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Pennsylvania’s Expensive, Ineffective Cyber Charters

By dianeravitch
July 3, 2019 //
5

From the Keystone State Coalition, administered by Lawrence Feinberg:

Started in November 2010, daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now reach more than 4050 Pennsylvania education policymakers – school directors, administrators, legislators, legislative and congressional staffers, Governor’s staff, current/former PA Secretaries of Education, Wolf education transition team members, superintendents, school solicitors, principals, charter school leaders, PTO/PTA officers, parent advocates, teacher leaders, business leaders, faith-based organizations, labor organizations, education professors, members of the press and a broad array of P-16 regulatory agencies, professional associations and education advocacy organizations via emails, website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

 

These daily emails are archived and searchable at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org

Visit us on Facebook at KeystoneStateEducationCoalition

Follow us on Twitter at @lfeinberg

 

Reprise Aug. 2017: Pa. charter schools spend millions of public dollars in advertising to attract students

Public Source By Stephanie Hacke and Mary Niederberger AUG. 29, 2017

PART OF THE SERIES The Charter Effect|

If you’re a parent, it’s likely Facebook knows it.

If you’re not happy with your child’s current school, Facebook probably knows that, too. And you are likely to be hit with paid, highly targeted ads offering alternatives. That’s why when you scroll through your news feed on Facebook you may see a sponsored photo of a wide-eyed child and parent thrilled about their tuition-free, personalized education at a Pennsylvania cyber charter school. If you pay property taxes, you likely paid for this ad campaign. See the ad on the side of the Port Authority bus that shows happy students and a message that Propel Montour High School has spaces available in grades 9 and 10. Your property taxes paid for that, too. Television ads, radio promotions, social media ads and billboards promoting cyber and brick-and-mortar charter schools are everywhere. Some charter operators pay for online keyword searches that prompt their school’s websites to show up first when a parent searches for certain terms related to charter schools or a student’s need for an alternative education setting. In the last three school years, 12 of the state’s 14 cyber charter schools spent more than $21 million combined in taxpayer dollars promoting their schools, PublicSource found through Right-to-Know requests. The Commonwealth Charter Academy spent the most of the cyber charters on advertising; it spent $3.2 million in 2015-16 and $4.4 million in 2016-17.

https://projects.publicsource.org/chartereffect/stories/pennsylvania-charter-schools-spend-millions-of-public-dollars-in-advertising-to-attract-students.html

 

Blogger note: Total cyber charter tuition paid by PA taxpayers from 500 school districts for 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 was over $1.6 billion; $393.5 million, $398.8 million, $436.1 million and $454.7 million respectively.

In 2016-17, taxpayers in Senate Education Cmte Majority Chairman .@SenLangerholc’s districts had to send over $10.5.3 million to chronically underperforming cybers that their locally elected school boards never authorized. . #SB34 (Schwank) or #HB526 (Sonney) could change that. 

Data source: PDE via PSBA

 

Bedford Area SD $195,903.70
Blacklick Valley SD $172,928.49
Cambria Heights SD $171,102.13
Central Cambria SD $147,481.76
Chestnut Ridge SD $334,862.00
Claysburg-Kimmel SD $108,164.64
Clearfield Area SD $847,317.65
Conemaugh Valley SD $277,810.82
Curwensville Area SD $165,465.87
Dubois Area SD $781,498.59
Everett Area SD $352,172.57
Ferndale Area SD $231,971.23
Forest Hills SD $248,609.94
Glendale SD $157,426.86
Greater Johnstown SD $2,532,971.00
Harmony Area SD $127,540.41
Moshannon Valley SD $200,674.93
Northern Bedford County SD $225,181.66
Northern Cambria SD $251,658.09
Penn Cambria SD $428,637.20
Philipsburg-Osceola Area SD $697,580.57
Portage Area SD $182,599.03
Purchase Line SD $358,211.18
Richland SD $264,415.85
Tussey Mountain SD $253,595.93
West Branch Area SD $323,061.45
Westmont Hilltop SD $0.00
Windber Area SD $467,326.78
  $10,506,170.33

 

 

Has your state senator cosponsored bipartisan SB34?

https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/bill_history.cfm?syear=2019&sind=0&body=S&type=B&bn=34

 

Is your state representative one of the over 70 bipartisan cosponsors of HB526?

https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/bill_history.cfm?syear=2019&sind=0&body=H&type=B&bn=526

 

WHYY Radio Times: Cyber charter schools

Air Date: Friday June 21, 2019 10:00 am; Runtime 49:15

Guests: Margaret Raymond, Susan Spicka, David Hardy

A new study shows that many students enrolled in Pennsylvania’s cyber charter schools are not getting a quality education. A quarter of Pennsylvania’s charter school students use these virtual learning programs as an alternative to attending brick-and-mortar schools. Today, we’ll hear about the damning report, the pros and cons of digital classrooms, and what the future holds for these types of programs. Joining us will be MARGARET RAYMOND, founding director of the organization, CREDO, that released the report, as well as SUSAN SPICKA of Education Voters of PA, and DAVID HARDY, executive director of Excellent Schools Pa, a school choice advocacy organization.

https://whyy.org/episodes/cyber-charter-schools-are-they-working/

 

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, For-Profit, Pennsylvania, Privatization, Virtual Charter Schools

Pennsylvania: Governor Wolf Vetoes Doubling of Voucher Funds

By dianeravitch
June 19, 2019 //
6

 

As promised, Governor Tom Wolf vetoed legislation to double the funding for vouchers.

In his veto message, he said:

“We have public schools that are structurally deteriorating, contaminated by lead, and staffed by teachers who are not appropriately paid and overstretched in their responsibilities. Tackling these challenges, and others, should be our collective priority,” the governor said in his message.

Categories Accountability, Funding, Pennsylvania, Vouchers

Steven Singer: Charter Schools Will Always Be a Waste of Money

By dianeravitch
June 19, 2019 //
17

 

Steven Singer explains succinctly why charter schools are by definition a waste of money. No one has yet explained why it makes sense to have two publicly funded school systems, one public, the other under private management.

He writes:

 

You can’t save money buying more of what you already have.

 

Constructing two fire departments serving the same community will never be as cheap as having one.

 

Empowering two police departments to patrol the same neighborhoods will never be as economical as one.

 

Building two roads parallel to each other that go to exactly the same places will never be as cost effective as one.

 

This isn’t exactly rocket science. In fact, it’s an axiom of efficiency and sound financial planning. It’s more practical and productive to create one robust service instead of two redundant ones.

 

However, when it comes to education, a lot of so-called fiscal conservatives will try to convince us that we should erect two separate school systems – a public one and a privatized one.

 

The duplicate may be a voucher system where we use public tax dollars to fund private and parochial schools. It may be charter schools where public money is used to finance systems run by private organizations. Or it may be some combination of the two.

 

But no matter what they’re suggesting, it’s a duplication of services.

 

And it’s a huge waste of money.

 

Read the rest.

Categories Charter Schools, Education Industry, For-Profit, Pennsylvania, Privatization, School Choice, Vouchers

Pennsylvania: Governor Wolf Will Veto Expansion of Vouchers

By dianeravitch
June 13, 2019 //
9

The Republican-controlled Legislature in Pennsylvania passed a bill to expand vouchers for religious schools. Governor Tom Wolf, a Democrat, announced that he would veto the bill.

This is good news for public schools in the Keystone State!

Here is a roundup of stories from the Keystone State Education Coalition:

HB800: Gov. Wolf to veto $100M private and religious schools bill in Pennsylvania

Post Gazette by ASSOCIATED PRESS JUN 12, 2019 3:38 PM

HARRISBURG — Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf plans to veto legislation passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature to substantially expand taxpayer support by $100 million for private and religious schools in Pennsylvania. Wednesday’s statement from Wolf’s office comes a day after the Senate approved the bill on a party-line basis. The bill was sponsored by House Speaker Mike Turzai and just four Democrats voted for it in the House. Wolf ran for office pledging to boost aid for public schools. He has said that public schools remain underfunded and that the tax-credit bill is at odds with the need for accessible public education. It would nearly double the Educational Improvement Tax Credit to $210 million annually. The program lets corporations direct tens of millions in tax dollars to favored private and religious schools.

https://www.post-gazette.com/news/politics-state/2019/06/12/pennsylvania-governor-tom-wolf-veto-private-school-religious-tax-credit/stories/201906120136

 

HB800: Wolf says he will veto bill to expand tax credits for private, religious school scholarships

PA Capital Star By  Sarah Anne Hughes| John L. Micek June 12, 2019

Gov. Tom Wolf will veto a bill to expand a tax credit program that funds private and religious school scholarships, he told the Capital-Star on Wednesday. “I’ve seen enough to know that this is not something I think is good for Pennsylvania,” Wolf said after an event in Philadelphia. The legislation, sponsored by House Speaker Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny, would increase the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) Program budget from $110 million to $210 million immediately after passage — the largest single-year increase since the program was created in 2001. Under the bill, the program cap would also increase by 10 percent in years where 90 percent of the credits are claimed. “It distracts from what we ought to be focusing on, which is educating every child through our public school system,” Wolf said Wednesday. The House passed the legislation 111-85 in May, while the Senate voted 28-21 to approve the bill on Tuesday. Currently, there is not enough support in either chamber to override a veto from Wolf.

“As the governor knows, we are preparing to increase our funding for public education in the forthcoming budget, and the increase in EITC funding is an appropriate complement to that investment in our public schools,” Turzai said in a statement after the bill’s passage in the upper chamber.

https://www.penncapital-star.com/education/wolf-says-he-will-veto-bill-to-expand-tax-credits-for-private-religious-school-scholarships/

 

Categories Education Industry, Education Reform, Pennsylvania, Privatization, Vouchers

Pennsylvania: Governor Wolf Should Veto Expansion of Voucher Program!

By dianeravitch
June 12, 2019 //
8

Lawrence A. Feinberg leads a valuable organization called the Keystone State Education Coalition, which reports on education issues in Pennsylvania.

The big issue today is whether Democratic Governor Tom Wolf will veto a bill to expand the state’s voucher program by $100 million, a bill passed almost entirely by Republicans in the Legislature. He certainly should veto the measure because it will drain resources from the state’s public schools and send students to religious schools whose teachers and curriculum are not as good as those of the public schools.

HB800: Bill that nearly doubles size of tax credit program for private school scholarships heading to Wolf’s desk

PA Capital Star By  Elizabeth Hardison June 11, 2019

Legislation that would nearly double the size of an educational tax credit program that funds private and religious school scholarships was approved Tuesday by Senate Republicans, whose unanimous support for the proposal overpowered the negative consensus among Democrats.

The bill to expand the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) Program now goes to Gov. Tom Wolf’s desk for final approval. House lawmakers approved the legislation 111-85 in May. Wolf, a Democrat, has not said whether or not he will veto the expansion, which was sponsored by House Speaker Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny. He told reporters Tuesday he doesn’t understand how the expansion will be paid for. “I’m trying to fund public education,” Wolf told reporters. “I’m trying to make sure that we have an accountable system in place that I think is underfunded. I have done everything in my power, and I’ve worked across the aisle to get more money for public education. This seems to me  — again, I’ll take a look at it — this seems to me to be at odds with that need of a government and a democracy like ours to support broad-based, accessible public education.”

https://www.penncapital-star.com/education/bill-that-nearly-doubles-size-of-tax-credit-program-for-private-school-scholarships-heading-to-wolfs-desk/

 

Pennsylvania budget season fight opens over $100 million increase in taxpayer support for private schools

Morning Call By MARC LEVY | ASSOCIATED PRESS | JUN 11, 2019 | 6:16 PM

Legislation to substantially expand taxpayer support for private and religious schools in Pennsylvania won passage Tuesday in the Republican-controlled Legislature, although Gov. Tom Wolf is signaling that he will block it. The public dust-up ramps up a fight between supporters of public and private schools in the thick of negotiations between Republican lawmakers and the Democratic governor over a roughly $34 billion budget package. The bill passed the state Senate on a party-line basis Tuesday, a month after it passed the Republican-controlled House on near-party lines. Wolf said he would look at the legislation, but not whether he will veto it. “What I’ve heard doesn’t sound real good,” Wolf told reporters after an unrelated news conference in his Capitol offices. Republicans, Wolf said, haven’t explained how they would finance the $100 million cost of the bill, and he criticized tax credits programs as lacking control or accountability. Wolf, who campaigned for office on raising support for public schools, said he is still working to increase aid for a public education system in Pennsylvania he called underfunded. “It seems to me to be at odds with that need of a government in a democracy like ours to support broad-based, accessible public education,” Wolf said. The bill is sponsored by House Speaker Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny.

https://www.mcall.com/news/pennsylvania/mc-nws-pa-budget-school-funding-20190611-3leerzwtpncqjjfgktygrradpm-story.html

 

Republicans look to boost private school tax credit. Wolf says he doesn’t get it.

WITF Written by Katie Meyer, Capitol Bureau Chief | Jun 11, 2019 7:35 PM

 (Harrisburg) — Lawmakers have approved a bill that would nearly double a tax break for people and businesses who contribute to private school scholarships and similar public school alternatives. They did so with almost no support from Democrats. And now, Democratic Governor Tom Wolf is saying he doesn’t understand why the expansion is necessary. Republicans argue the Educational Improvement Tax Credit helps low-income students who are stuck in bad public schools. Many Democrats say it unfairly routes money away from those struggling schools. The EITC program has grown incrementally and substantially since it started in 2001–often with bipartisan support. But even the Democrats who generally favor the credit say this particular increase is too high. Along with almost doubling it, the bill–sponsored by GOP House Speaker Mike Turzai–adds an automatic 10 percent escalation every year, as long as the credit stays popular. And it raises the income cap for eligible families from $85,000 to $95,000.

https://www.witf.org/state-house-sound-bites/2019/06/republicans-look-to-boost-private-school-tax-credit-wolf-says-he-doesnt-get-it.php

If you want to stay informed about Pennsylvania education issues, sign up for the regular news blasts.

These daily emails are archived and searchable at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org

Visit us on Facebook at KeystoneStateEducationCoalition

Follow us on Twitter at @lfeinberg

Categories Pennsylvania, Separation of church and state, Vouchers

Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools on the State and City’s Floundering Charters

By dianeravitch
June 11, 2019 //
6

Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools

 

June 5, 2019

For immediate release: Statement of APPS Re CREDO study

 

The CREDO study released today presents more evidence that the charter experiment foisted upon the state’s children has been a resounding failure, especially considering the enormous amount of taxpayer dollars that have been spent on charter schools.  

 

For many reasons, comparing charters to district schools is not an apples-to-apples exercise. Charter schools receive outside funding from private donors, including significant amounts every year from the Philadelphia School Partnership.  PSP identifies as a non-profit funder of schools, but they have been strong financial and political advocates for privatization and charter expansion. The bulk of their corporate funding goes to non-district schools. 

 

Charter schools have been cited over the years for unfair practices such as presenting barriers to enrollment, failure to inform students and parents of their due process rights when facing disciplinary action, and expelling students for trivial offenses including being out of uniform and lateness.  Thus, many charters are able to exclude students with special needs, both behavioral and academic.  

Studies done by both Philadelphia City Controller’s Office and the State Attorney General’s Office have documented fraud and questionable spending in some of the city’s largest charter organizations.   Organizations including PCCY and the Education 

Law Center have conducted in-depth studies that show charters do not outperform district schools in most categories. ELC’s recent report shows: 1) the population of economically disadvantaged students is much lower in Philadelphia’s charter schools—70% in the District, 56% in charters; 2) the percentage of English learners is nearly three times higher—11% in District, 4% in charters; 3) few of the special education students in the traditional charters are from the low-incidence disability categories, such as autism and intellectual disability, that are most expensive to serve.

The diversion of public funds to privately managed charters has made it more difficult for public schools to fund essential programs, but public schools still manage to outperform charters in most categories.  Lack of oversight, both on the state and local level, has resulted in a lack of accountability in the charter sector. 

The CREDO study confirms that the claim of charter investors and operators that charter schools are a better choice has never been true.  Harrisburg must reform the PA Charter Law so that the voters in each district can have the means to fully fund and strengthen their public school systems.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Privatization

Shawgi Tell: CREDO Study of Pennsylvania Charters Reports Mediocre Results

By dianeravitch
June 11, 2019 //
8

 

Shawgi Telll writes that the latest study of charter schools in Pennsylvania by CREDO, the Stanford-based research group, reports unimpressive results. 

CREDO’s overall conclusion:

The analysis shows that in a year’s time, the typical charter school student in Pennsylvania makes similar progress in reading and weaker growth in math compared to the educational gains that the students would have had in a traditional public school (TPS). Thinking of a 180-day school year as “one year of learning”, an average Pennsylvania charter student experiences weaker annual growth in math equivalent to 30 fewer days of learning. Our online charter school analysis reveals that attending an online charter school leads to substantially negative learning gains in both reading and math, which negatively affect the overall charter impact on student progress.

The report notes phenomenal growth of enrollment in  online charters, where students actually lose ground in both reading and math.

According to the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, charter school enrollment has grown dramatically since the mid-2000s, with noteworthy expansion in both urban and rural areas. In addition, Pennsylvania experienced a 75 percent increase in online charter school enrollment between 2006-2007 and 2010- 2011.2 Currently one quarter of Pennsylvania’s charter school students enroll in online charter schools. These trends motivate the current study.

Tell says:

A June 4, 2019 press release from CREDO states that: “Stanford University’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) found over four years of study that the typical charter school student in Pennsylvania makes similar progress in reading and weaker growth in math compared to their traditional public school peer (TPS).”

The press release does not mention what sort of selective enrollment practices are practiced in Pennsylvania’s charter schools, but it is well-known that charter schools across the nation regularly cherry-pick their students. It is also worth noting that, “Of the state’s 15 cyber charters, 10 are operating with expired charters.”2

The CREDO Pennsylvania finding is extra significant given that it comes from an organization that is unrelentingly pro-charter school and funded heavily by billionaires who have been working for years to impose privately-operated charter schools on the entire country (e.g., Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Walton Foundation).

Go figure. Pennsylvania charter law is notoriously weak. It encourages the growth of low-performing charters. More students are enrolling in inferior online charters, where their learning is likely to be stunted.

What kind of future does the Pennsylvania Legislature envision for the State with its ongoing war against education?

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Pennsylvania, Privatization

Pennsylvania: Charter Lobby Pushes to Remove All Quality Controls and Allow Unlimited Expansion

By dianeravitch
June 1, 2019 //
12

Two officials of the Philadelphia school system wrote an opinion piece warning that proposals for “charter reform” are actually a blank check for unlimited charter expansion with no regulation at all.

Dr. William R. Hite is superintendent of the Philadelphia public schools. Joyce Wilkerson is president of the Philadelphia school board.

They point out that the State Auditor said that Pennsylvania’s charter law is the worst in the nation.

Current proposals to benefit charter schools would make it even worse.

They write:

Legislation pending in the General Assembly pushes the charter law in the wrong direction. House Bills 356 and 357 create more risk for students, local districts, and taxpayers. We vehemently oppose these bills.

The legislation would allow all charter schools, even the poorest performers, to expand without the authorizing district’s knowledge or approval. These unpredictable expenses would not only create short-term fiscal challenges for the district but make it impossible to reasonably utilize multiyear budgeting — the very approach to budgeting that has allowed the district to make the strategic, sustainable investments that are resulting in improved academic performance across our schools. These bills undermine the fiscal-stability promise of local control.

Newly proposed charter legislation also frees charters from oversight that is necessary to ensure they are meeting academic standards. They make it harder to close underperforming charters and allow unfettered expansion of charters — even those with failing performance — without regard for their ability to successfully operate. The proposed standard charter application form lacks information on an applicant’s’ experience, finances, past performance, and operational ability, all of which are necessary to meaningfully assess whether the applicant can sustain a school that meets the needs of the very students it aspires to serve.

The original vision for charter schools was teacher-driven laboratories of innovation that would develop promising practices to inform and advance all public schools. Charters have not lived up to that promise. In fact, charter schools are only 6 percent of public schools in Pennsylvania but are 25 percent of the lowest-performing schools under new state standards. Is this the future we want for the commonwealth’s public education system? Is this the future our students and families deserve?

As usually, the charter lobbyists are advocating for no accountability, no supervision, and more money.

Disgraceful.

 

 

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Corruption, Education Industry, Pennsylvania, Privatization

Pennsylvania: Finance Experts Warn that Charter Costs May Bankrupt 500 School Districts

By dianeravitch
May 31, 2019 //
12

Finance experts in Pennsylvania warned that the costs of charter schools and cyber charters threaten to bankrupt as many as 500 school districts. 

Finance experts with the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials (PASBO) said lawmakers must change the way charter costs are assessed to local school districts or accept that some school districts are not going to be able to continue to bear the cost of paying hundreds of thousands, and in some cases millions, of dollars in charter school tuition.

The call for change comes as the General Assembly weighs a variety of bills aimed at altering the way the state regulates and finances charter and cyber charter schools that now enroll about 140,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

Hannah Barrick, of the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officers, said charter school costs, which are borne almost entirely by local school districts, totaled $1.8 billion last year and accounted for 37 cents of every new dollar raised in local property taxes.

In some school districts, the costs are even higher.

Enrollment in Pennsylvania’s charter schools grew dramatically over the last decade, increasing from about 78,000 students in 2009-10 to 140,000 this year.

Along with that growth, school districts have seen the bill for charter school tuition grow by double digits five out of the past eight years.

Charter schools, promoted as a free option for public school students whose families wish to look outside their districts, are funded by the students’ local school districts. Tuition is calculated using a complex formula that requires each district to pay charter school fees based on the local district’s cost per student per year. Across the state, those figures ranged from $7,600 to $18,500 per mainstream student to $15,100 to $48,000 per special education student.

Pennsylvania has about 1.7 million students. Supplying choices for 140,000 students (8%) in schools that are of mixed quality threatens to bankrupt the state’s school finance system.

Has it occurred to the lawmakers in Pennsylvania that running a dual school system, both publicly funded, is an insane idea?

 

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Funding, Pennsylvania, Privatization

Pennsylvania: Those Disgraceful, Failing CyberCharters

By dianeravitch
May 25, 2019 //
13

I recommend that you get on the email list of the Keystone State Education Coalition if you want to know what is happening in Pennsylvania. Lawrence Feinberg posts informative articles about the schools of that state. You can contact him at lawrenceafeinberg@gmail.com.

One ongoing scandal in Pennsylvania is the story of cyber charters. Pennsylvania has 14 cyber charter schools, and 13 of them are on the state’s list of the lowest performing schools in the state. Cyber charters have low graduation rates, high attrition, and low scores. While Pennsylvania has many underfunded districts, the state is very generous with its failing cyber charters. From the years 2013-2016–four years–the state paid $1.6 Billion to these “schools.” In 2016 alone, the state handed out $454.7 million to cyber charters. All of that money is extracted from the budgets of public schools because the money follows the student, from good public schools to low-performing cyber charters. Most cyber charters are operated for profit. And they are very profitable! But not for their students.

Understand that the cyber charters receive full tuition for every student they enroll, even though they have none of the expenses of brick-and-mortar schools. No maintenance of grounds, no heating or cooling, no nurses, no library, no gym, no lunch room, no meals, etc. Yet they collect the same tuition as real schools. Their owners are rolling in dough. The creator of the first cyber charter, The Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School, is  now in prison, after having been convicted of tax evasion on $8 million that he diverted from the school. Think of it. Ten thousand students were enrolled, bringing in tuition of $10,000-11,000 (more if they were special education) each. That is a minimum of $100 million to run a online program that offers nothing but computers, textbooks, and online lessons. What a profitable business! Trombetta was not convicted of theft or embezzlement, but of tax evasion. Curious.

There is one hopeful piece of legislation under consideration. Senate Bill 34 and House Bill 526 would end public school district payments to cyber charters if the school district offered online schooling for free. The State College District supports these bills because it is currently paying $14,000 for each student in its district who enrolls in a cyber charter and $29,000 per year for each student with special needs. The irony is that the cyber charter does nothing additional for students with special needs and is not required to spend the additional money it receives on them.

School districts across the state are facing higher taxes and underfunded schools, while the failing cyber charters are flooded with cash. Will the Republican-dominated legislature take action to save public schools or will they devote their time to adding new money to the state’s charters and its voucher program?

Categories Funding, Pennsylvania, Virtual Charter Schools
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