(The Center Square) – Cyber charter schools collect millions from taxpayers across the state, though academic achievement lags districts by wide margins.
Portions of that money pay for buildings, renovations, and – according to an auditor general report released last year – staff bonuses, gift cards, car payments, and fuel stipends. Meanwhile, the percentage of students scoring at grade level for math and reading hovers in the single digits.
Dr. Christopher Shaffer, superintendent of Abington Heights School District in Lackawanna County, told the House Democratic Policy Committee on Tuesday that it’s not a matter of squashing school choice. Rather, it’s about accountability for education provided.
“Cost alone is not the right place to start, and I feel as though we’ve lost that over the years,” he said.
School districts pay cyber charter schools a “tuition” rate for each student who is enrolled from their attendance zone. The number varies depending on property taxes and state support and can sometimes be three times higher than what districts spend per student.
And, as enrollment at cyber charters grow post-pandemic, districts say the tuition is bleeding them dry. Peter Butera, a member of the Wyoming Area School District that spans parts of Luzerne and Wyoming counties, told the committee that tuition costs $3 million annually. That’s up 400% from 2020.
“I don’t like to be cynical, but it feels to me that there is an effort being made to bleed public schools dry,” he said. “And my biggest concern is that it’s working.”
Despite widespread concern among lawmakers about the issue, state law requires the commonwealth’s 14 cyber charter school companies, which educate roughly 14,000 students, to occupy buildings for administrative purposes. Standardized testing must also be done in person.
Then there’s the skewed metrics of academic achievement. Cyber charter schools enroll higher rates of special education students, homeless students and nonnative speakers.
Critics argue the distinctions don’t excuse the gaps in achievement or concerns about the quality of education. Districts also follow attendance mandates and must intervene when students miss too much school or are showing signs of neglect and abuse. It’s not so with cyber charters, they say.
It’s why, in November, the state made changes to cyber school accountability, including making students learn with their cameras on, and expanded the amount districts can deduct from the tuition paid. It’s estimated to save $175 million.
Gov. Josh Shapiro wants that figure to rise to $250 million in the coming year. He’s also long supported an $8,000 tuition cap, though cyber charter advocates say such a policy change would close as many as 12 of the 14 available online academies.
He has some support across the aisle. Republican Auditor General Tim DeFoor, who analyzed five of the state’s biggest charter schools and uncovered concerning spending, said lawmakers should reconsider how districts pay tuition, though he didn’t advocate for a specific dollar amount.
