States Revamping Policies on Virtual Schools

It has been an active spring when it comes to state policymaking targeting online schools.

In the wake of a Colorado audit finding insufficient oversight of the state’s online schools, for example, Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter Jr. has signed a legislative compromise that would tighten the reins with new demands and a newly created state division of online schools.

In South Carolina, Republican Gov. Mark Sanford signed a measure expanding a state-sponsored virtual pilot program into a full-fledged state online school, even as plans in Indiana to launch two new virtual schools have been shelved amid...