Pennsylvania must rein in cyber charter costs
This opinion represents my own, and is not reflective of any boards or positions I hold.
The debate over cybercharters, how to fund, and efficacy of, has been ongoing since their inception in 1992. When considering that cyber charters, which are publicly funded, lack meaningful annual yearly progress (meaning that a student learns what they should within the school year) one can’t help but wonder, why are we, the taxpayers, paying for a failed experiment? The next question must be, why are we letting our legislators continue to allow this to occur? Moreover, in our current state of significant loss of revenues during the Covid-19 pandemic, we need meaningful reform in public education.
In Pennsylvania, cyber charter tuition is paid by the public school district in which the student resides and not based on actual costs. A student who lives in a wealthier district will have a tuition rate significantly higher than one living in a disadvantaged district, even if they attend the same cyber charter. Tuition
is calculated based on the home school district’s expenses for the previous school year. Keep in mind that the school district is providing in person instruction (pre-Covid) with significantly more expenses for a brick and mortar school than a virtual one.
Exacerbating the issue is that school district payments to charter schools are up 229% over 11 years and now surpass $2.0 billion. In fact, 6 ½ cents of every dollar school districts spent in 2018-19 went to charter tuition payments. That is more than double what it was 10 years earlier. When you pair this information with the fact that not one cyber charter school in Pennsylvania made adequate yearly progress last year, one can’t help but ask, what are we paying for?
Phoenixville Area School District pays $13,693 for cyber charter tuition for students attending cyber charters, though Brandywine Valley Academy’s (the CCIU’s cyber charter) tuition is $5,100. Why are we paying almost triple the amount for like services?
To be clear, I am not advocating for the abolishment of cyber charters, just legitimate accountability and appropriate tuition costs. Pennsylvania’s flawed charter school funding formula already results in overpayments to charter schools and in a time when school districts are facing significant financial issues as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, this concerning waste of taxpayer money should not be allowed to continue.
The Legislature enacting meaningful charter reform has the potential to save school districts hundreds of millions of dollars, and with billions in projected losses in state revenue due to Covid-19, this goal can be accomplished through state policy changes that do not require additional state funding. Cyber charter School overpayment has always been a problem, long before the COVID-19 crisis, but it is now an issue Pennsylvania cannot afford to overlook.
I urge you, reach out to your state Representative and Senator and tell them that action needs to be taken to rein in cyber charter costs. Our students, taxpayers and community deserve better.
—Blake Emmanuel,
Phoenixville