Guest Commentary: Superintendent of a Kansas School District on the Future of Virtual Education and What She Learned in D.C.

Jerri Kemble is superintendent of the Centre Unified School District 397, in Marion County Kansas. The district is home to the Kansas Online Learning Program, a K-12 online public school open to students throughout the state.
This spring, Kemble traveled to Washington D.C. to participate in a conference sponsored by the National Network of Digital Schools. One of the things Kemble said she pushed for was "taking the zip code out of education."
“For Centre, that means that even though we are located in rural Kansas, our students should still be given the same opportunities that students in affluent districts have,” she said.
Kemble said she learned four things in the nation’s capital. First, the White House is watching districts such as Centre school, rural school districts where virtual education can make a difference.
Second, the landscape of education is changing. Legislators “get it;” they know that virtual education will be a vital component of the future of education.
Third, education is important to President Barrack Obama and Arne Duncan, his administration’s Secretary of Education, and it will stay in the forefront. They believe innovation is important, Kemble said, but the slow economy is a limiting factor.
Fourth, the Centre school district is on the right track and should take criticism in stride.
“We are pioneers, and sometimes pioneers are not loved,” she said.
Click here to read more about what Kemble learned in D.C. and her thoughts on state funding of virtual schools.