So, my wife and I (mostly my wife) homeschooled our kids for most of their lives and have gone into a traditional school for high school. So, going back to "school from home" was pretty natural for my kids and we had zero problems with them getting work done. Yes, they continued through new topics and finished their normal curriculum. I say that for the background to my question. I don't really want to go down the homeschool vs. traditional comparison. For many people and many reasons, homeschooling isn't an option. So what if some classes were taught virtually? Or even entire grades? There has been a lot of discussion about the lack of quality teachers. Could virtual teachers help solve that problem? Yes, that would probably mean fewer teachers as JosephC commented (though in blue), though I doubt it would really effect the numbers much. For certain classes, especially the advanced classes (math, physics, chemistry, etc..), that might help schools in rural areas or inner cities attract better teachers. Here in Minnesota, PSEO is pretty popular because it is funded by the state government. My kids take classes from a MN university and get both high school and college credit (if it transfers to your college of choice). My daughter attended her physical classroom, but for certain hours, worked on her PSEO online. As she goes into college this fall, we are hoping she has reduced her tuition by one semester (~$12k savings). Perhaps if virtual classrooms were extended, it would provide school districts with more options for a good education, even if they are short on qualified teachers. When I was a senior in HS, our advanced math and physics teacher had a baby and was out for 6 weeks. Living in rural WI, we had no option for a qualified substitute to take all of her classes. In fact, the person that replaced her was so bad, I ended up coaching her on algebra so she could teach that class (I even attended that class to help the students directly a couple of times). The rest of us (Trig, Geometry, Algebra II, Physics) were on our own for 6 weeks of "self-study". A virtual teacher would've been wonderful. I realize that many kids are going to have issues with self-motivation if they were at home all the time doing school. But perhaps some are in the classroom with a classroom monitor.