How Will Virtual Schools Affect Our Future?

Are online elementary, middle and high schools in our future? I was informed by a colleague of mine that she received a new student that attended a virtual school in another state. She informed me that the student stated that she did not actually go to a school building for her education. She logged into her school everyday and using a webcam she was taught by her teacher which she never physically met. The student was of a middle school age and her mother sat with her at the computer as a mediator between her and the teacher. This one teacher taught 250 other students on a subject in several different counties.

 When she first started the discussion I thought she was referring to a home schooling but this was a totally different concept. I could not believe it!! If this is true for the number of students currently enrolled in my school we would only need two teachers to teach the students. There would be no need for the school building where we currently reside for this small number of employees. The cafeteria staff, custodians and classified staff would be obsolete. Could this be a reality? What would happen to teaching jobs? How would the schools determine which teachers to keep? Would it now be a requirement to be licensed in multiple subject areas and several states (which is not a bad idea)? Is this the direction of public education?

I decided to do some research about the virtual schools and I found a plethora of information. The one that impressed me the most was found on this website for Florida Virtual Schools @ http://www.flvs.net/Pages/default.aspx and after perusing the website I discovered that Florida offers this school for their residences K-12. The website defined the hardware and software requirements needed, courses offered, and teachers are available for questions and support from 8:00 AM-8:00 PM and weekend hours!! I was stunned at the clarity of the expectations for parents, students and teachers if they were to choose this option of educating their children. I had no idea that this choice in education existed in a K-12 setting.