NEPC Review: Public-private virtual-school partnerships and federal flexibility for schools during COVID-19

A Mercatus Center report argues that, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, education budgets should be reallocated toward investments in virtual schools and the pandemic is presenting Americans with the opportunity to see the benefits of virtual schooling. This National Education Policy Center (NEPC) review explains how that recommendation runs counter to a solid body of evidence documenting the shortcomings of this online approach. Author Kevin Welner, a professor of educational foundations, policy and practice and the director of NEPC, details how the result is an uncompelling plea for policymakers to use this crisis to embrace an educational approach that the author sees as beneficial, notwithstanding the clear evidence of its limitations and problems. While this is the first report we have seen that makes this argument, it is unlikely to be the last.