A Think Twice Review of:

Review of Public-Private Virtual-School Partnerships and Federal Flexibility for Schools during COVID-19

Think Twice - Apr 07, 2020

Publisher/Think Tank - Mercatus Center

Author(s) - Jonathan Butcher

A new report from the Mercatus Center argues that, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, education budgets should be reallocated toward investments in virtual schools. It describes the pandemic as presenting Americans with the opportunity to see the benefits of virtual schooling, which "could change education content delivery forever, making instruction more flexible and suited to the needs of each individual student."

Reviewer(s) - Kevin Welner, CU Boulder

Professor Welner concludes that the report makes an uncompelling plea for policymakers to use this crisis to embrace an educational approach that the author sees as beneficial, notwithstanding the clear evidence of its limitations and problems. He nonetheless predicts that additional reports are likely to follow, making similar arguments for a lasting transformation of schooling.