INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- The new state budget includes a pilot program for virtual charter schools, which provide more than half of a child’s instruction online.

The program will allow 200 students to attend virtual schools next year and 500 students the following year. The project will focus on children with medical disabilities and other circumstances that prevent them from attending traditional schools.

Virtual school advocates say they wish more students could be part of the pilot, but they say the project will be a chance to prove the benefits of such schools.

Supporters say virtual schools are a great option for parents who want their children to learn at home, but opponents worry the schools would amount to taxpayer-funded home schooling.

Posted 7/3/2009