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A Real Education Is Being Offered Through A Virtual School Setting

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Missouri has created a virtual school to give certain students are actual education. This classroom will come to the student, via a personal computer. The virtual school concept uses the Web to deliver instruction online.

Two vendors have been chosen to deliver instruction. Connections Academy of Baltimore, Maryland will provide elementary education online and Northwest Missouri State of Maryville will provide high school instruction. Middle school instruction isn’t offered at this time.

Students who might participate in the program include students homebound due to injury or illness, students who lack credits for graduation, students who need remedial help, students wishing to take advanced courses not offered by their school district and home-schooled students. School district also could take advantage of the program to offer Advanced Placement or other upper-level classes they would like to offer, but cannot afford to.

Sen. Jack Goodman (R-Mt. Vernon) says, "This is not about plopping kids in front of a monitor." Goodman says it’s about children who face unique circumstances and adults who care about them enough to put in the initiative to work with the curriculum. He says the virtual school can help any child reach their maximum potential.

Rep. Brian Baker (R-Belton) says students in failing districts will be allowed to enroll. And he says that will not count about the district. Districts will pay the virtual school for the student’s enrollment, but will still get credit for the student and the excess money left.

Enrollment in the virtual school program ends May 29th. State education officials say the program can handle up to 4,000 students. For more information contact the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education .

Download/listen Brent Martin reports (:60 MP3)

Leading Senator Supports Jiffy Lube Health Care Concept

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Governor Blunt’s Jiffy Lube model for state health care gets support from the Senate President Pro-Tem. Senator Mike Gibbons says the state’s actual health care is extraordinarily sophisticated, but he says the business side of health care needs to quit pushing paper and catch up with he 21st century. He says Blunt’s CyberAccess Program, which is modeled after a Jiffy Lube concept based on electronic records would give residents technologically-advanced access to their personal health information. Blunt’s CyberAccess Program is part of his new plan for state healthcare, MO Healthnet.

Better treatment, care and comfort are obvious advantages of electronic health records for Gibbons.  He says accessing the system could work much like a bank card, one swipe could give access to a complete personal health history including all medical records and necessary prescriptions.  He says the information could be constantly updated.

Gibbons dismisses fears that such quick and easy electronic access could mean personal health information would be insecure. He says while there are instances of identity theft with bank cards, the number of such cases compared to the number of bank transactions is relatively infrequent.

Gibbons says it is time to get the business side of healthcare up to speed with the 21st century and offer residents the quality and efficiency they deserve with their healthcare.

AUDIO: Laura McNamara reports (:60 MP3)

MU researchers target bridge safety

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Research at the University of Missouri-Columbia aims to improve the structural safety of bridges. A new high-tech system is getting a 6-month test run on a bridge in New York. Research assistant Gary Washer says the system could be available within a year and a half. The system is meant to monitor tilting and cracking in the piers, or the support structure, of a bridge. Washer says about 20 tilt sensors are placed along the pier at different elevations up the height of the piers and along the superstructure of a bridge. He says the sensors monitor tilt in three-dimensions. Washer says the system would be asset for Missouri and points out that a Better Roads article published last November rates 31% of Missouri bridges as structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. The National Academy of Sciences gave MU’s College of Engineering a $110,000 grant to fund the research.

AUDIO: Laura McNamara reports (:60 MP3)

DED Talks up New Workforce Training Technology

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The State Economic Development Department’s Division of Workforce Development is talking up its new innovative training solution which is designed to use state-of-the-art training technology to upgrade the skills of job seekers and those looking for workplace advancement. Division Direcor Rod Nunn says visitors to any of the 42 One-Stop Career Centers will have access to an interactive comtency-based training that will help to improve such things as resume writing, job search techniques, and telephone etiquette. The resources will be available, at first, in the Career Center resource rooms. It’s hoped some of the workshops will be offered online in the near future.

Related web sites:
Division of Workforce Development

Coalition Pushes Value of METS

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A coalition of educators and business executives recommend Missouri push math, engineering, technology and science more in the classroom and work to get schoolchildren more excited about careers in those fields. It’s called the METS Coalition. METS is an acronym for math, engineering, technology and science. Governor Blunt formed the coalition this spring. Chairwoman Debra Hollingsworth with AT&T explains the group recommends improving the math and science offered in the classroom, emphasizing engineering more and getting greater technology to schoolchildren. The coalition says children must be motivated to study the fields through visits to workplaces that use math, engineering, technology and science to give schoolchildren a taste of what vocations are available and to develop an excitement about them. Hollingsworth says parents must emphasize their importance and treat them with at least as much interest as they do the sports their children are involved in. Hollingsworth says it needs to become a greater priority of the state as well, with incentives to attract higher quality instructors and public awareness of the importance of the fields. Governor Blunt has told the group its recommendations will likely find a place in his State-of-the-State speech next year, which outlines his legislative priorities.

Related web sites:
M.E.T.S.

Former Presidential Candidate Says He Was Right 25 Years Ago

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A former independent candidate for president says the past 25 years have proven him right about one of the most radical aspects of his candidacy. Former Illinois Congressman John Anderson broke from the Republican Party to run a distant third in the 1980 presidential race. Republican Ronald Reagan defeated incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter that year. One of Anderson’s most radical proposals called for a 50-cent a gallon tax on gas, designed to cut consumption and reduce dependence on the Middle East. America had seen the first disruptions of oil in the 70s; 1973, during the Six Day War and 1979, when the Shah fled Iran. Anderson says that signaled that America was vulnerable as a nation to interruptions of our energy supply, particularly oil. Anderson proposed using the additional revenue to cut Social Security taxes and pay for general governmental services. Anderson says the proposal was ahead of its time. He says it’s critical for the country to cut its dependence on foreign oil. Anderson still advocates an increase in the gas tax, but now would use the money to pay for a crash program for alternative fuels. He says that needs to be a national priority. Anderson has been in Missouri to campaign on behalf of National Popular Vote, a group pushing for the elimination of the Electoral College.

Governor Blunt Calls for Greater Emphasis on Math and Science

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Governor Blunt says Missouri needs to push its schoolchildren to excel in math and science. Blunt says the Math and Science Summitt he convened this week in Jefferson City is just the beginning of a push to stress the importance of math, engineering, technology and science to students. Blunt says students need to be taught the value of math and science, not just to provide them more employment options, but to help the state move forward in an economy spurred by advancing technologies.An interim group will develop strategies to emphasize math and science to educators, business executives and lawmakers. Blunt says test scores need to improve from pre-school to college. He says studies indicate that American schoolchildren compete well internationally through 4th grade, only to fall behind in high school. Blunt says the state’s economy will become more and more dependent on workers proficient in math and science. The departments of education, higher education and economic development will work together to create a data and research center to guide improvements.

Blunt Stresses Support for Plant Science Biotechnology

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Governor Matt Blunt reiterates the state’s economic commitment to the plant sciences. Plant science is described by Governor Blunt as an important part of bioscience industry development in Missouri. He says plant science research being pioneered in Missouri is benefitting agriculture in this state and throughout the country. Blunt says that while plant science increases yields for farmers, it also leads to better crop protection and even health advances. Blunt says Missouri wants to capitalize on the industry’s potential and aggresively recruit new life sciences companies to the state.

Blunt Talks Stem Cells to Bio-Tech Group

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Governor Matt Blunt reiterates his stance on stem cell research as the Legislature returns to the Capitol for the special session. Blunt tells the Missouri Biotechnology Association he supports research into stem cells, because of its promise for medical advances and economic growth. Blunt rejected anti-abortion bills in the regular session, because they called for a ban on such research. He called the Legislature back into session to consider the bills again, this time without the research ban. While Blunt believes he has crafted a special legislative call that will keep the discussion away from stem cells, he agrees the issue will arise again in the regular session next year.

Students To Be Assigned Numbers

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Education officials have started assigning special ten-digit numbers to every elementary and secondary student in the state. Deputy Education Commissioner Bert Schulte says it’s an effort to track student performance, no matter where the student lives. The ID numbers will also be used for research into education and learning. Schulte says it’s an entirely internal system. Students will not be issued any identification cards and will not have to know their number. He says it’s just an administrative procedure. All 900,000 Missouri students should have their special numbers before achievement test-time next Spring. Schulte assures that the public student information will not be made available outside the public school record-keeping process. He says that information is protected by confidentiality agreements. Schulte says the system is part of the department’s efforts to be more accountable.