Surrounded by squirming children with endless questions about what he does, what he likes, his favorite room, his favorite art, Gov. Bob McDonnell yesterday tried to simultaneously teach an online government class how a bill becomes law.
The juggle could make his day job seem like child's play.
In a brief interlude, McDonnell stepped into a demonstration for virtual schools, the focus of one of his three legislative education initiatives.
He sat before a laptop configured to allow students from around the state to log on to hear him, while a group of young students sat in front of him in a room at the Executive Mansion.
Online distance-learning programs can offer a full-time curriculum for public school students. Children log on for lessons and must take Standards of Learning assessments like their peers.
The approach is designed to offer students more flexibility, and could be attractive to students who are home-schooled, move frequently, or live in rural areas where courses are limited.
One such full-time public school program in the state, the Virtual Virginia Academy, is operated through Carroll County Public Schools, according to McDonnell's office. The academy uses curriculum from K12 Inc., which had lobbyists at yesterday's event and donated $40,000 to McDonnell's campaign and inaugural committee.
Under McDonnell's proposed legislation, the state's superintendent of schools would develop criteria and an application process for approving online providers for more than one school district.
The state superintendent would also create policies that local school divisions could use in creating their own process on access to the programs.
McDonnell told the children at the event -- many of whom use the virtual academy -- how innovative he thought their program was. But the students didn't really want to talk about that.
"What's your favorite type of art?" one young girl asked.
"I like music. I sing in the shower, in fact, every day," the governor said, triggering cackles of laughter. "I've never recorded myself, but it's really good, trust me."
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