It's time for distance learning

I have a unique insight into the suggestion of America's first national online campus of virtual schools.I am Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Wright College and in that capacity I was a classroom teacher. I am also founding general manager of WYCC-TV/PBS Channel 20, an educational television station that was created in 1983 and cited during its first decade by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting as the most successful distance learning station in this country in terms of the variety and number of telecourse offerings and student enrollment through the City Colleges of Chicago, which owns Channel 20. The City Colleges has a legacy of creating courses by television and radio. Courses by media and distance learning were my domain as an administrator for the City Colleges.As both a classroom Professor and General Manager of a TV station whose original mission was distance learning opportunities for students, my perspective leads me to strongly support a national online campus.
Choice and opportunity are key in making education possible for the students of our nation. Some belong in classrooms. Others will be successful through distance learning as their only lifestyle option. And still others will become concurrent students combining both classroom and online courses as their choice of study.As President Obama has stated, "Dropping out is not an option." It is time for America to create learning opportunities and availability by funding its academic institutions, supporting teacher training programs and developing online campuses.