A new state law that lets all 227 Arizona school districts and 500 charter schools offer K-12 courses online has the potential to revolutionize instruction, reports the Arizona Republic. Educators say the new law will result in more “hybrid” classes, where students learn on the computer and through teacher lectures. It also could help Arizona’s effort to qualify for as much as $250 million in federal funds through President Obama’s “Race to the Top” education-reform initiative. Until now, only the state’s existing 14 virtual schools could offer online classes. “Online learning [1] will transform education in a decade,” said state Sen. John Huppenthal, R- Chandler, who chairs the Senate education committee. “In every subject and module, we’re going to see the best teachers delivering that class online.” More than 26,000 Arizona students took K-12 online courses last year. The new state law, which opens up online instruction to all Arizona districts and charter schools, “has the potential to change education drastically,” said Chad Turley, instructional technology manager for Deer Valley schools, which offers 90 online classes [1] and will create “hybrid” courses this spring. Turley said districts that begin offering online programs face start-up expenses of about $300,000 to $500,000…