Florida Virtual School Costs Taxpayers Less and Its Students Perform Better

Sections: State
From: Volume 2, Issue 6

TALLAHASSEE — Florida TaxWatch Research released a new report on the efficacy and efficiency of the Florida Virtual School. “A Comprehensive Assessment of Florida Virtual School” was undertaken by the Center for Educational Performance and Accountability (CEPA), a Florida TaxWatch Center of Excellence, in order to explore to what degree Florida Virtual School (FLVS) offers an efficient, taxpayer accountable alternative and supplemental system of education.

The study examined student demographics and achievement and cost-effectiveness, finding that during the 2004-05 and 2005-06 school years FLVS students consistently outperformed their counterparts in Florida’s traditional middle and high schools on such measures as grades, Advanced Placement scores and FCAT scores. All FLVS teachers are certified, and their pay is tied to student performance, making FLVS the only true performance-based education system in the state. The study also found that FLVS is a bargain for Florida taxpayers.

Largely because it has no expenses related to transportation or construction and maintenance of physical facilities, FLVS is able to offer computer-delivered instruction at a lower per-student cost than traditional schools.

“While there is always room for improvement in any organization, through this study, FLVS has proven itself to be a viable and innovative educational endeavor that works,” said Dominic M. Calabro, President and CEO of Florida TaxWatch. “It has also shown that it has the capacity to meet the increasing challenge and demand for many more students, which can also help offset some of the incredible costs of Florida’s multibillion-dollar constitutional class size amendment.”

The study also found that a significant portion of Florida Virtual School students withdrew from their classes, and outlines a number of factors that may contribute to this high withdrawal rate.

The study was funded by a leading grant from the BellSouth Foundation with additional funding and data support from UCompass. Florida TaxWatch CEPA Executive Director Betty Coxe served as the report’s principal author with assistance from Senior Research Analyst Necadi Aydin, Ph.D. and several others.