State education dollars once again are diluted

Tulsa World:

Trish Williams, chief financial officer at Tulsa Public Schools, raised an interesting question this week and most people who value public education would like a straight answer – not a virtual one.
As state law stands – thanks to the Legislature and Oklahoma Department of Education – online, for-profit charter schools now are allowed to receive funds. Students who formerly got up and went to school can remain home and take algebra in their pajamas in the privacy of their homes.
For the second year in a row, expansion of those online charter schools drew a significant share of funds that traditionally had been divided up and distributed among public schools.
“As long as our state laws allow for these for-profit entities to come in, it’s a good question to ask, ‘Where it will end?’ The pie is only so big,” Williams said.