Federal enactment of No Child Left Behind and the federal government’s requirements that states offer students in low performing schools an alternative means of pursuing public education, coupled with state momentum behind requiring high schools students to complete some form of online education prior to graduation has substantially opened up the virtual marketplace for online K - 12 programs. The No Child Left Behind Act has its shortcomings. Although I am not in that space, there are two Redgates (Paul and his wife, Lindsey) who are currently teachers in a public school setting and my daughter, Christina, who graduates this May from William and Mary with a degree in education, have voiced to me their concerns. Nevertheless, No Child Left Behind does open the door for a more vibrant virtual opportunity.
My colleague, Ron Kennedy (www.ronaldkennedy.com) and I have launched an online 3 - 12 Academy (www.libertyonlineacademy.com) a little over six months ago. We have deliberately held back on the recruiting “throttle” as we fine tune our messaging, infrastructure, and academic protocol. What has been interesting is that we have been enrolling students every month and the student make-up is about 50% from a public school setting and 50% from a home school environment. In the current online K - 12 market, growth has been most significant in rural, high poverty, large public school districts in the Southeast and Central regions and has been driven by efforts to improve cost efficiency.
I read an Eduventures report dated March 2007 that estimated the online K - 12 market at approximately 408,000. I also saw an article today that estimated the market at around 1,000,000. Whatever the current size, the market is ripe for growth whether its third party providers, district run entities, or virtual state schools.