Education Voters of PA issued this press release about the cyber charter school funding report we released on Monday, September 16. The report has been updated with 2017-2018 cyber charter school expenditure data.

Click HERE to read one-page summary of the report.

Click HERE to see how much each school district would save with commonsense reform.

Click HERE to read the full report.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Susan Spicka, Executive Director, Education Voters of PA

Updated cyber charter funding report finds taxpayer money wasted on Pennsylvania’s cyber charter schools grows to $290 million per year

HARRISBURG, PA (September 16, 2019) – Education Voters of PA, a nonpartisan, nonprofit, statewide public education advocacy organization, issued a report that finds school district payments to cyber charter schools increased to $519 million in 2017-2018.

“There is an urgent need for the PA legislature to work with Governor Wolf and take immediate action this fall to match cyber charter school tuition rates to the actual cost of educating a student at home on a computer,” said Susan Spicka, Executive Director of Education Voters of PA.

“Because costs to cyber educate a student are less than $5,000 per student, far less than the cost in traditional public schools or brick and mortar charter schools, this report finds that Pennsylvania’s current system for funding cyber charter schools wastes over $290 million in taxpayer money each year.”

“Under current law, cyber charter school tuition rates are not based on what it costs a cyber charter school to educate its students at home on a computer. Instead, Pennsylvania’s cyber charters are paid the same as brick-and-mortar charter schools, with tuition rates based on the student expenditure of the student’s home school district. Cyber charter schools take more money per student each year from students’ school districts not because they need it or necessarily spend it educating children, but instead because Pennsylvania’s cyber charter school funding formula is broken.”

“This report finds that for the combined two-year interval from 2015-2016 to 2017-2018, total cyber charter tuition expenditures grew by almost $54.4 million, or about 11.8%.  Nearly half of the total increase in tuition payments resulted solely from increases in the average per-student tuition rates, not from increased student enrollment.” 

“In raw dollars, special education tuition rates grew, on average, $1471 per student. Regular education tuition rates grew $505 per student. Clearly, cyber school education costs are a driver of local property tax increases.”

“The tuition school districts pay to cyber charter schools far exceeds what these schools spend educating children.  School districts raise property taxes and cut opportunities for students who attend schools in their communities so that cyber charter schools can waste millions of dollars each year on advertising, excessive executive compensation, private management fees, and more. Making matters worse, most of Pennsylvania’s cyber charter schools are among the lowest-performing schools in the state, with graduation rates that range from just 31%-70%. A recent study also found that cyber school students in Pennsylvania lose 106 days of learning in reading and 118 days of learning in math each year when compared to their counterparts who remained in district ‘brick and mortar’ schools.”

“We most strongly encourage the legislature to take up cyber charter funding reform this fall and work with Governor Wolf to match tuition to cyber charter schools to actual costs and eliminate wasteful spending on these schools.”

Those interested in reading the full report or learning how much each school district would save under this plan should visit www.EducationVotersPA.org or email sspicka@educationvoterspa.org.

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