Mandated Learning: Administrators' Perceptions of Unfunded Mandates in Online Education

Online education has become a solution for many states to facilitate the growing requests from state legislatures to lower educational costs while meeting the academic needs of students. Legislation from Florida provided the impetus for this study, after Florida CS/CS/HB 7197 mandated that all students enroll in an online class for 1 credit as a graduation requirement. While the rationale for such legislation may be cost savings, for most school districts, implementation may be viewed as an unfunded state mandate. The purpose of this study was to examine administrator’s perceptions of mandated online teaching as an additional financial burden on school districts. This quantitative study explored administrator’s perceptions of online learning and the relationship of these perceptions to unfunded mandates requiring online coursework. While no significant relationship was found in administrator perceptions of online learning and perceptions of unfunded mandates, administrators generally agreed that unfunded mandates impact almost every aspect of their professional role and responsibilities as an administrator, including work conditions, and work satisfaction. This study took place during the global pandemic; however, the intent of this study was not to research the effects of the COVID -19 pandemic on education. Recommendations for future study and implications are included.

Keywords: online learning, unfunded mandates, administrator perception, policy, survey research, education