Pushed by budget cuts and prodded by today’s Internet-centric culture, many school districts are offering multitudes of online courses, and some require students to take as many as four such courses to graduate. Proponents say these courses allow school districts to provide a wider variety of electives and advanced placement classes that wouldn’t have enough demand in just one high school. A high-level course such as Shakespeare’s comedies might only attract two or three students at a given high school; but if a district-wide course on the subject was offered online, the web-based class might pull the requisite 20 or 30 students. As such, these online courses theoretically give students a richer educational experience. Critics say the move to online education has much more to do with cutting costs than giving students better education. More online classes means districts could do with fewer teachers and potentially fewer buildings. It’s still a question of whether students learn as well in these Internet-based courses as they do in class. “It’s a cheap education, not because it benefits the students,” said Karen Aronowitz, president of the teacher’s union in Miami. “This is being proposed for even your youngest students. Because it’s good for the kids? No. This is all about cheap.” (New York Times)