Indiana could soon require all high school students to take an online course.
Supporters say Senate Bill 179 would give students an innovative way to learn.
But school districts say the costs could be staggering.
State Senator Jim Banks co-authored the bill, and he says many schools in Indiana already offer some sort of online learning.
But officials at Fort Wayne Community Schools say, with their current resources, they're not ready.
Every Indiana high school student could soon be required to complete some of their classes online.
Senator Banks' education initiative, Senate Bill 179, passed the House Committee on Education today-- and could become law in a few weeks.
The bill requires all Indiana high school students to take one of their 'Core 40' classes as an online class.
"It's another step towards innovation and preparing our students, not just for the jobs of the future, but for really the higher education of the future," Senator Banks says.
He says it allows districts to offer more diverse classes they might not be able to afford to right now.
But Krista Stockman of FWCS says the bill would put the district in a financial bind.
She says the schools would have to purchase extra computers, and create new computer labs, to meet the requirements.
"It would cost us, depending on if we go to one-to-one computers or just add some computer labs, it could cost one million to two million dollars or more to have all of our high schools and high school-level classes in other buildings up and running and ready to go," Stockman says.
Stockman says if the bill passes, the state should help with the cost.
"Right now, this really isn't in our budget. Our technology, we try to keep up with it, but we have a replacement system for our computers, but we are a long way from being one-to-one computers or having these additional labs," Stockman says.
Senator Banks says the price isn't the issue.
"We had the same debate in the senate, and we determined in the senate that not just that they could be able to afford it, there'd be an opportunity for schools to actually save money in the process," Senator Banks says.
The bill has already passed the Senate-- and now it goes to the House, and could be on Governor Daniels' desk in just a few weeks.
Senator Banks says if passed, it would start in 2013, and the class of 2017 would be the first to go all four years with at least one online class per year.
Supporters say Senate Bill 179 would give students an innovative way to learn.
But school districts say the costs could be staggering.
State Senator Jim Banks co-authored the bill, and he says many schools in Indiana already offer some sort of online learning.
But officials at Fort Wayne Community Schools say, with their current resources, they're not ready.
Every Indiana high school student could soon be required to complete some of their classes online.
Senator Banks' education initiative, Senate Bill 179, passed the House Committee on Education today-- and could become law in a few weeks.
The bill requires all Indiana high school students to take one of their 'Core 40' classes as an online class.
"It's another step towards innovation and preparing our students, not just for the jobs of the future, but for really the higher education of the future," Senator Banks says.
He says it allows districts to offer more diverse classes they might not be able to afford to right now.
But Krista Stockman of FWCS says the bill would put the district in a financial bind.
She says the schools would have to purchase extra computers, and create new computer labs, to meet the requirements.
"It would cost us, depending on if we go to one-to-one computers or just add some computer labs, it could cost one million to two million dollars or more to have all of our high schools and high school-level classes in other buildings up and running and ready to go," Stockman says.
Stockman says if the bill passes, the state should help with the cost.
"Right now, this really isn't in our budget. Our technology, we try to keep up with it, but we have a replacement system for our computers, but we are a long way from being one-to-one computers or having these additional labs," Stockman says.
Senator Banks says the price isn't the issue.
"We had the same debate in the senate, and we determined in the senate that not just that they could be able to afford it, there'd be an opportunity for schools to actually save money in the process," Senator Banks says.
The bill has already passed the Senate-- and now it goes to the House, and could be on Governor Daniels' desk in just a few weeks.
Senator Banks says if passed, it would start in 2013, and the class of 2017 would be the first to go all four years with at least one online class per year.
