· December 14, 2011

IO’s Stephen Dyer quoted by NY Times in examination of online schools

Yesterday, the New York Times published an examination of e-schools and how they perform entitled “Online Schools Score Better with Wall Street than in Classrooms.” The author, Stephanie Saul, spoke extensively with Innovation Ohio’s Education Fellow, Stephen Dyer, while researching the story, based on Dyer’s research for IO’s report: “Ohio E-Schools: Funding Failure; Coddling Contributors“. While Saul’s research led her to focus more on virtual schools in Pennsylvania and Tennessee, Dyer was quoted in the article about Ohio e-schools and their aggressive lobbying for public money:

Similar family organizations have cropped up across the country. Former State Representative Stephen Dyer became suspicious when members of the benignly named organization My School, My Choice paraded through his northeastern Ohio district carrying signs attacking him: “Why Won’t Rep. Stephen Dyer let parents choose the best education for their kids?” The protest was prompted by questions Mr. Dyer had raised over the state’s financing formula for charter and online schools. The group describes itself as a coalition of parents, teachers and employees of the schools. But Mr. Dyer said that his wife questioned the people carrying the signs and found out they were paid temp agency workers.

Read the New York Times article. Read our e-schools report.