

AUGUSTA, Maine – The Maine Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, recently unveiled a lengthy report that’s critical of the value of virtual charter schools.

The union is hoping the report will become a major piece of artillery in its ongoing battle to stop two virtual charter school companies from gaining entry into the Pine Tree State.

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So far, the education establishment has succeeded in blocking out alternative public schools. This summer  two virtual charter companies had their applications tabled by the Maine Charter School Commission.

The companies have indicated that they’ll be reapplying later this month, reports the Portland Press Herald.

Virtual charter schools are like traditional charter schools, only they provide instruction and assistance to students online. A wide-range of students benefit from this learning option because it allows them to learn at their own pace.

Even though such schools would obviously fill a niche in Maine’s public education system, MEA President Lois Kilby-Chesley has vowed that educators simply “cannot let virtual charter schools open in Maine.”

The union justifies its opposition with research that finds only 27.7 percent of virtual charter students are meeting federally mandated Adequate Yearly Progress goals, versus 52 percent of traditional government schools.

Granted, those aren’t great numbers for virtual charters, but here’s where the union’s argument falls apart:

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If charter schools of any kind don’t meet academic expectations, their charters can (and have been) cancelled and they can go out of business. Government schools, on the other hand, can (and do) fail students year after year with virtually no consequences.

It’s pretty rare to see a government school shut down, regardless of how poorly it functions. In fact, unions use lousy student achievement data as an excuse to demand more and more money for the dysfunctional government school system.

Where’s the logic in that?

The bottom line is that the teachers union doesn’t want competition for students (and the state aid that accompanies them) from virtual charter schools. As more students leave government schools, fewer union teachers are needed and fewer union dues are paid.

If most virtual charter schools hired union teachers, the unions would suddenly love them.

Thankfully, Maine Gov. Paul LePage sees through the union’s self-serving argument and has publicly called on state leaders to review and act on the virtual charter school applications.

“It is appalling to know that those who are supposed to be known as ‘education leaders’ are trying to undermine the charter approval process,” LePage said in a June press release. “These are so-called leaders that are satisfied with the status quo, are not interested in giving students more choices, and their recent action is simply irresponsible and unacceptable.”

We couldn’t have said it better.