RE: Question 2: Non-traditional education

Hi everyone - I served as the consultant to the Emerging Modes Working Group and thought I'd jump in here.  There is a lot of great dialogue in today's online discussion.  I thought I'd point out that working group members agreed that the state should support innovation by providing flexibility and that this flexibility should apply to all nontraditional forms of delivery, not just charter schools.  All agreed that the Ed. Code serves as a barrier and that more flexiblity is needed in this area.  Margo expressed that the state should basically stay out of the way.  The group felt that the role of the state should be to ensure that these delivery structues are standards-based and evaluated and the results are widely shared for others to learn from.  Also, might the state play a role by providing incentives?  Just some thoughts...