Pennsylvania currently has 14 privately operated, publicly-funded cyber charter schools that any Pennsylvania student can attend.
- Tuition payments to these schools cost taxpayers more than $1 billion each year,
- Every cyber charter has been designated as needing improvement under the state’s academic accountability system, and
- More than half of the schools are operating with expired charters.
The staggering lack of accountability for Pennsylvania’s current cyber charter schools combined with the enormous profits that these schools reap from the General Assembly’s broken funding system makes Pennsylvania a very attractive target for prospective cyber charter operators.
Enter Unbound Charter Academy, an AI cyber charter school where students would spend 2 hours each day working on a for-profit AI-powered platform and the rest of their time focused on “life skills development and pursuing personal interests.”
Unbound Academy submitted an application to the Pennsylvania Department of Education in the fall. The application is riddled with conflicts of interest that are not disclosed. For example, one of the founders of the school, Andrew Price, is married to the co-founder of the for-profit AI platform that will reap an enormous profit if the school is approved. Andrew Price is also the CFO of a firm that would contract with the school to provide financial services.
The application contains few details about providing counseling, special education, and other support services that students need and typically receive from humans. And it touts, “No Teachers, Just Guidance.”
When Pennsylvania’s current cyber charter schools employ many highly-qualified teachers and students still struggle to learn in the online environment, there is little reason to believe that students would be successful in a school that provides “algorithm-directed worksheet generation as tutoring,” as noted by Peter Greene.
Nevertheless, under current law, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) is required to spend an enormous number of man-hours holding a hearing, reviewing, and approving or denying any cyber charter application that is submitted.
Diverting scarce resources away from cyber charter accountability to reviewing new cyber charter applications is a disservice to Pennsylvania’s taxpayers and students.
PDE lacks adequate staffing and resources to ensure even minimal accountability for the existing cyber charter schools. More than half are operating with expired charters with no renewals in sight and audits of these schools are a relic of the past.
Senator Lindsey Williams has introduced a cosponsorship memo to enact a moratorium on new cyber charter schools. We most strongly encourage lawmakers in the General Assembly to take up this moratorium on cyber charter schools immediately upon returning to Harrisburg for the 2025 legislative session and we urge Governor Shapiro to support this.
Until all cyber charters have valid charters and reforms are implemented to ensure accountability, transparency, and fairness for all of Pennsylvania’s students, there should be no new cybers authorized in PA. Especially not an AI-powered cyber charter where a founder of the school would financially benefit from the authorization of the school.
Write to your lawmakers today and demand an end to the unchecked expansion of cyber charter schools in Pennsylvania.
Click Here To Write A Letter To Your Lawmakers
Thank you for your support of public education,
Susan Spicka, Executive Director, Education Voters of PA
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