Funding creates incentives for performance, options, and innovation.

Metrics:

32. Public funds are available for online learning to:
a. all district public school students.
b. all charter public school students.
c. all private school students.
d. all home education students.
33. State funding for digital learning is provided through the public per-pupil school funding formula.
34. Funding is provided on a fractional, per course basis to pay providers for individual online courses.
35. Funding follows the student to the school or course of their choice.
36. The same per-pupil funding with the same payment process is provided to all virtual charter schools, full-time online schools, and individual online course providers, regardless of whether the school is  public, charter, not-for-profit, or for-profit.
37. Providers receive final funding payment upon course completion based on student daily attendance,  performance, and competency.

How money is spent is as important as how much money is spent on education. Funding should fuel achievement and innovation, not reward complacency and bureaucracy.

Paying for success will yield success. Right now, the majority of education funding rewards attendance. Schools get paid when students show up, regardless of what or how much students learn or achieve. Under that framework, its no wonder achievement is stagnant.

Moreover, digital learning can actually save money in the long run. Full-time virtual schools can save money on facilities or transportation compared to traditional schools. Supplemental programs offering individual course enrollments can offer even bigger savings to states and districts. As digital learning grows, economies of scale will drive costs down. Partners within states or across state lines can further increase the purchasing power.

Given fiscal challenges faced by governments across the country, states need to be innovative to meet the challenge of providing access to digital content. To build a quality digital learning environment, states will have to spend smarter – not necessarily more. Geographically unbounded digital learning provides incentive for states to develop an equalized and weighted funding formula that better matches resources with individual student needs regardless of zip code.