When Tom Franke teaches astronomy on Monday nights, he's not at his chalkboard at Hopkins High School in Golden Valley, Minn. He does it from the den of his home, using his laptop computer to connect with 13 students statewide.

Using his computer's mouse and microphone, Franke explains a diagram showing how astronomers determine the distance between earth and the stars. Students at home see his drawing appear simultaneously on their computer screens.

Most of the students send instant text messages to Franke saying they understand. But a red line appears on one student's name. He's raising his hand electronically. Franke clicks on the boy's name, giving him a chance to speak to his teacher and classmates.

"I know you just went over this," said the youth. "But I would like it explained one more time." So Franke, a pathfinder in Minnesota's venture into virtual classrooms, takes another swing at it.

A 'Wild West' landscape

State officials estimate about 500 Minnesotans take part in online learning, out of 850,000 public students. About a dozen school districts and charter schools are leading the way, but important policy questions—such as what types of programs should get state dollars—are unsettled, limiting the number of students involved.

"This is a critical innovation in education that we need to get good at ... relatively quickly," said state Sen. Steve Kelley, D-Hopkins, who has worked on the issue for several years.

Among the issues: If students who are currently home-schooled—a growing movement in Minnesota, with some 20,000 students—take an online course offered by their local high school, does the state pay for it? What if a private-school student wants to take the course? Which district gets the state per-pupil funding if a student in a rural school wants to use his or her school's computer lab to attend Hopkins' astronomy class?

Across the country, other states and school systems are wrestling with similar questions.

At least 14 states have a planned or operational state-sanctioned, state-level virtual school in place, according to "Virtual Schools: Trends and Issues," a 2001 report commissioned by the Distance Learning Resource Network. These include Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, New Mexico, North Dakota, Utah, and West Virginia.

In states that haven't developed a statewide online learning program, the virtual schooling landscape is starting to resemble the Wild West, with tensions sprouting between bricks-and-mortar districts and the online schools competing for their students—and the state dollars that accompany them.

In Wisconsin, an online charter school launched by the Appleton School District this fall is being challenged in court by the state's teachers union. The Wisconsin Education Association Council argues that private companies and school districts could reap major profits by supplying online education for much less than the state aid amount set for students who transfer under the state's public school open enrollment law.