As we mentioned earlier, education was a big topic at last night's gubernatorial debate, but the candidates didn't mention virtual education or today.

Lawmakers in Frankfurt discuss the state of online schooling in Kentucky's public school districts.

Kentucky Edition's June Lefler has more.

On virtual learning was a norm during the height of the pandemic.

But Kentucky's education officials say online courses have been around for almost 20 years.

You know, virtual option became necessary and expanded through the pandemic.

A lot of times our programs and our school districts designed around an emergency strategy of a virtual online, virtual and remote learning.

What we're talking about today is very much not emergency based designs.

It's very much around intentional designs for high quality teaching and learning.

Just shy of 2% of Kentucky students elect to take classes online.

Kentucky's Education Department says its goal is to make virtual schools as competitive as any in-person school.

I think you'll see as a theme that we tried to keep the requirements of the regulations so that it treated kids basically like a similar or the same as kids that were in-person.

That means teaching and testing to state standards as well as offering extracurricular activities.

The most important thing is, is placement is always voluntary.

This is not to be a warehouse for bad kids because you don't want to deal with them.

But this is a voluntary program for families and students that need or thrive in this sort of environment.

While some students might excel academically, Republican state Representative Tammy Truet, who is also an elementary school principal, worries for kids cooped up in their homes.

Think back to two the pandemic, which I know it's bad, bad memories, but you know, DCB intakes and things like that went way down during those times.

You know, while because our teachers and our aides and our school employees weren't there to report some of these instances.

So I encourage us as a legislature and as you know, Department of Education and Educators in general to have a way to set up to work.

Let's try to set some guardrails up to what these bad actors are not getting what they want.

I mean, if you've got a parent who wants to do this and I mean, because virtual instruction can be great.

It really can be.

But it could also be the worst thing a kid has to experience.

For Kentucky Edition, I'm June Leffler.

Representatives from Kentucky's newest virtual school also spoke.

Principal Sally Johnson runs the Kentucky Virtual Academy, which enrolled hundreds of students statewide this year.

The school is part of the Clover Port Independent School District and Breckinridge County.