Online high school may extend globally

Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Nov 4, 2006 by Tiffany Erickson Deseret Morning News

Utah has the oldest and largest online high school program in the country and Friday the State Board of Education gave leaders the green light to go forward in pursuing a project that would extend the program globally.

About 57,000 students have enrolled in the electronic high school. The number has been doubling each year since 2000 in the 12- year-old program.

Florida is a distant second, with just over 20,000 enrolled.

To capitalize on the Beehive State's program, Utah entrepreneurs proposed a partnership with Utah Electronic High School to create a second campus, the American Academy, that is a for-profit program targeting 18-to 30-year-olds who have not earned high school diplomas, as well as international students

Leaders say the project could mean greater income and employment opportunities for Utah teachers coupled with higher revenues for Utah education.

Venture capitalist Anthony Meyer said currently limited competition exists for the American Academy because other states with distance learning schools do not presently offer courses or diplomas to non-residents.

And those that do exist are very small and unknown.

Leaders say the project could have revenue potential between $5 million $10 million, allowing the program to pay Utah teachers with out-of-state revenue.

UEHS would supply teachers and courses and issue diplomas as well as control curriculum and standards and courses. There would be no funding risk for the UEHS, but the state would get a cut of the profits.

Some board members were concerned about finding teachers for the program when Utah already suffers a shortage of educators.

But Richard Siddoway, principal of UEHS, told the Deseret Morning News in the late summer that finding teachers wouldn't be a problem. He said he has about 500 teachers who have expressed interest in the program.

Many of the current UEHS teachers are retired educators or teaching part time.

"I give my total endorsement to this," said Mark Cluff, state board member. "We are always looking for revenue streams, and I think this is an excellent opportunity for that."

A number of questions still surround the proposal, and some board members questioned who really had the authority to approve such a project.

"We need legislative approval to raise fees ... I don't know if we even have the authority to negotiate on these issues," said Tim Beagley, state board member.

The board voted to move forward with the project, exploring the options and finding out if legislative action is required. They plan on forming a committee to get a closer look at the proposal and make future recommendations.

E-mail: terickson@desnews.com