WASHINGTON STATE

Washington State House Democrats

HOUSE DEMOCRATS

Rep. Hunter looks to curtail abuses of alternative school program

It’s called Alternative Learning Experience, and it’s a state-sanctioned program that allows school districts to set up non-traditional educational programs for students who are ill-suited to conventional classroom instruction.

But the way some districts run the program has raised concerns with state school officials and some legislators, including Rep. Ross Hunter, who said this to a reporter from KPLU FM:

We’re going to have to do a thoughtful discussion on how the system works this year. We want a system that deals with online and blended education, which is a very, very compelling set of technology, but done in a way that doesn’t create distortions in the funding model that cause people to have bad behavior.

A KPLU web site post includes more from Rep. Hunter and examines the issues related to the learning program.

Photo courtesy of Gabriel Spitzer of KPLU.