NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Governor Bill Haslam's proposal to tighten enrollment requirements at privately run online schools in Tennessee has been delayed in the Senate.
The measure guided by Republican Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris of Collierville was put off until Thursday.
The bill would allow beginning online schools to start with an enrollment of 1,500 and continue to expand as long as they meet performance requirements. The measure originally sought to cap online school enrollment at 5,000.
Critics of virtual schools have sought to limit their enrollment or do away with the ones operated privately after reports of the low performance of Tennessee Virtual Academy, the state's only privately operated virtual school.
State figures showed the academy fell into the bottom 11 percent of schools for student gains, as measured under the state's value-added assessment system.
(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
