The Vealing Of America: Wisconsin Virtual Academy

The vealing of America has taken another step towards completion with the creation of the Wisconsin Virtual Academy. While it is a public school, it is run in conjunction with a company headed by William J. Bennett, former U.S. Secretary of Education during the Reagan Administration. The program is open to any student K- 7 in the entire state even though it is run out of a rural school district. The student and their family get a loaner computer and then the virtual education fun begins. The Wisconsin Teachers Union is furious, as they think the concept of using tax dollars to technically homeschool kids with public money is wrong on so many levels. Here is a Milwaukee Journal- Sentinel article (reg. may be req'd) about the pitched battle now brewing in the progressive state of Wisconsin.

The Wisconsin Virtual Academy is merely the first virtual school website that I found searching online- there are apparently many more. It is interesting how homeschool activists are the ones who thought of this first yet makes perfect sense as they are the ones who are concerned with shielding their children from the oh- so- wonderful experience that is public school. I am going to sound like an old coot, but from the young children I have come in contact with recently, many are overprotected by their parents to the point of absolute absurdity. Kids need to play in dirt with other children in an unsupervised manner in order for the children to develop social skills. Recess is in many ways more important than the crap you learn in government- run public school. Think of how much you would save if you eliminated all of the wasteful education spending that occurs when you have the kids interact- sports, music, drama, shop- and just sent each kid home with a computer and force them to run through some awful computer programs. The money that they would save on the teachers, supplies, and liability insurance you need to run a "real" school could be used to give prescription drugs to the elderly, who obviously need the pills more than Junior needs gym class since he's already obese anyway. Finally, we will soon achieve two long sought for parental goals: not only will every child in the state get the same Borg- like level of education through the standardized programs, parents need not fear that Junior is playing hooky because he is sitting in his room on his computer all day every day, like a good little veal in a box.

posted by vealpen | 09:49 AM