NYC Education Dept. planning to open two virtual schools

The New York City Education Department is planning to open two “virtual academies” to give public school students more opportunities to learn online.

“We intend to open two brand-new virtual schools so that students have more flexibility in how they go to school,” Deputy Chancellor Carolyne Quintana said at a City Council budget hearing Tuesday.

The Education Department hasn’t spelled out how the virtual academies will work, how students qualify, who will teach the remote classes, and whether students will be virtual full-time, but promised more details soon. An agency spokesman declined to share a start date, but Schools Chancellor David Banks has previously said he hopes to launch a virtual school as early as September.