The largest online charter school in Ohio and in the nation is expanding. From Ohio public radio station WOSU, Steve Brown reports the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow is starting its second round of hiring in just this school year.
The school, often called ECOT for short, brought in 100 new teachers at the beginning of the school year, but spokesman Nick Wilson says 40 more positions are needed as enrollments continues to increase.
“We’ve experienced tremendous growth over the past decade actually, but most recently we grew by about 2,000 student last school year alone,” Wilson says.
ECOT opened its doors in 2000 and is classified by the state as a public charter school, which means it gets state funding but isn’t subject to the same oversight as traditional schools. ECOT’s growth mirrors the nationwide boom of online charter school. Some skeptics of online education say the quality of education is lower, and it creates a one-size-fits-all environment that can lead to some students falling behind.