Eugene DePasquale, State Auditor of Pennsylvania, says the state’s charter law is the worst in the nation.
“Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale issued a scathing report damning the state charter law Tuesday, and he blamed many of the School District of Philadelphia’s fiscal woes on state lawmakers who have not revised the nearly 20-year-old measure.
“Our charter school law is simply the worst charter school law in the United States,” said DePasquale at a news conference at the Philadelphia District’s headquarters.
“Specifically, DePasquale said, the law fails to give districts the power to ensure that only high-performing charters that serve equitable populations of children are opening. And he lamented that districts waste too much time and too many resources fighting to close underperformers.
“He blamed recent failed efforts in Harrisburg to reform the charter law on special interest lobbying.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
He’ll be completely ignored until there’s a giant scandal where some powerful people get hurt. He has been yelling “fire!” for years. Lawmakers do nothing.
It doesn’t matter really- there WILL be a giant scandal they can’t ignore. It’s just a matter of time.
This is from 2014:
“Auditor General Eugene DePasquale is calling on Pennsylvania lawmakers to overhaul the state’s charter school law to provide better oversight and accountability.
In a report released Monday, DePasquale recommended creating an independent board to oversee charter schools, requiring charter schools to present their annual reports to the host school board in a public meeting and creating more options for boards to monitor and renew charters.
After performing audits on a number of charters and holding public hearings on the subject across the state, DePasquale said the current system is “a mess, and you have sympathy for the charter schools and the traditional public schools.”
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2014/05/pa_charter_school_reform_audit.html
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Chiara: The King is Dead! Long Live the King!
Used to be Ohio could claim, with some justification, to have the worst charter “laws” and practices in the country. Verily the Wild Wild West of the most fervid advocates of corporate education reform.
Now there’s a new #1.
But honestly, that’s a list that only rheephormers would want to be on.
Rheeally! And in the most Johnsonally sort of ways too…
But those that care about a “better education for all” and democracy and such like—
Not really.
😎
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Under former governor, Tom Corbett, he and his cronies ransacked public coffers without judgment or understanding of consequences. As a result, the commonwealth is deeply in debt, and their unfair charter reimbursement formula has some school districts on the verge of collapse. The current governor, Tom Wolf, has tried to restore funding to public schools, but the pro- charter Republican led legislature controls the purse strings, and they have been trying to coerce the governor into funding more charters. Unless the citizens vote out the conservatives that are obstructing progress, the schools will continue to pay the price, and gridlock will continue.
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My dear Retired one….”vote out the conservatives” indeed…with either Trump or Clinton as President, by this time next year we will be lucky to still have a small contingent of underfunded public schools nationwide, and all our teacher retirement funds will be invested in Wall Street charter schools.
The Great Amercian on schluss of the billionaires.
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Philadelphia’s education budget gives almost $1 Billion dollars to the district’s charters, most of which are not very good.
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